Drone pilots capture local Morris winter scenes from high above

After days of bone-chilling, single-digit temperatures last month, local drone pilot Marc Mendoza spotted a unique opportunity

"One day in February, after it had snowed about 5-6 inches the night before, the temperature rose into the 30s and my son Simon and I headed out to Forest Lake in Byram Township to go flying," Mendoza said.

"The fresh snow was like a 'giant canvas' for us in a sense, erasing the footprints of people who'd recently been ice fishing there and providing a great opportunity for us to go out and draw something," he said.

Two hours later, after the duo dragged their feet over the ice in specific patterns, Mendoza captured their designs aerially using his year-old quadcopter — so named for the number of propellers it contains (four) — outfitted with a GoPro camera.

"It was an experiment and we were just playing around, doodling in the snow," said Mendoza, 41, an information technology specialist and photography buff who just moved from Hopatcong to Sussex County, "but now we're excited to make different designs in future outings and capture them for posterity."

With spring here at last, Mendoza isn't the only local drone enthusiast seizing the chance to say a final goodbye to winter from on high.

Last weekend, drone aviator Jody Johnson, 38, took her DJI-branded quadcopter out to capture aerial shots of the snow and ice thawing over Lake Hopatcong.

A Randolph resident who has worked for Easter Seals New Jersey since 2002 said, "I'd been flying remote-controlled helicopters and smaller quadcopters for a few years, but acquired my camera-equipped Phantom about a year ago."

"I started out in big open fields as I learned how to safely fly and control it, and then, with permission from the specific groups, began capturing events all over Randolph from the sky — including my daughter's cheerleading event, an open house celebration by our fire department and parades in Randolph and Denville. I love the creativity of it and then the surprise of seeing the shots I got when I get the copter back to the ground," she said. "Things look different from above and it's especially fun to see people's responses to the pictures."

As one of the few women in the field, Johnson is excited to take her place in the mostly male-dominated hobby and is part of the roughly 100-member Amelia Droneheart Group, an organization comprised of female drone pilots from all over the world and one through which her footage has been featured on social media by DJI.

"I've always loved to take pictures and was the volunteer photographer for my daughter's cheerleading team," Johnson said. "To be a good drone operator, you need an eye for photography in the first place — just because pictures may be clear doesn't make them the best or most interesting."

To hone her skills and network with other pilots in the growing field, Johnson recently attended the New York City Drone Film Festival, described as 'the world's first event exclusively dedicated to celebrating the art of drone cinematography.'

"It was a great time for people who are into flying unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for artistic purposes," Johnson said. "The films were breathtaking, beyond anything I could imagine, and really focused on all of the benefits delivered by drones rather than the fear issue," she said.

While recent drone intrusions over Paris and the White House as well as fallout from inexperienced pilots and negative media attention, including a drone-related plot line on ABC's popular comedy Modern Family, have triggered both privacy and security concerns over the potential capabilities of and uses for this unmanned technology, drone enthusiasts like Mendoza and Johnson confirm their respect for a hobby which has recently spawned its own branch of attorneys specializing in drone law.

While Mendoza said there are no mandates in place yet regarding drone operation except FAA recommendations that they not be flown over 400 feet in the air or come within five miles of an airport, "no-fly zones have been created in national parks so that copters don't intrude on the nature and quietude of those settings," said Mendoza, who feels sure that the technology will begin to be heavily regulated soon but who always limits his elevation and adjusts his flight plans to honor the guidelines.

He said modern drones can run from small $200-$300 units available in outlets like Toys 'R Us and Brookstone to large, high-end models that cost upwards of $10,000.

"I'm not out there spying," said Johnson, "and I'm always looking for safe and approved areas to fly. I'm all about supporting the art created by drones and the possibilities they enable."

For now, Mendoza and Johnson, who post their footage on their respective websites, Flip Media and GlideByJJ, are excited to partake in a creative and, at times, still under-the-radar hobby. "I'm currently putting together a video with clips from all of the different places I've done some shooting over the past year since I've had my drone and am in talks to pursue some other interesting opportunities within this field," Mendoza said.

"Drone footage really offers a different perspective on things," said Johnson, who plans to submit footage to next year's New York City Drone Film Festival while also pursuing other horizons in the rapidly-evolving arena. "I love seeing the area we live in from a different angle and sharing it with others."

For more information on Flip Media or to view aerial footage by Marc Mendoza, visit www.flipmediallc.com or https://vimeo.com/120321321.

For more information on GlideByJJ or to view aerial footage by Jody Johnson, visit www.glidebyjj.com or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIrzh-oBRYw.

Share your Morris photography story. Email eabreu@dailyrecord.com

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