Hey there, it’s Devon here, the new editor and chief decision maker. In other words, the bee’s knees, the hot shot, the head honcho . . . oh wait . . . Dave, please move out of the way, I’m trying to see myself in the mirror. Actually I’m the OV&P intern, in case you haven’t met me yet.

So what really goes on here behind the scenes? New day, a new shoot. To get that perfect shot you need to have all the perfect conditions. At OV&P we try our best to get the ultimate results for your shoot. That means getting up and at it early (with help from some strong coffee) before that golden hour gets away from us, having all our equipment packed and organized before we get going. Beating the traffic we use our friendly navigation app “Waze”. She is such a honey, though sometimes a little talkative, and away we go!

Location is key, and so we spend a few minutes getting ourselves into an ideal spot to capture all the best aspects for your shoot. Then it’s time to setup, which I find great fun. First the tripods, cameras, power and lights. Yay, that was quick, now for the techy part. Lens open, time to check the exposure, white balance, shutter speed and so much more. Here comes the scary part . . . Format . . . YES . . . Are you sure you want to format? . . . YES . . . Formatting will ERASE ALL data on this device . . . YES . . . Sigh . . . Now that our cards are all fresh we can begin our day.

For an aerial drone shoot, things are a little different but way more exciting. Let’s just get straight into it, I can’t keep it in any longer. The day starts the same but our setup is a bit more interesting. First we unpack the drone, remote controllers and batteries. Connect the propellers and the battery. Then the amazingly small but powerful DJI camera is mounted. (Dave does this as it is an art to perform.) Turning the drone on is one of my favorite things to do. Holding down that power button with that satisfying “click” and then the chorus of beeps and boops follows suit.

I could wake up to that sound every day but that’s beside the point. We connect the controllers, iPhone and iPad to the drone. Systems check and we are notified that it is safe to fly. A quick pump on the throttle and away we go. Oh, and the landing gear lifts itself up, just in case you thought this drone couldn’t get any better. The way Dave and I work could be compared to the beauty of synchronized swimmers in the Olympics. Well in my mind at least.

And that’s a wrap, I can’t wait for the next one . . .