Monday 18 August 2014

Not such a good day with the Quadcopter

Not such a good day with the Quadcopter.

Windsor Castle

Windsor Castle

We thought it would be great to go the the Long Walk in Windsor Great Park and get some nice views of the Castle and grounds from the air. We didn't have any intention of flying over the Castle but restrict ourselves to the grounds.

The photo on the right show s the general area we planned to fly. Just about halfway between here and the castle.

Bring it Down!

No sooner than we were in the air than a security guard came rushing from a nearby gate shouting "Bring it Down! Bring it down!", which of course I did. He said that this is illegal in the park and that if I ever posted any images from it I would be prosecuted to my last penny and could even lose my house! A little over the top I think.

Since then I have searched the web and can't find anything about UAVs or Photography or relevant restrictions. The flying of model aircraft is in fact encouraged in the park. I think this requires more research. If anyone reading this as information or links that would be appreciated.

Bushy Park


We decided to move to a safer location and drove to Bushy Park, near Hampton Court in Surrey. Initially no problems there except that it was quite windy and a little tricky to get smooth panning shots of the grounds. We did three short flights and captured some video and photographs, though none of it stunning.

Quadcopter Down

Last photo before (crash) landing

All was fine until I decided to try some maneuvers round a dead tree in the park. The wind was quite strong and I was getting blown to close to the tree for comfort. To cut a long story short, I thought I was losing control and due to a little panic I downed the quadcopter in a patch of ferns near the tree.

The landing site
Finding it in this huge patch of chest high ferns was like the search for MH370! After searching for about 45 min, beating through the ferns, Hannah finally heard a faint whine from the drone and located it.

The Rescue

There was no damage and it will live to fly another day. On another post someone said, regarding crashing a drone, "It's not if, but when". Need more flying practice until it becomes second nature.

Thursday 12 December 2013

Block Mounting Prints

How to block mount photos at low cost

I thought that others may be interested in how you can block mount your photographs for almost no cost and still achieve a professional result. The suppliers that I have used are based in the UK but I would imagine that similar products and services are available in other countries.

Obtain Blocks on which to do the mounting.

I use MDF boards cut for free at B&Q a UK DIY store. You can purchase large sheets of 18 mm thick MDF for about £20. These sheets would be good for about 20 boards of various sizes. B&Q will cut the sheets into boards to your specification free of charge but you should go with a prepared cutting plan. The cutting is precise and of very high quality. It results in boards with precise dimensions and with clean edges.

The dimensions of your boards should be about 5 mm less in height and width than the print that you are going to mount. This is so that you can have a small amount of leeway in positioning the print on the board and so that you can trim the edges of the print after mounting for a perfect edge.


Paint the edges of the blocks black

I used chalkboard paint as it gives a great matt finish to the edges and it is easy to wash the brush afterwards.



The painting doesn't have to be exact as the front face will be covered by the print and the back is ... well ... the back.




Mount the print

Spray the board with spraymount making sure that it covers right to the edge. I use a horizontal and a vertical pattern to ensure the board is evenly covered right to the edges. Then starting at one edge lay the print down onto the board. It is easier if you have an assistant to hold the opposite edge of the print while you position the near edge. Starting at the near edge smooth the print progressively onto the board ensuring the there are no air bubbles.

Using a clean cloth smooth the print onto the board working out from the centre to ensure that it makes good contact all over.

Trim the print


The print is now mounted with a small overlap at each edge. This will allow us to take a sharp knife and trim the print exactly to the board making a perfect edge.


When the print has been trimmed there will be a white edge that can be easily dealt with using a black marker.


And you're done ... or almost

You now have the printed mounted and the only thing that remains is to fix the hanging kit of your choice on the back and display on your well.



I hope you found this useful.

Check out my photographs on PRMcC and on Flickr.