Having looked at Karim’s work I am somewhat stunned at the bravery he has as a pilot and a drone photographer.
His images and videos are stunning you can see them here https://karimphotography.com/drone/ What really impresses me is the sheer boldness of the piloting, having destroyed almost £2K of drone in a mere puddle to watch Karim fly a £7K drone into the face of a wave to catch a surfer makes my heart skip, some of the shots of mountains have me wondering where he was standing to get such a shot. In the wilds of Hawaii I do not know what the drone laws are if indeed there are any, but here in the UK, I am restricted by lots of rules and regulations that make it hard to even get the drone in the air.
I have to confess the crash has left me a little cautious although I have proper drone insurance now and a DJI care pack that would prevent me loosing so much in a future event, I am still having to work these issues out and exercise my brave muscle. I am therefore an admirer of work such as this which seems to have been shot with either a great deal of care or a complete disregard for the drone. This may, of course, be true as I saw an interview with one of the more flamboyant drone photographers in the USA where he was explaining that when the stakes were high and the pay was right it was perfectly ok to sacrifice the drone to get that special shot. I suppose this is true in the movie world where they spend millions on filming, killing a drone to get a special shot is just part of the expense.
I was studying the windsurfing videos made by Karim and wondering how he prevented all that spray going in the downward-facing vents on the drone, which hates moisture, and I speculate that with an Inspire drone its is possible to use a longer lens that would enable him to get higher and further back while maintaining the illusion of being really close, this would make the shot look a lot more daring than it first appears to be. We are also given no frame of reference as to how far from shore he is during these shots which also adds to the tension.
All in all, I really enjoy Karim’s work and find it inspiring to get out and make work that inspires others