Drone captures stunning Orca footage

Tauranga wildlife photographer Jack Preston has filmed two orca hunting stingrays in the Coromandel.

The rare aerial footage was acquired with a drone, during a field trip with students from the Waiariki Bay of Plenty Polytechnic.


The two orca filmed by Jack Preston. Watch the video below.

The two-and-a-half minute video, uploaded to YouTube, shows a pair of orca swimming through the shallows in the Mercury Islands, to the northeast of the Coromandel Peninsula.

Jack was on his way to a dive site with friends and fellow students, when the orca appeared out of nowhere.

'I was actually just cooking my breakfast when the skipper yelled out ‘orca',” he says. 'So I grabbed my camera and took a few photos. Then I thought there's no better time than now to put the drone to use, because at the time I'd really only had it for a week.”

Jack says the drone was quite easy to control.

'Once you get used to it, it's pretty easy. It's a very sophisticated and intelligent piece of machinery, but also easy to fly. It can be tricky to get smooth panning shots, especially when trying to chase something that's moving. But that's where editing can help.”

For years Jack has travelled New Zealand and the world with his photography equipment, hoping to capture some footage like this.

He feels 'ecstatic” that he was able to realise this ambition.

'It was a real once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Wildlife photography is very opportunistic and luck based. We were just in the right place at the right time and the conditions were perfect for both photography and flying the drone.”

Jack hopes to one day make a career out of his passion for photography, which he has been doing seriously for the past four years.

'I took wildlife photography up about four years ago. It was about then that I chose to stick to wildlife, as opposed to other kinds of photography. I'm currently studying marine science at the Polytechnic, and I've got at least another year to go. But the dream would be to work professionally in wildlife productions.”

This footage, along with more of his wildlife photography, can be viewed on Jack's Facebook page.

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2 comments

WOW

Posted on 27-09-2016 13:54 | By sunny

This is were a Drone is use full, well done:))


Awesome video...

Posted on 27-09-2016 18:05 | By GreertonBoy

Kudos... just be careful posting stuff like that around here... there might not be enough swimming pools to put them all in if any of them look sick... Keep up the good work mate :)


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