Greg's Madness!

[Greg]

Or more properly, Greg films and photographs the 6th Street Viaduct.

The 6th street Viaduct got concrete cancer and the next big earthquake would send it into the river. The city decided to tear it down and build a new bridge, despite the fact the viaduct was on the National Historic Register.

It fascinated me that they were going tear and rebuild this big structure. Somebody should really take photographs of that. I have cameras.

I was pretty good the first couple of months back in 2014, when I was doing the pre-destruction photos. But then I realized nothing was really changing. Or very slightly. I went off to do other things. The next time I went out, the bridge was completely gone. There was just an empty stretch in the middle of downtown Los Angeles.

During this time I worked on other projects and kind of lost track of the project until I went back out again this September. Much to my surprise the construction was well under way. 9 big sets of Ys  with surrounding infrastructure marched across what was once the empty lot. I was far behind in my documentation. 

That September day, I promised to come back monthly to really catch up. I have done this. But it's making me insane.

One of the keys is to get in the same spots to take photographs or fly the same routes to film video. Now two dimensionally, this is pretty easy. You stand in the same spot and point in the same direction. Flying makes this a pain in the butt. How do I find the same spot in the air?

I thought I had a work around when I noticed that I could program the drone to fly a specific route. All I had to do was program the routes. I spent last week making route notes. I have 65 routes I are currently flying at both ends of the bridge and the middle. I have another 60 or so spots to take photographs. But I could do it.

I took both drones with me out Sunday. I've been going weekly to establish the base line for the endeavor.

I burned through one entire battery to record three paths. In order to program the route, you actually have to fly the route. You can't access the program unless the drone is in the air. It's a crap program for what I am doing. And worst of all, you can't make which routes are which. It will be a crapshoot for me to get to the right spot to fly the proper route. What could happen is if I am in the wrong spot for where I am starting, I could conceivably fly the drone through something to get to the proper route. Which would be bad.

But I will continue. I will make this work. Because everyone wants to see a bridge being built through the course of thousands of photographs.

The Viaduct is currently projected to be completed in 2020.

At least there is a Rihanna mural.