This week I took advantage of the warm front of that came through and took out my Mini 5 Pro to try and get some photographs of the Tree of Light display at Carillon Park.

I actually wasn’t aware that the bell tower structure at Carillon Park was decorated for the Christmas holiday.  According to historical reporting, the Carillon Tree of Light display first debuted around 2015 as part of the park’s efforts to create a holiday attraction.  Since 2015 the lighting became an annual tradition tied to the holiday events at Carillon Historical Park (“A Carillon Christmas”).

It should be noted that like many public parks in and around the Dayton area, drones are strictly prohibited inside of Carillon Park.  In order to get this shot, I launched across the street on the opposite side of River Road on the sidewalk next to where I parked my car:

This really was an ideal location.  River Road is pretty low traffic – particularly after business hours.  I don’t think one car went by during my very brief flight.  The area is pretty well lit by street lights too, so I felt quite safe.  Once airborne, the Mini 5 Pro loses obstacle avoidance in the dark and in some cases you’ll even lose return to home functionality.  So I pretty much kept my flight to straight up then straight down.  But I got exactly the photos that I was looking for so I was quite happy.  The photos were taken in camera RAW, ISO 1360, 1/6 second shutter speed, and f1.8.  Next time I might try doing a longer exposure, but for a first outing/proof of concept, I was thrilled.