Who has used BoatPix?
 

Who has used BoatPix? Were you happy with the pictures? It seems a little pricey, although I get why it's expensive. They flew around my new to me Formula this weekend, taking lots of pictures.

Yes they are and the pic was very nice I only bought 1 , you can negotiate $$$$

I have used them the pictures are very nice and yes expensive but I could never get a picture like that any cheaper. Its also really nice that I sold the boat and the wife and I still have a memory of it.

I used them this year. They took the pics in august and got them to me in November.. It was a great pic. They are pricey as hell. I paid $500 for 3 prints and 1 digital

Wait a minute, you sold the wife and boat ? Together ? :lolhit:

It doesn't specify if they were sold together. Just that he sold both of them.

I purchased pictures from them several years ago. Nice pictures, I wish I new about the negotiable part.

...and he still has a memory of it...lol
Correct punctuation would have helped clarify what he really meant, though.
Funny you guys picked up on that.
Formula16, thanks for the post, I knew what you meant. :ernaehrung004:

You can always buy a drone and have a new toy to play with after, but nice pictures help everything sell quicker.

Just got the 3 photos in the mail.. wanted over $1200 dollars for 3 photos that looked like cell phone shots. Completely unedited.. cropped out my roost. Oh sorry, I forgot there was a "33% discount" so it was like $840 for 3 photos. Digital copies were $930 for ONE DIGITAL COPY! Also, the message said you can only use the photos online to sell your boat if you buy the digital copies... lol..

I know it seems like I'm pretty salty about this and I am. Been waiting 2 months and was expecting good photos that showed my roost and expected maybe $200.... I wouldn't pay $12 for these trash photos. The color wasn't even vivid.

I ordered 3 large prints about 10 years ago. They were worth it at the time but now with drones everywhere why not just get some drone shots? I photographed my prints so that I could make additional copies. This one is my favorite:
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...a0c75825bb.jpg

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...c1a1920c0a.jpg
For those prices you can just get a drone :D

Yes, a drone for sure. I've heard of some people getting good shots from a bridge. Ten years ago helicopter shots were the thing to have so I paid big bucks for the prints. Their early editing was terrible but after talking to the owner I got the pics I wanted. I probably should have only ordered the one but here are my 3 after I framed them:
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...672512ec4a.jpg

Those look really good compared to the ones I got, trust me! lol

Can you post a pic of them? They did some horrible proofs of mine. Completely changed the color of my boat, removed the shadow underneath, etc. I really wanted the prints but had a hard time to get them done right.

Boatpix sucks in my opinion. We bought 2 pics from them and they did zero editing. As mentioned, buy a drone and get unlimited pics and videos for free that will come out better.

here is one from a poker run...think they could edit it to be lighter. Or whiten the bottom of our boat. It had been sitting in the water for a week prior to the run. Wouldn’t be so upset if they didn’t cost so much money. Only reason why I bought them was because this was my bachelor party.

hacks.


https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...964165c14.jpeg

I shot this myself...with a phantom 4 pro drone

Those drones you guys speak of dont keep up with Helicoptors!


you want quality pics they cost money


https://i.imgur.com/PcZm2cD.jpg

the DJI phantom 4 has an advertised max speed of 40-45mph. If you fly with the wind probably can get it up to 50-55mph.

they also sell a DJI inspire with a max speed of 60-65 mph. With the wind probably get 70-75.

how much faster do you need a drone to go?

you call the junk I got a quality picture? lol. Can take better with an old Kodak camera.

And you really only need to get aerial video of a fly-by and then take screenshots from the video so a drone just hovering could get the job done.

I’ve bought several of his shots through the years. He nailed this one
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...b5df37069.jpeg

The pictures people have taken with there drones and what Pete has taken, No comparison. Pete's photos on the metal are the only way to go!!! If you want quality photos

No doubt, but Pete is not up here in Michigan and to have a custom helicopter shoot would be crazy expensive. Poker run photos often have messed up looking water from the other boats.

That's an awesome shot but I would remove the shadow from the top right corner and the out of place water spray from the top left.

I am in Michigan throughout the summer, at Boyne Thunder, and Rock the Coast, Skaterfest. as well as the races in the michigan area. are Helicopters expensive? yes. depending on the shoot you want to do you get five or six of you buddies to bring their boat and it makes a shoot much more reasonable in price.

Bottom line: You get what you pay for. Drones have some great applications, such as overviews, in powerboat photography. Having lost one dear photographer friend to a helicopter crash during a shoot and almost losing another twice (Pete Boden), I appreciate their safety advantage.

But there is no contest when it comes to running shots captured by a pro photographer in a helicopter with an experienced pilot (and flying for boat shoots is a specific skill set) and a drone. Being a skilled drone pilot doesn't also make you a skilled photographer. Nor can a drone camera, at least to my knowledge, can't change lenses in flight. I have looked at, chosen, edited, color-corrected and cropped tens (maybe hundreds, I don't know) of thousands of digital high-performance boat photos and I've yet to see great running shots captured by drone.

That said, it takes more than a camera and a helicopter to capture great images of boats in action. There's lots and lots of low-quality, overpriced junk out there. For the really good stuff, you need a skilled photographer and pilot, preferably who have worked together.

As described above, Pete's solution is a good one—and cost effective.

Just to let you know in case you are at a run that Pete is at. I bought a print on metal from him and also bought the e-file. It was cheaper than what Boat pics wanted but I was on a run that Pete was shooting.

The boat pic shots came from a group of nine of us they were shooting so that may have increased the price but.
The shots Boat pic sent were not bad but the price was over the top. I think Pete's price was very fair and the print on metal looks killer.
Here is the shot I bought from Pete, not sure how much editing was done. This is not the full size file, OSO will not let me load it.



https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...def717435.jpeg

They were a part of lake Cumberland the first year my dad ever went. I thought it would be fun for him to get in the action and registered his 21’ sea ray and we did the first leg of the run. Got a call about a month later from someone who sounded like a very heavy smoker at boat pix that said they had a dozen or so photos of us and wanted to know if we were interested. I was thinking it would be a good Christmas present for him so said please send me over the proofs. Was told it would be a week or two as they were getting everything sorted out from a couple of poker runs. After about a month I call in, was told that they needed registration numbers to know which boat we were in (I guess the poker run number wasn’t how they sorted them even though most boats in the run didn’t have registration numbers). So I take time to drive 40 minutes to storage, fight with his full mooring cover, get the numbers, call in and be told they didn’t take any pictures. Ask the same person I spoke to a month or whatever prior about the phone call and was told that there was no way they would have made that phone call. Christmas morning after exchanging gifts I was telling my dad the story, he laughed and said here’s the voicemail that he had received from the same person saying that they had pictures of his boat at the event. He just never found the time to call them back.

Just a joke.

Pete you forgot the Exotic Run!

drones are the future...period

If you are near LOTO talk to David Dilks from Lake Shots Photography, he took pictures my boat during the Shootout. I bought the hi res. rights to the photo for a very reasonable price and had large prints made.
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...20a95d3055.jpg

" drones are the future...period"

I won't pay hundreds of dollars for pics anymore when someone can hover a drone and film a few passes in 4K and I can pick endless screen shots and have them printed at Costco. I wish the helicopter photographers well but this is the new reality.

The wind is not going to push a drone 10 mph faster , mine certainly wont . DJI inspire is $5k and will go 59 mph in the best of condition sthats the fastest drone I`m aware of . You`re not getting those shots Pete and helicopters do.
and trying to do it while operating the boat is nearly impossible. I`ve tried all summer with little success. A second person on land is the only option.

My first drone I bought because it was the fastest in the category and teh follow me mode was a joke. More like me following the drone.
The DJI products are much better but trying not to lose a drone on the water can be fun. I landed mine on the hatch and a gust of wind took in right into the lake. there went $1200.
Nice option with DJI is you can catch and release them in your hand, much safer on water .

I really like the automatic modes on the DJI ..

Follow me mode ... doesnt:

Mark the mooner. As in Mark Brennan??

Very cool videos but where are the waves? :angry-smiley-044:

Yup. lol
3rd, waves means wind, I`m trying not to lose a 2nd drone this year lol

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...67c6f5bbd7.jpg
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...7ff6901a9e.jpg
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...d41e97a009.jpgThe high drone pics are cool!

They could well be.

But at present, when it comes to high-performance powerboat running shots drones don't produce anything close to what a skilled professional photographer in a helicopter with an equally skilled professional pilot can.

Of course, not all photographers and helicopter pilots are created equal.

Fixed it:
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...115ba6f620.jpg