Vancouver Island From Above: A Few Favourite Coastal Flights

Sunrise over Victoria BC

I put together a short highlight reel from the last few months of flying around Vancouver Island.

Nothing too complicated. No heavy editing. No giant cinematic production pretending I had a film crew, a storyboard, and a director’s chair with my name on it.

This is pretty much just drone, coffee, early mornings, and Vancouver Island casually doing all the hard work.

Vancouver Island Does the Heavy Lifting

I’d love to take full credit for how good some of these shots look, but that would be wildly dishonest.

Most of the time, I’m just showing up with charged batteries, trying not to forget an SD card, and pointing the drone at places that were already ridiculous before I got there.

Sunrise over the water.

Clouds rolling through.

Beaches before the crowds show up.

Lagoons, driftwood, shorelines, little islands, and those calm West Coast mornings that make getting out of bed almost feel like a smart decision.

Almost.

Not Every Flight Needs a Big Story

A lot of these clips were captured during quick flights.

Some were early morning coffee missions. Some were family outings. Some were “I’ve got 20 minutes and the light looks stupid good” situations.

That’s kind of the whole thing with Vancouver Island Drones.

Sometimes it’s client work.

Sometimes it’s testing gear.

Sometimes it’s me standing near the ocean thinking, “Well, I’d be an idiot not to fly right now.”

This video is mostly that last one.

Shot With the DJI Air 3S

Most of this was filmed with my DJI Air 3S, which continues to be the drone I reach for when I want something that feels serious, stable, and capable in coastal conditions.

It’s not the tiny fun one. It’s not the kid-chaos Neo 2. It’s not the drone I hand to Blake and hope for the best.

The Air 3S is the grown-up drone.

The one I use when the light is good, the wind is doing Vancouver Island things, and I want the footage to look like I knew what I was doing.

Occasionally I do.

Raw Dogging the Edit

This one is not overproduced.

I didn’t bury it under flashy transitions, fake drama, or 47 layers of editing nonsense.

Some footage just doesn’t need much help.

A little trimming, a little timing, some calm music, and that’s about it.

When the place already looks like this, the best editing decision is often to get out of the way before you ruin it.

Lucky to Have This as My Backyard

The voiceover in the video pretty much says it:

This was filmed over the last few months on Vancouver Island.

Drone, coffee, and early morning flights.

Vancouver Island does all the hard work here.

I’m just lucky enough to have this as my backyard.

And honestly, that’s the whole point.

I don’t always know exactly what Vancouver Island Drones is supposed to be. A business, a creative outlet, an excuse to chase sunrise, a way to justify buying more DJI gear than any reasonable adult should own.

Probably all of the above.

But videos like this are why I keep doing it.

Because every once in a while, the light hits right, the water goes calm, the drone is behaving, and this place reminds me that I’m pretty damn lucky to live here.