WRAL Photojournalist Flies High Over Dreamville

WRAL-TV New Photographer 2 Richard Adkins had a unique vantage point for the Dreamville Festival at Dix Park on Saturday, April 2, 2022. You might say he was in the nosebleed section, but definitely not the cheap seats.

WRAL-TV News Photographer Richard Adkins captures the action at the Dreamville Festival from Sky 5 on Saturday, April 2, 2022.

Adkins was high aloft in Sky 5, focusing his camera on the stage and the crowd, covering the event for WRAL-TV.

He posted on social media:

This is pretty cool flying over the Dreamville concert Saturday, the pilot, being concerned about our sound footprint, kept us about a mile-and-a-half away from the venue. These frames show just what the camera (properly guided by a good operator and pilot) is capable of doing. (not using the doubler here) You can see out the window to my left, the NC State Baseball Stadium, in the monitor, you can see the shot. That's a heck of a reach for the lens.

Capcom reached out to Adkins with a few questions, and he shared some behind-the-scenes knowledge with his photog expertise.

What's a doubler? He explained, A Doubler is also known as an extender,' which is an extra lens that is mechanically placed within the lens to optically double the length of the lens. So, if I would have been using the doubler, I could have gotten a much tighter shot, but there are downsides to using the doubler that in this case I chose not to use it.

He further explained about the usual distance Sky 5 keeps when covering news events.

It actually is not unusual to be that far away from a scene in Sky 5, in the case of an active police situation, we often stay a mile or so away and use the length of the lens to get us there, said Adkins. Of course, there is altitude to consider as well, we were probably about 1600 feet up as well.

Being that distance away from a location calls for special skill in handling the camera.

As you can imagine, when shooting from that distance, zoomed all the way in, it takes a steady hand on the controls, the slightest movement could mean the camera view swings a great distance, he explained.

Adkins and his SKY 5 pilot covered Dreamville for WRAL's 6pm news. Adkins then wrapped up his day of flight later that evening above Chapel Hill, covering Franklin Street and the Fan Celebration after the UNC Tar Heels beat Duke in the NCAA Final Four.

Thanks to WRAL-TV's Richard Adkins for these Capcom photos.

WRAL-TV News Photographer Richard Adkins captures the action at the Dreamville Festival from Sky 5 on Saturday, April 2, 2022.

WRAL-TV News Photographer Richard Adkins captures the action at the Dreamville Festival from Sky 5 on Saturday, April 2, 2022.

See More:

WRAL.com VIDEO: Sky 5 flies over crowds at Dreamville

WRAL.com VIDEO: Tar Heel fans: The best anyone has ever felt ever

LINK:	https://capitolbroadcasting.com/2022/04/07/wral-photojournalist-flies-...
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