Panda at the Labyrinth (Original)

Earlier that day, I told Panda about my plans to do some drone mapping tests at the labyrinth for a potential client. The labyrinth was one of three adventures on the schedule, but it was the one Panda was interested in. Before long, she had found her way into the camera backpack, her favorite place to travel. Surrounded by cameras, lenses, batteries, and drone equipment, Panda feels at home.

Panda was excited about this adventure. She had heard so much about the labyrinth and could hardly wait to experience it for herself. Even better, there was going to be a drone involved. Panda had never had her photo taken by a drone before, and the idea sounded wonderfully adventurous.

When we arrived at the labyrinth, the plan was simple. Panda would sit proudly on the stone in the center while the drone flew overhead collecting photos. We imagined leaving her there for the entire operation, which would take about half an hour.

Unfortunately, Panda soon noticed a hawk circling high above.

Now, Panda was not entirely sure whether a hawk would consider a small stuffed panda to be food, but she had no interest in conducting that experiment.

As if that were not enough, a steady breeze kept blowing Panda off of her stone throne. Between the wind below and the hawk above, Panda decided this was not the peaceful photo session she had imagined.

The result was a much shorter photo shoot. A few quick photos were taken, including a few from the drone, and then Panda happily returned to the safety of the camera backpack.

The first photo from the labyrinth was shared right away with the message, "Guess where Panda is?" The response was two hearts, which made Panda very happy. Later that evening, after the drone photos had been processed on the computer, one of the aerial photos was shared as well.

Even though the hawk and the wind cut the adventure short, Panda was thrilled to finally visit the labyrinth—and especially proud to have her very first drone portrait.