How a 3:30 AM Taxi Shift Became a Banger Sunrise Shoot in the Flanders Fields

“Opportunity doesn’t knock. It wakes you up at 3:30AM and kicks you out the door before sunrise.”
— Me. After coffee.

So there we were. The parental taxi service was back in business, charging exactly €0 and accepting payments in teenage sarcasm. At 03:30AM, the youngest was off to Elzac, France—not for a wine-fueled escape (though I envy that idea), but to level up his culinary chops. It's part of his education, apparently. Though between us, the kid already cooks like a Michelin-star Jedi. We just don’t want that going to his head yet.

After a short pitstop to drop @nathalie-s back home, I had a choice: drive to the office and scroll email like a 21st-century drone... or actually fly one.

Guess which one I chose?

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Doubt, Drones & Dawn: My Inner Monologue

I arrived in the Flanders Fields—yep, those fields, poetic and eerily peaceful—and the sun was still trying to hit the snooze button. The light was borderline nonexistent. Fog rolling across the landscape like a horror film teaser.

I looked at the Mini 3 Pro and thought:
“Can you even handle this, buddy?”

Spoiler alert: Oh hell yes, it could.

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Flight Mode: Zen Activated

Against my own better judgment (and everything the manual warns about low-light), I launched that little beast skyward.

What followed was... just wow:

• Photo 1: You can feel the stillness. That’s the shot you print on a canvas and pretend you paid a photographer €300 for.

• Photo 2 & 3: The HDR difference is real, my friends. It’s like the regular shot is whispering, and the bracketed HDR is belting Celine Dion.

• Photo 4 vs 5 (close-ups): Here’s the Lightroom “Denoise” flex in full effect. One looks like it was captured with sandpaper on the lens; the other? Chef’s kiss. (Maybe our kid’s rubbing off on me.)

• Last couple: Moody, cinematic fog vibes. Wind turbines doing their broody background dance.

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Gear Talk (Because You’re Nerds Like Me)

• Drone: DJI Mini 3 Pro – still punching way above its weight class.
• Software: Adobe Lightroom – specifically, Denoise AI, which honestly feels like cheating.
• Shooting Style: Early-morning freestyle. Manual exposure, bracketed where it counts, and a sprinkle of “let’s see what happens.”

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Lessons from a Misty Morning Hustle

1. Low light ≠ no light – The Mini 3 Pro held its ground like a caffeine-fueled samurai.
2. HDR isn't just for sunsets and real estate agents – It adds dimension to mist and shadows like a Pixar animator on steroids.
3. Don’t sleep on Denoise AI – Seriously. It took grainy guesses and turned them into gallery-grade glory.
4. Always keep your drone in the trunk – You never know when real life drops a cinematic opportunity in your lap.

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Final Thoughts

Was it exhausting? Sure.
Worth it? Hell yes.
Would I do it again tomorrow? Only if there's coffee... and fog... and another early culinary mission.

So next time your kid has an absurdly early event and you’re stuck watching the sky turn colors in the rearview mirror, maybe don’t curse your luck. Maybe launch the drone. Snap the shot. Tell the story.

Because in the foggy fields of Flanders, magic doesn’t wait for business hours.

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