b"A Drones-eye View of Maplewoodand BeyondMason Levinsons photography maps out our dynamic landscapeBY DONNY LEVIT Drone shots captured by Mason Levinson. L to R: ambulance at Maplewood's rainbow crosswalk; South Orange Village; and the building containing Able Baker and other stores along Maplewood Avenue and Baker StreetO nabone-chillinglycoldon the Crescents, he recalls.flew a quadcopterandprofessionalvideoandphotography.And,of dayinDecember2016,The inaugural flight would launch Levinsons pas- course, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos predicts a Jetsons-MasonLevinsonmadesion and distinct artistic eye for drone photography.esque delivery system that may be flying packages his way over to MemorialAnd he gladly shares his talent with his community. onto our doorsteps within years.Park in Maplewood. HisWhile the consumer drone industry has explodedForseasonedphotographerslikeLevinson,the wife, Rosie Ostmann, hadover the last decade, the earliest drone-like inventiondrone provides an opportunity to capture stunning just bought him a dronecan be traced back to 1907, when brothers Jacquesvisuals, revealing a new perspective on our landscape for his birthday. He began to prep that birthday giftand Louis Brgue successfullythat people are unable to experience from the ground.for its maiden voyage. into the air. Grant you, they needed four people toOver morning coffee, Levinson discusses the strik-Levinson flew the drone up to about 100 feethelp steady it and the quadcopter flew all of two feeting images of Maplewood, South Orange, and else-and captured a photo of his street, South Crescent.above the ground. But more than a century later, thewhere that make up his drone photography portfolio. When I got home, I downloaded the photo to mydrone has become exceptionally high-tech and nim- What interests me most is doing this for artistic pur-computerandrealizedthatfromthatangle,theble. While heavily developed by the military, dronesposes, he says. At one point, we are looking down neighborhood bore a striking resemblance to a wineare now regularly used for film shoots, geo-mapping,on the building located at the corner of Maplewood glass, which couldnt be more fitting for my friendssearch and rescue efforts, as well as for recreationalAvenue and Baker Street in Maplewood Village. To 32/ matters magazine / holiday 2019"