Drones Aren't All Bad: Beautiful Photography From One

Yep, drones are a controversial topic: We use them to bomb shadowy places in and near Afghanistan and Pakistan, and civilians are getting killed.

A still from Clay Folden's beautiful videography
of footage taken from a drone  

And if drones really become popular, I'm sure we'd hate the loss of privacy as those damn things buzz overhead as we try to sit in the sun in our backyards and the drone cameras are watching our every move.

But there's benefits to drones, of course. Even if benefits don't outweigh the loss of life in overseas battles.

Drones can detect wildfires, find lost people in the woods, monitor crime scenes.

And they make beautiful videography.

Aerial photographer Clay Folden has been using a quadricopter equipped with a GoPro camera and other equipment to take some stunning videos.

As I noted, drones are controversial, and Folden told the Huffington Post he's gotten in trouble with the U.S. Coast Guard and some private citizens as he did his drone filming.

Still, he managed to string together pieces of several of his excursions into this beautiful YouTube video. Enjoy: