Drone Videographer Oscar Medina Spent Three Hours on This Week's Old Town Cover

Videographer Oscar Medina shot this week's cover image of Old Town Goleta in a single session of roughly three hours total. Medina runs Elevate by Oscar, a Santa Barbara-based aerial videography operation, and captured the image with a DJI Mavic 4 Pro during midday light.

The shoot took place under tight federal restrictions. Because the Santa Barbara airport sits directly behind Old Town Goleta, Medina was strictly permitted to fly up to 50 feet. "My process always starts with checking airspace and securing our automated LAANC authorization from the FAA for controlled airspace," he said. After scouting the composition, he spent about an hour and a half on-site, then roughly another hour color-grading the footage in Adobe Premiere Pro.

Who Is Oscar Medina?

Medina has flown drones for two years. His creative direction crystallized during personal trips to Bacalar in Quintana Roo, Iceland, and Mérida in Yucatán, where aerial recording of those landscapes pushed him to upgrade his gear and piloting skills. He moved to Santa Barbara 10 years ago, in 2016, after his father retired in the area, and he now bases his production work in the city and along the Southern California coast.

His commercial and community portfolio is extensive:

• Official projects with Old Mission Santa Barbara, including the I Madonnari Festival and Old Car Show
• The Summer Solstice Parade, featuring La Boheme and Teresa Kuskey
• Old Spanish Days/Fiestas coverage
• Coastal and marine real estate work with Seacoast Yachts
• Cruise ships and rooftop events at the Kimpton Canary Hotel
• Ocean wildlife documentation and work with the Pacific Pride Foundation
• The Goleta Lemon Festival and the Fields of Funk Festival
• Last weekend's Santa Barbara Half-Marathon

The half-marathon assignment demanded physical effort as well as piloting. Medina rollerbladed five miles along the course to capture dynamic footage from multiple vantage points across the city, not just the starting line.

What Surprises People About Drone Work?

Medina said viewers underestimate the technical preparation before a drone ever leaves the ground. His pre-flight routine includes monitoring weather, securing airspace clearances, checking Temporary Flight Restrictions, managing batteries, selecting variable ND or polarizing filters, and meticulous flight planning. "Ultimately, it's the pilot's skill and creative eye that elevate the content, not just the hardware," he said.

His favorite payoff is showing a familiar landmark from an angle nobody has seen. After the half-marathon, one viewer commented: "It's a different POV indeed from above. I didn't realize we ran by SBCC track — thank you for sharing!"

Does He Have Ties to Goleta?

Medina used to live on Turnpike. "It's wonderful to see how the area continues to evolve and change," he said of returning for meals around Old Town Goleta.

Off duty, he networks with business owners in the Funk Zone, runs and rollerblades the Cabrillo bike path, and favors date nights with his wife at The Lark, Barbareño, and Loquita. While he takes standard photography assignments on request, his primary focus remains videography — and he will travel wherever a project takes him.