Mag

Going aerial
Utilising drones for environments.
As much as I wanted to, I avoided titling this Take
your Photography to New Heights because that’s
a gross cliché now. Even though the statement
sounds like something your Dad would say with
a big smile on his face, it’s meaning is completely
true because utilising drones in environmental
photography creates so many more opportunities
for both photos and videos. With all the positives
there are negatives, and drones are no different.
While there are substantial benefits of using
drones, there are also some disadvantages.
I’ve been working commercially with a solar
company for almost a year now as part of their
marketing team. In that time I’ve been using a
DJI Phantom drone for almost all of our photo
and video content. Using the drone speeds up my
workflow, allowing me to quickly fly the drone
up into the sky and photograph the panels from
several different angles in a short time frame.
Before using a drone I would have needed to climb
up onto the roof, set up my harnesses, and walked
around on the roof taking photos. Using a drone
cuts down the amount of time I need to spend on
site and also reduces my safety risk.
Obviously that example doesn’t directly apply to
environmental photography, however, I’m sure you
can see how some benefits would overlap. Using
drones for environmental photography obviously
has its own unique advantages, primarily being
able to photograph places from almost any angle
or distance. It means you can get above the tops of
trees to reveal more of a landscape or fly around
areas that are difficult to get to on foot.
immerse / essay