Aerial Photography Directory November 2015 Newsletter

A New Look

The Aerial Photography Directory has undergone a radical makeover. Next time that you are out in public, do take a moment to look at everyone passing by, heads bowed, moving purposefully forwards. Perhaps darting to one side every now and again.

No, they are not on a Route March to work, more likely they are engrossed in their mobile device. It's funny how things come full circle. PCs started with low resolution screens and when t'Internet came along, websites were optimised for smaller screens (640 x 480 pixels, typically).

As technology improved, screen resolution improved and websites got wider to fit more in. It was unthinkable to put any content 'below the fold' as it would not get seen.

When mobile phones arrived, screens were text only. Then Nokia started to introduce low resolution graphic displays, good for playing snake or Tetris and that was about it. However, in the mobile arms race, this extended to larger and larger screens and they also became touch sensitive.

At the current time, a significant number of users use mobile devices that to some extent reflect the low resolution PCs and website designers have had to allow for this. Hence the long, scrolling pages that you see nowadays. Below the fold content is now expected and Google has publicly stated that it will give preference to mobile-enabled websites.

TL;DR  The Aerial Photography Directory is now a single column website, optimised for mobile devices, whilst still being perfectly useable on a PC or Mac. Behind the scenes we have made it much more manageable and are adding a plethora of features for you.

A photograph is a photograph, right?

The good thing about Aerial Photography is that if you want to provide it, then it is dead easy to set up and start taking bookings. If you are an Aerial Photographer, that is.

The bad thing about Aerial Photography is that if you want to provide it, then it is dead easy to set up and start taking bookings. If you are looking for Aerial Photography, that is.

If you walked into a Photography Studio for some Portraits or you invited in a Product Photographer to shoot your latest and greatest, how would you feel if (s)he opened up her/his bag and pulled out a Go Pro camera? A little bit surprised, I'd expect. Miffed? Ripped off? "I could do that"?

A Go Pro is a leisure camera. It's designed to be strapped to a helmet (bike, snowboard etc) and take action shots. It's not a Professional camera for Professional photographs.

So, why is it acceptable to aerial photographers to sell their services based upon a DJI Phantom with a Go Pro strapped to it? For under £1,000 you buy a Phantom and a Go Pro, take the test (if you want to be legitimate) then you are up and running. Sure, you get better photographs than anything that can be achieved by a land-based camera and if you are inspecting a roof or larking about, then why not? Who cares about quality? Price is King.

On the other hand, if you are paying for a professional Aerial Photographer to shoot your wedding, Hotel, Property for sale, then surely you should get a professional for your money? Someone that uses a proper camera, knows what the settings are and how to tweak them. A camera that produces images with good colour depth and quality.

Overshoot gets beaten on price for a lot of work. But there again, Waitrose loses out to Aldi and Lidl on price. It's annoying, but those that appreciate that a Professional will use professional equipment will get better value and quality for their money.

If you are looking for some Aerial Photography, your first question should not be "How much?". Rather it should be "How are you going to get the photographs that I want?"

The World’s Smallest 80MP Medium Format Camera for Drones Unveiled by Phase One Industrial

We can all dream.

In addition to its main photographer-oriented business, Phase One also develops camera gear under Phase One Industrial, a leading manufacturer of digital medium format cameras for aerial photography.

The latter brand has announced a new camera called the Phase One iXU 180: the world’s smallest 80 megapixel medium format camera designed for drones.

It makes you wonder where this will all stop. When mobile phones have cameras with resolutions up to 20MPx and top end cameras such as this top 80MPx, we are getting closer and closer to the analogue resolution of film - so much so that there has to be some overlap ISO levels of digital far exceed that of film

Overshoot Photos December 2014 Newsletter

In this issue:-

• Update on the Aerial Photography Directory
• New regulations - Canada and India
• Aerial Photography in the news
• Search and rescue drones
• Kit for sale
• And finally...

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The Aerial Photography Directory

As I mentioned in the last Newsletter, there is now a one-stop shop for finding Aerial Photography (AP). If you are looking for AP, then this is a good place to start - especially in the UK as there are enough photographers on board for you to find one within reasonable travelling distance.

The USA, Canada and Poland are now in place so we need some photographers there. Remember, it's not just Drones - if you are a mast operator or a kite flyer or pilot full size craft you are more than welcome. It's horses for courses - there is no one-stop solution for an Aerial Photography request.

AerialPhotography.Directory

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New Regulations

Since the last Newsletter both Canada and India have issued regulations.

Canada:

You are responsible to fly your aircraft safely and legally. In Canada, you must:

• Follow the rules set out in the Canadian Aviation Regulations.
• Respect the Criminal Code as well as all municipal, provincial, and territorial laws related to trespassing and privacy

For full details, follow the link here

India:

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has started to look at the issue (prompted, no doubt by the delivery of a pizza via UAV) but until it has announced its regulations, the use of drones is prohibited.

See here for a nicely written summary of a few of the countries (but bear in mind it has been superseded in India at least)

http://www.lbbonline.com/news/above-the-law-how-drone-laws-around-the-world-are-affecting-production/

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Aerial Photography in the news

Once again, UAVs are hitting the headlines, but still not for the right reasons. Some recent examples

BBC - Heathrow plane in near miss with drone

BBC - Amazon says it may take drone testing outside US

TechCrunch et al - A Dutch engineer has created a flying defibrillator for emergency situations

CNET - Mistletoe drone draws blood at TGI Friday's

Oops.

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Search and rescue drones

One of the positive uses of Drones are in Search and Rescue scenarios. In the absence of full size craft, they can cover a far larger area than walking searchers and, if equipped with Thermal Imaging cameras, can search out heat sources.

S.W.A.R.M. (Search With Aerial Rc Multi-rotor) is a worldwide volunteer search and rescue network of over 1,100 SAR Drone Pilots dedicated to searching for missing persons. Our primary mission is to offer and provide multi-rotor (drone) and fixed wing aerial search platforms for ongoing Search and Rescue operations at no cost to the SAR organization or to the family. In addition, we want to create increased awareness about the BENEFITS of RC Drone technologies.

If you have a Drone and are interested in becoming a volunteer. why not check out their website?

http://sardrones.org/

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Kit for Sale

Looking to buy or sell a UAV System? Check out our Marketplace. Another Draganfly X6 has just been added to the growing list.

Click here

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And Finally...

It's pretty much the end of the year. For those celebrating Christmas or any other festival in some form or another this year, rumour has it that a Drone is one of the best selling gadgets this year and I make no apologies for repeating last year's cartoon

cartoon (C) Scott Johnson, c/o 

http://www.myextralife.com/comic/competition/

Thanks for reading and see you in 2015.

Happy flying

Andy

Overshoot Photos October 2014 Newsletter

In this issue:-

• New website for Aerial Photography - whether you are looking or providing
• FAA gradually easing up on Drone regulations - paving way to licencing?
• What to look for when you want aerial photography
• Aerial Photography in the news
• Overshoot Photograph of the day

New Aerial Photography website

In the beginning there was the Internet (OK, we're skipping a couple of other minor worldly events).

Then there was Compuserve and AOL that you dialled into to get to the Internet and you were presented with a mass of articles and features on the Home page, all designed to keep you there.

Then along came Google with just a name and a search box. The Home page was uncluttered and you could find anything that you wanted. The algorithms got better, but the quantity of data grew and grew. Website owners could 'game' the results to get better listings. The "useful results" to "white noise" ratio dropped and is still dropping today and it is now getting harder to tie down what you are looking for. 'Googlewhack' was coined, whereby Google would only return one search result. Dave Gorman found that his name was such one result. Nowadays, a search for "Dave Gorman" provides nearly half a million.

It's time for a change, again, with specialist Directories pulling specific data and websites together to help you search.

Welcome to www.AerialPhotography.Directory

AerialPhotography.Directory allows specialist Elevated and Aerial Photographers to be listed together in one place and for potential clients to search for them. From masts to drones and full-size craft, everything can be found. There is no 'one size fits all'.

If you are searching for Aerial Photography, type in your Country and County, then you will get a list of providers, sorted by distance. You can see their skills and sample work.

If you are a Provider, then get listed here and start to get found. The website is still in Beta test, so for now it won't cost you a penny - free advertising in a specialist Directory! It doesn't get much better than that. We will be introducing a charge in 2015. If you pay commission to an Agent at the moment, then pay no more.

Do check out the website and let us know what you think. It is limited to the UK at the moment, but other countries are being added over the next few weeks, so if interested, drop us a line with your email and Country and we will let you know when your Country has been added.

It has only just been released, so you are one of the first to know about it. Bear with us whilst we get providers signed up...it's a bit sparse at the moment...

US announces that Movie Makers can start using dronesThe Federal Aviation Administration is announcing that it is granting permits to seven movie and television production companies to fly drones, an important step toward greater use of the technology by commercial operators, said attorneys and a company official familiar with the decision.

Click here to see the story on the Briefly.Today website.

ED: Canada is already welcoming drones, so this seems to be a move by the FAA under pressure from others to keep film making in the US and prevent the revenue going abroad. I'm sure that if the FAA had its own way, it wouldn't allow any Commercial Drone usage. It has dragged its heels thus far and it's pretty certain that it has been made an offer that it cannot refuse.


What to look for when you want aerial photography

Aerial Photography is terrific. It literally adds dimension to a photograph or video, makes it stand out and has more impact. But what sort of aerial photography do you need? What are the pros and cons? Can I do this and that with your craft? What's best value?

There is no 'one size fits all' for aerial photography. Each request has to be looked at individually and usually there will be at least one option. Manned craft are good for wide area shots, but are expensive. Masts are good for a cheap and cheerful solution where it is unsafe to fly, but are height restricted. Drones, kites and blimps are excellent for the middle ground but face restrictions on where they can operate. This web page will give you a visualisation of what can be achieved. Things to consider/ask the Operator

• What are your restrictions?
• If it's raining, what happens?
• Are you insured for commercial use? Can I see a copy of your insurance?
• Are you allowed for fly commercially in this Country? Can I see your Certification?

Be prepared with the following information for starters

• Location(s). Postcodes are good as we can look the location up on Google Maps for safety checks.
• Date(s). Fixed (e.g. a wedding day) or flexible if the weather is not good?
• A rough idea of what you want. Masts are very good at timelapse, drones not so as they tend to fall out of the sky when the batteries run out
• Do you want post-processing as well or just the stills / raw video delivered?

Read full article here.

Aerial Photography in the News

Aerial Photography has been in the news over the Summer - and not all of it good. Especially with the availability of the DJI Phantom and similar Ready To Fly (RTF) craft, anyone can pick up one from a gadget shop, attach a GoPro and chuck it up into the air, conveniently ignoring the consequences of 1Kg of craft plus spinning blades dropping on someone or a road / railway.

Some headlines from this year:-

Anfield stadium matchday drone footage prompts Civil Aviation Authority to issue advice
Man arrested for flying drone near U.S. Open venue
'River of blood' after drone 'hits' Australian athlete

On the upside:

Drone Images Reveal Buried Ancient Village in New Mexico

Read all these and more here.


Overshoot Photograph of the day (well, Newsletter)
In the Summer, I was asked at very short notice to help out with a School Project at Soham, Cambridgeshire. The three schools in the village had come together to create a giant poppy using the schoolchildren wearing specific colours. At the last minute, they had been let down by the aerial photographer and I stepped in.

This poppy was the culmination of a lot of hard work and they didn't want it to go unnoticed. Safety restrictions meant that I could not fly directly above (or, in fact within 50m of) the pupils so I opted for a flight about 100m away from the base of the poppy with one of the schools in the background.

Here is the result



Here's the local Newspapers' take on it

http://www.elystandard.co.uk/news/gallery_1_000_pupils_come_together_to_create_human_poppy_1_3650062

http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/News/SLIDESHOW-Sohams-primary-schools-come-together-to-form-giant-human-poppy-20140620130322.htm#ixzz35POJgJkn


Soham Museum has an exhibition featuring the photographs and other aspects of the project this autumn. Do pop in if you are in the area - and don't forget to enthuse over the aerials!

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That's it for this Newsletter. Do check out the new www.AerialPhotography.Directory and give it a go. Please feedback any issues or bugs and also suggest any features that you would like added.

Overshoot Photo's January 2014 Newsletter

Welcome to Overshoot Photo's January 2014 Newsletter

In this issue:-

• CES - Drones making a stir
• US announces six drone test sites
• BBC iPlayer behind the scenes of Earthflight
• Some Business advice for start-ups

CES - Drones making a stir

The BBC's Rory Cellan-Jones reports from this year's Technology Show - CES in Las Vegas

"Drones - or UAVs as we must learn to call them - are also much in evidence this year. Just a few weeks ago Amazon's plan to deliver parcels via drone was met with a wave of scepticism. But companies like China's DJI are showing more immediately practical uses for drones, from aerial filming to monitoring crops"

Click here to see full article

US announces six Drone Test sites

The US aviation regulator has announced the six states that will host sites for testing commercial use of drones. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) picked Alaska, Nevada, New York, North Dakota, Texas and Virginia. The sites are part of a programme to develop safety and operational rules for drones by the end of 2015.

That's next year, so if you are in the US and are seriously wanting to build up a commercial Aerial Photography Business, you need to get established and ready to go - a Drone, obviously, but also SEO optimised AP website and stay in the loop as to the progress and how you can obtain Approval.

Read full article here.

BBC iPlayer - behind the scenes of Earthflight

A Special programme looking at the techniques used in the production of Earthflight, including using microlights and gliders to become part of the flock. (R)

Yet more evidence of the extent that the BBC is using Aerial Photography more and more.

Click here (May not be available in some countries)

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Some Business advice for start-ups

Now,I appreciate that some of you are coming from an established Business already and want to add Aerial Photography to your existing Portfolio, but if you are starting from scratch, then you might like to know of a few money saving suggestions that I have used over time. With something like one in three Businesses failing in the first three years, it makes sense to optimise your chances and keep costs to a minimum. I'll post a couple of suggestions each month.

Staples is an online and offline stationery supplier. Make sure that you get its (free) Rewards Card so that you can pick up points each time you shop - and also receive money-off vouchers through the post. For a shop, its prices are pretty competitive.

ClickDocs. Why reinvent the wheel? If you need legal documents such as Terms & Conditions, Employment Contracts, don't pay a Solicitor an arm and a leg when you can have a ready-made one drawn up by a Legal team for a fraction of the cost. ClickDocs covers Business Documents, Partnerships, Commercial documents and Hire Agreements. Click to have a look at the full range.

That's it for this Newsletter. If you want to know more about the Second Hand Draganflys for sale, check out the website and get in touch for further information and to buy. If you are new to the concept, don't forget to download the Whitepaper linked to on the Home Page.

Happy Flying and may 2014 bring you what you want

Andy

Welcome to Overshoot Photo's December 2013 Newsletter



In this issue:-

• Draganfly X4 added to 'for sale' list
• Amazon tests out Drone Delivery
• BBC report on the above plus Civilian use
• BBC Drone - Thailand Rally

Draganfly X4 added to 'For Sale'

Overshoot is now selling a Draganfly X4 plus all the usual accessories (stills camera, video camera, Basestation etc.). The X4 is the next model down from the X6. It is lacking the GPS functionality, so the user is unable to use this to record position, nor lock the drone into position - so the pilot has to free-fly it. Apart from that, it is very similar and represents a lower price point into this Business. At this price, it should pay for itself with a few shoots in no time

Click here to see full specs and prices: 

http://www.overshoot-photos.co.uk/aerial-photography/second-hand-draganflyer-for-sale.php

Amazon tests out Drone Delivery

Amazon has released a video demonstrating 'PrimeAir', it's new delivery concept using Drones

Amazon PrimeAir

It's an interesting concept, but that's all it is, a concept. I personally can never see this becoming reality as a commercial option for Amazon. Safety implications both from mechanical failure and collision with other drones, cables, buildings etc. etc. Theft of the Drone, battery life limitations and so on really make it a non-flier (ho ho - it is Christmas). Still, you never know where these ideas take you - perhaps they could be used in Amazon's warehouses in a controlled environment. The picking staff are already called 'drones'...

BBC report on the above plus Civilian use

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-25185369

Not much to add, really. Interesting report.

BBC Drone - Thailand Rally Report

BBC reporting Live from the Thailand Rally with Drone footage. Comments?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-25303252

My main question is one of safety. That drone is directly over the crowd and descends to just in front of the crowd as the Reporter finishes his piece to camera. In Europe under CAA or EuroUSC rules, this would be a clear violation of clearance rules. I don't care what reassurances would be given by the BBC team, accidents still happen. Here's National Geographic getting into trouble:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJrT7cnTCSM

I guess the rules in Thailand are slacker. Doesn't mitigate the risk of injuring (or worse) to the public.

Finally, a hark back to the Amazon story. Merry Christmas

cartoon (C) Scott Johnson, c/o 

http://www.myextralife.com/comic/competition/

That's it for this Newsletter. If you want to know more about the Second Hand Draganflys for sale, check out the website and get in touch for further information. If you are new to the concept, don't forget to download the Whitepaper linked to on the Home Page

Happy Flying

Andy