Yes, I absolutely love flying the drone for its own sake. And yes, I absolutely love manipulating images – heck I have been doing it for over 20 years – but let’s be honest, the idea of making some money for having fun with a drone was too cool to pass up. And, in case you didn’t know, you are NOT allowed to do that without a license.
What Types of Jobs Did I Plan On Getting?
So, what exactly did I have in mind? Well in terms of being hired as a drone photographer the obvious (to me) options seemed to be things like:
- Working with Real Estate Agents needing aerial shots of the properties they are hoping to sell
- Wineries (being that I live in the Finger Lakes Region) wanting amazing aerial shots and footage of their vineyards and properties.
- Car Dealerships
- Working with wedding photographers and allowing them to add additional options to their packages.
In other words, I was thinking completely In The Box for the types of jobs available to a drone photographer.
SIDE NOTE:
Nothing wrong with any of those in the box types of jobs by ANY means! And if you’re reading this and you need someone for that type of work…I absolutely would love to help you out! My point in mentioning these types of jobs was just to illustrate that a little creative thinking never hurts! And if one needs a nudge in that direction by outside sources the so be it!
A Greenhouse, though….?
So when a local greenhouse texted my number and asked if I would be willing to fly outside AND inside their facility I was more than a little surprised.
Surprised and apprehensive!
Surprised because the thought of shooting aerial greenhouse pics never even crossed my mind. What a cool idea!
Apprehensive because….well…there isn’t much clearance at the top of these greenhouses what with all the support wires, fans etc. that are generally so close to the ceilings. This would require me to turn off my safety feature in order to fly in such close quarters.
But hey – I’ll try anything once!
The Result?
Well, after about 40 minutes or so of flying inside and outside of the facility, I got some great pictures and video footage. The owner and the worker that reached out to me were quite pleased. In fact, they had me come back for a second shoot and we are currently in the process of scheduling a third!
And even better than great drone footage is…
This shoot was a ton of fun for me as the pilot. And I was extremely happy that the owners loved the outcome.
But beyond the excellent results, the whole endeavor got me to add greenhouses to my list of possible clients. And since this time I have done shoots for two more similar facilities.
So a big shout out to Massi’s Greenhouse in Painted Post, NY for their own outside of the box thinking. A real pleasure to work with these folks.
