Aerial Photography Using Drones
You can’t overstate how wide-ranging the benefits of aerial photography can be for marketing your company. Setting the right scene is always important when promoting your products or services, and depending on the industry you represent, you can gain an advantage when your imagery reflects an overhead view that is high and wide.
High-resolution cameras on drones capture some of the most dramatic and accurate imagery, which is useful for government agencies, business owners, and creative projects. Angles matter when creating a comprehensive portrayal of a person, place, or thing. Aerial photography is a breakthrough in achieving that purpose.
Is aerial imagery useful?
There are numerous commercial interests that make use of aerial photography. Some of the industries that benefit most from overhead images are:
- Defense Department
- Car dealerships
- Hotels/Resorts
- Property management companies
- Pool construction
- Amusement parks
- Landscapers
- Mapping services
- Geographic software designers
- Wedding photographers
- Animal rescue organizations
Drone photography is also an investigative tool. There are limits to places that people can go and sometimes you need eyes on objects you can’t see. For instance, a private investigator uses advanced levels of deduction and at times needs a better view of the situation.
Do you own a media outlet? Investigative journalism sometimes requires a view from above. You may need an expansive perspective when doing a deep dive into an issue, or you can also use overhead shots and aerial videography when putting together a package that sells your story.
Retail businesses utilize aerial images for their ad campaigns when their products or services cannot be fully appreciated without an overhead view. The challenge in marketing a golf course, for instance, is communicating its vast, sprawling acreage and a strategic layout, which is central to its selling points. What makes a course compelling is its size, condition, and the strategy of play. You can’t sell those qualities without aerial photography.
Are you a realtor? You cannot be competitive in the world of real estate without aerial imagery. Are you a builder? You need home buyers to see what they’re getting – the home and the neighborhood. Hiring a professional aerial photographer enables you to sell your properties with better representation.
When a home buyer meets with you about a property they found online, you can assume their interest was piqued because of the images they saw online. Three decades ago, if you were selling a house you needed to be on the physical MLS listings – a paper product – but now the public can even take tours on the realtor’s website.
The team at COLDEA Productions consists of technicians with wide-ranging experience in the use of drones to acquire high-quality aerial photography. We provide bird’s-eye imagery for personal and commercial use, combining our expertise in capturing images with our knowledge of drone capabilities.
What is a drone?
Aerial photography has been used in the United States since long before drones became a popular device for photographers and a recreational tool for curious young adults. Think back to any modern war coverage and you have seen images from the air, but you might not realize how long historic aerials have been around.
Many people associate the use of “drones” with the United States military because this was the first application for unmanned aerial vehicles, which are referred to as UAVs. Thanks to the cameras on drones, we are all familiar with satellite images that give us a point of view from far above the earth’s surface.
Engineers and scientists who study landforms use color-infrared aerial photographs, which render views with colors that aren’t visible to the human eye. Color-infrared technology portrays natural areas differently, such as vegetation which has red tones. Agricultural regions with bare soil appear green, blue or white and water ranges from light blue to black.
One of the most relied upon agencies for satellite imagery in the United States is the Fairfax County GIS & Mapping Services, a division of the county’s Department of Information Technology. It is the entity that coordinates and distributes GIS data and technology to county residents and its governmental agencies. The public has access to products and services from GIS which means there are numerous mapping capabilities that you can use for your own purposes. They sell maps and topographical data, as well as administer a free data site online. They also have historical aerial imagery which you can access on the agency’s website.
The jury is still out, legally, as to limits on flight levels and the presence of unmanned flying crafts with cameras vs. privacy of citizens. It’s a fluid matter and facts continue to unfold. The FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) is at the center of every debate about allowing remote control pilots to operate them outside of their “line of sight.”
There’s a growing market for their use on a more trivial scale, such as small unmanned aerial systems (SUAS), which are the DIY drones used by hobbyists for recreational purposes. And with that growing interest, their technological features are becoming more sophisticated, such as the French-made parrot drone, a lightweight quadcopter that is remotely controlled using software on a mobile or tablet operating system.
These, and other forms of UAVs, are expanding the technologic possibilities for acquiring aerial photographs and video footage.
These remote-controlled camera devices offer a bird’s-eye view of practically anything on earth, making the technology a major player across a number of fields. Of course, they are used for military intelligence and for law enforcement to some degree, but they also serve in other departments, such as firefighting, search and rescue operations, and disaster relief. The best drones can also monitor traffic, weather, and even market your products.
How is drone photography used?
While the use of historic aerials has long been appreciated, aerial imagery can be useful to virtually any business if a vantage point from the air can contribute to its value. High definition photos and aerial videography can set your company apart from your competitors. The technology provides a dramatic perspective and unique angles that cannot be acquired through limited amateur photography.
While drones with more basic features have limited use by hobbyists worldwide, chances are, camera-carrying drones are breakthrough technology in your marketplace.
The most obvious, of course, is the real estate market, where aerial views posted on social media can capture the attention of potential home buyers (a huge win), while also informing a few lookie-loos (not so lucrative, but they talk to friends). Since drone videos and photography came onto the scene in the United States, real estate marketing has never been the same.
Hotels are huge candidates for the use of drone photography. If you have investment properties, it’s a big opportunity to capture the interest of renters. Whereas previous generations had to take their chances that the amenities (like swimming pools) touted by hotels and resorts were accurately described, now they can dive in (visually, of course).
Your company can take a victory lap over the competition if you’re a frontrunner in using a camera drone for marketing and advertising. There are innumerable enterprises that benefit from marketing materials through the eyes of a drone camera. The following are just a few examples:
- Roofers
- Construction companies
- Architectural firms
- Schools
- Golf courses
- Sporting facilities
And for corporate advertising, an overhead shot of the building, or a whole block of buildings – whatever the case may be – gives you a professional, high-powered image to gain consumer exposure.
How does COLDEA Productions use drones?
Our technical expertise gives you a marketing advantage – we know how to operate drones and as seasoned photographers you get superior images as well. We can shoot indoor events such as conventions and concerts to give your clients and associates a better view of crowd size and energy levels.
We provide drone photography for industrial safety inspections and images for closed-set film production. The COLDEA Productions team works with you to meet your unique goals for the project.
We are known for the compelling design of our marketing materials, largely due to our experience using aerial photographs. Our team has a strong engineering background, so there are very few technical limitations when working on your marketing project.
Of course, high-resolution aerial photos can revolutionize your product media package, because of its ability to both magnify the subject and help your clients to think differently. Other than an occasional airplane flight, most consumers in the United States aren’t able to see anyone’s product – whatever it is – from above.
Our experience in the L.A. film industry, along with our penchant for all things technical, have added up to hours of camera work from the air plus the necessary equipment and connections to feature your business in this unique way. The sky’s the limit, of course, when it comes to camera angles and landscape possibilities using drone photography.
If you’re interested in moving images for the purpose of real estate marketing, commercial advertising, corporate videos, training materials, or web videos, we can utilize drones for those projects. We’re seasoned videographers who have used the technology for feature films, short films, and documentaries as well.
Our camera work is, of course, the highest resolution using industry quality lenses, creating a professional photo package for your company’s marketing or training purposes. By harnessing UAV technology, using quadcopters with high-tech cameras, your corporate image can hit the marketplace with more drama than your competitors.
If you own real estate, we can radically take your previous marketing to the next level. Imagine the degree to which your clients can visualize the properties in your listing. And as far as getting more of your community’s listings, it will be a no-brainer when your real estate aerial videography and photography are posted on your website or other social media. It is ready for sharing on your favorite platforms.
Are you interested in creating a commercial or web video to promote your company? Aerial videography only adds to the drama and information you can provide your consumers, which is something we do.
This is easy to fit into your budget, thanks to the rise of the UAV market and the use of drones. It will maximize the impact of your marketing and advertising if you can share the kind of unique viewpoint offered by aerial photography.
