BTW: I did search but couldn’t see anything relevant - mostly I guess as this is hobbyist.
Anyway, I have a good friend who is a top notch wedding photog and she tells me she’s constantly being asked at wedding fayres “do you do drones”.
So last night we went out and she had a hands on review of my Mini 3 Pro and liked its capability and versatility. She’s not looking to do videos but may if she gets nagged enough. But she did have a bunch of questions that I couldn’t answer around the commercial side of it.
At a guess I said she’d need:
CAA registered
insurance
location permission
clauses in her contract setting out do’s and don’ts
log a flight plan
Anything else? For example, does she need to do any certs like A2 CofC?
I’ll deal with these in the order, you have asked .
CAA registration is a must.
Commercial insurance, absolutely.
Not entirely sure about location permission, but she’ll need to check that locations aren’t in Flight Restriction Zones. ( if they are, permission to fly in that zone, can be sought, but can be refused)
I’d have thought as a wedding photographer, she’d already have clauses in her contracts with clients, about their behaviour, etc.
There may or may not be a requirement to file a “ flight plan” ( depending upon location) At least she may well have to check out the location beforehand, to visualise shots/ scenes.
Not sure about A2 CofC, but it might be worth doing ( if only for the education )
Definitely get her to sign up here. Advice is free and the members are a helpful, friendly bunch.
She’s going to need to practice, practice, practice, with the drone beforehand ( this can take months too )
There will also be the post filming video editing and adding sound.
Would she be able to continue doing her top notch wedding photography on the ground whilst also worrying about flying a drone? Has she considered partnering with someone else who could do the drone side of things and allow her to focus on getting the shots on terra firma?
She would need an operator ID at the very least, and for anything over 249g would need a flyer ID as well. I would recommend everyone do the flyer ID anyway as it’s free and you might learn something…
As for A2 CofC/GVC etc, that would depend on what’s being flown and where you’re flying it. GADC’s very own Good 2 Go tool is your friend here.
Insurance is a must for any commercial flight, which I’m assuming these all would be. And it would be worth having a good chat with the management at the venue so they’re aware of what the plans are and you don’t get any hassle on the day.
Indeed and that’s covered by the CAA registration.
At this stage she is very much just looking at options. Me showing her my drone was a step in that process and I’m sure she’ll cover all aspects. To be fair, I may not even be asking the the right questions
Hi Stuart @stubbyd if your friend wants a drone for weddings then the Mini 3 Pro is the way to go, plus she’ll need the usual flyer/operator id. Also commercial insurance is required and a lot of wedding venues do ask to see this. I shot weddings last year at the same venue 3 days running and they asked to see it each time. As important as commercial insurance is permission for TOAL as you are on private property. 99% of wedding venues we work are fine and always give permission, some of them are in FRZ’s so I also need to get permission from the relevant ATC. There has been a few wedding venues that do not allow the use of drones on their property, but most couples who book them know that anyway (word gets out on social media). A venue close to me used to say no drones because they were next door to a nursery school, even though the nursery was closed at weekends when most weddings took place.
I do both professional wedding photography and videography.
As a photographer I’d say only a very small amount of my wedding photos are shot on a drone, mainly some location shots and I also use it to do a big group photo of all guests (saves me hanging out windows, hanging off fire escapes or climbing on to roofs as you can’t photograph 150+ guests at ground level, you just can’t see them all). Also, there just isn’t the time to use it more.
As a videographer though, it’s the total opposite, we use drones for a lot of our footage. There tends to be two of us filming and one uses a drone while the other is filming with ground based cameras. You can’t film a wedding with just a drone, you have to combine it with all the other footage shot on the day which includes the ceremony, speeches, dancing etc. Which means professional video cameras, high quality audio mics etc. We use tripods, monopods, gimbals, drones, small run ‘n’ gun video cameras for outdoor stuff, plus larger Sony pro video cameras for the ceremony, speeches etc.
We also get asked a lot at wedding fayres do we use drones but it’s for the video side of my business, very few of my photography clients ask this. If your friend is only going to use a drone with her photography I’d say it would only be for a small percentage of all her wedding photos. However an aerial photo of a castle/stately home etc. can give the opening page of a Storybook Album the WOW factor.
So to get back to your questions:
Yes to all except the flight plan, you don’t need one. CAA registered only needs to be a flyer/operator id if flying sub 250g. I also have an A2 C of C, though I don’t need it for sub 250g it’s handy when some venue manager asks to see my ‘licence’. Clauses I have in my contract are around when we can and when we can’t fly i.e. weather, flight restrictions etc. For permission I email venues in advance and then get an email back as my permission.
I also fly a Mavic 3 Classic but only tend to use it for some of the location shots at some of the more remote Scottish venues we work at. To be honest though, the Mini 3 Pro is more than up to the job.
No, and as she stated to me she has no intention of “learning another language”. She does partner with dedicated videographers if the couple ask for it.
@Drumsagard many thanks for your depth of insight and knowledge.
I shall pass this info along, and just maybe she will also sign up here now and just as equally she may decide no to the drone as she doesn’t do videos. I’m pretty sure that >90% of the time she shoots solo, so the hardest part would be the switch from ground to aerial shots for the one person.
That’s not a bad idea. If your friend doesn’t do video and is a solo photographer then she won’t really have the time for drone photos. A wedding day is extremely hectic and adding a drone to this workload isn’t easy. I often find that the only time I have to get my aerial location photos is when the wedding party are having their meal (which usually means I’m not eating) , the rest of the day is just non-stop.
Trust me, this is not a good idea, I’ve tried it lol
Edit: Meant to add, if I didn’t do professional wedding films and wasn’t a drone fanatic, I probably wouldn’t get one just for wedding photos, mainly due to the time constraints.
and just as equally she may decide no to the drone as she doesn’t do videos. I’m pretty sure that >90% of the time she shoots solo, so the hardest part would be the switch from ground to aerial shots for the one person.