Hello 
I have recently been doing lots of flying around churches, at first I was really confident in going in and taking off.
Yesterday I saw a lady in the graveyard tending a grave and it made me feel a little disrespectful!
Does anyone else go to churches with their drone?
Hi Arran,
Many of us photograph churches . I have been involved in the GADC Birthday Challenge and Treasure Hunt for several years now and this subject came up once when one subject to photograph was “an isolated church”. A couple of people stated they wouldn’t fly over graveyards as it was “disrespectful.”
It was pointed out that you needn’t over fly the graves in order to take a picture of a church. My local church has a footpath running through the grounds and fields at the back. Many dog walkers use the footpath as do cyclists pushing their bikes. They pass close to people who are visiting graves. No one has ever complained of intrusion.
If you are flying a drone there is the problem of noise and the perceived problem of invasion of privacy. You can mitigate both by either flying at a distance or, if you want to be close to the church for a shot, landing and waiting until the person has left.
Or you could walk up to them and gently explain what you are intending to do, ask their permission to do so and, if they wish, take a photograph for them of the grave and it’s location.
just my thoughts! 
I have flown many churches, even some with permission from the church itself. best advice I can give if just be respectful. Keep your distance from members of the public who are actively visiting a grave.
Things to do to avoid being a nuisance:
Take off and land from as far away from the grave yard as possible and fly high to avoid noise disturbance. Most people only visit graves a short time so get your high shots in first (they won’t even know you’re there) then once you’ve got your high shots in the bag chances are they have finished their visit and moved on so then you can get your lower shots without disrespecting or annoying anyone.
Also I’ve found that most churches the smaller local ones especially can be very accommodating if you seek permission.
The way I approach this is start by saying you’re an amateur photographer and you would like to take some photos of their church. then follow that up with some of your previous work shown on your phone again start with a couple of ground level shots then swipe over to the drone shots and 9 times out of 10 they are blown away by the images and will gladly let you take some shots. I also tend to donate a couple of my images to them as a thank you for being accommodating 
I echo the posts above,
Having just been to a church grounds just a few hours ago, I sat on a bench in the corner away from the few that passed through ( the grounds were quite big where I went ) once I felt comfortable & gave a couple of waves & good afternoons I done my two minute flight, walked of casually ( nothing to hide ) then stopped & spoke to a passing couple ( which I didn’t need to ) great day lovely sun blah blah blah, just got a couple of Ariel shots ( oooh fantastic they say they can see I have a drone in my hand ) t care bye bye job done 
Personally if I saw someone tending to a resting place, out of decency I wouldn’t fly.
I pretty much agree with everything above - nothing inherently wrong with flying over churches or graveyards, but if I saw somebody tending a grave I think I’d just pop the drone back in the bag and come back another time.
As ever, Wheaton’s Law covers it 
Coincidentally, happy Don’t Be a Dick Day everybody! 
I’ve flown churches with permission while people are visiting resting places on site, but I stayed well clear of the area where they were and flew on the other side of the grounds getting the landscape shots where I’m hundreds of meters out from the actual church. Nobody onsite would of even known I was there. the actual church was between the drone and the visitors so they wouldn’t even be visible in any of the photos being taken. by the time I’d got all my landscape shots the grounds were empty everyone had left so then I had free roam of the whole grounds to get my close up and ground level shots.
Thank you @macspite for the reply. I think they make really Interesting subjects. I will deffo stay high and as far away as possible
Yes I admit out of decency 101 % if people are visiting graves for me yes a different story as also mentioned above I’d pack up go home & go back when no one’s visiting, I couldn’t fly if the above was happening.
Yes, I broght it down as soon as I saw them.
I was at a grave yard for a favour for a friend. I was doing a small video for him and a lady turned up. We were packing away and she asked nicely what we were doing. We told her a video going from the grave up to the sky and then aiming towards his house which faded to a shot above the local park landing saying they are always close. She said she wished she knew someone who could do that. The rest is obvious. It put a smile on her face and we e mailed it to her.
I have to feel comfortable taking off. Everyone has their own story.
I’ve backed off flying when they’re was nobody around : War memorials - #12 by OzoneVibe - but that was more my own emotions than respecting others.
Funny things, emotions. 
There are now companies that offer drone footage of funeral services. They omit flyover footage of the open grave for respect though, but will video the funeral procession etc.
Totally with you on that one.
… and respect
That was so nice of you 
I recently flew close to a local church having asked for permission first. They were happy for me to fly with two provisos. First that I didn’t fly if there was a funeral underway and secondly that I didn’t post any footage on social media which could potentially show thieves how to access the roof for the lead and copper. Both conditions entirely reasonable.
I’m pretty sure thieves don’t spend hours and hours searching YouTube for drone videos that might show some lead on the roof of a church.
If they were going to target a church they’d either fly their own drone over it, or they’d do what every other lead thief does and just turn up with a ladder and lean it against the wall and steal the lead.
They’re not rocket scientists
More caravan mechanics and drive tarmaccers
My daughter’s church has an annual barbecue at the back of the church with people bringing their own seats. They sit on the paths between graves in the the churchyard. The minister and volunteers cook the food on two barbecues (one vegetarian) on a small area between the church building and the graves. They agreed for me to take drone video to record the event. I took the video with my mini 3 pro close to the church so as to see the action. A lot of the footage was no use as the camera lost focus with the smoke from the barbecue.
