Last week’s meeting: Britain by Drone with Nigel Spencer
After an introductory audio/visual presentation showing his impressive drone shots, mainly around his local area of Northamptonshire, Nigel gave a comprehensive introduction to the rules and regulations of flying drones.
The Civil Aviation Authority is responsible for regulation of drones and guides can be found here. You need an ID to be a ‘flyer’ and also an ID as an ‘operator’. Your drone needs to have your ‘operator’ ID registration attached to it.
There are numerous ‘apps’ which can show you where you cannot fly – ‘no fly zones’ – such a airports, prisons, and National Trust land.
One of the key rules is that you cannot fly above 120m in height from the ground or water. You should also be able to see your drone when flying it and you cannot fly closer than 50 metres to people, unless they are involved in your drone flight.
A drone can cost between £100 and several £1000s. Battery life determines how long you can have the drone in the air and the drone will automatically return to you once battery power drops below a certain level. It will fly at a certain height, say 80m, then descend when it reaches the designated spot.
The only difference between drone photography and other photography is the ‘point of view’, all other photographic conventions remain the same.
The talk was interactive and there were a great deal of questions put to Nigel from members wanting to know more about the practicalities of drone photography.
Nigel crews on boats and spent three months sailing from Gosport on the south coast to Oban in the west of Scotland. He showed an audio/visual presentation that captured the highlights of the this journey.
In the second half Nigel showed a drone trip around Britain taking in the Scilly Isles, Burnham on Sea, Lundy, Anglesey and many other coastal places. Unfortunately time was pressing and he had to cut short his presentation.
Nigel said that if anyone wanted further information and advice on drone photography he is happy to help. His website is: http://www.nigelspencer.co.uk/ and he is on Instagram @nigelspencerskyphoto