Corporate Drone Photography – Chicago Corporate Photo & Video

Aerial photography, also known more commonly drone photography, has recently come on the scene in last the two years or so. It has become one the hottest new things in architectural, aerial, real estate, landmark, and even event photography. Why? Well, have you ever seen those awesome birds-eye view shots in film or commercials? That was most likely a drone that captured the image. Drones have the ability to shoot at unique angles and capture the most desired views of a scene. Check out Chicago Corporate Photography and Video’s reel to get a sense of the kind of work we’ve done with corporate drone photography at our studio:

Some Drone Background

What exactly is a drone? You might be wondering what a drone is at this point. A drone is classified as a small aircraft, which is either piloted with a remote control by a user on the ground (the photographer), or piloted by onboard computers. You are probably familiar with drones being associated with military or special operations use, but you may not realize all of the benefits they have for photography.

Drone Laws. Recently there has been a lot of negative attention placed on drones in the media. As mentioned above, drones are ultimately small, robotic, aircrafts, and there are laws that accompany the ability to operate them in most places. In the US the FAA guidelines mandate that drones and other model aircraft must stay less than 400 feet above the ground and at least 3 miles away from airport traffic. Some states are strict when it comes to trespassing and licensing laws as well. For example, flying a drone over someone’s private property could be considered trespassing. Professional photographers are aware of these rules, so unlike individuals who have gained negative attention in the media, professionals know the codes they need to abide by, and will make sure to follow them strictly when they do photography work for a corporate event.

Corporate Drone Photography and It’s Usage

A Photographer’s Perspective. From an artistic perspective, drone photography is really not that different from a typical landscape photography photo shoot, in that, weather conditions and lighting are really key to make sure that you are capturing the shots that you want to. While the quality may not be quite as good as what cameras on the ground can capture (purely because of the size and type of camera that can fit on drones presently), a lot of work can be done in post-production to make footage look seamless and high-quality. This is why you see drone footage in premiere films!

Capturing Unique Views. Drone photography is not the first thing that comes to mind when you are thinking of capturing external shots of your office or perhaps a large outdoor corporate event. Yet, the unique views that drones can get from above allow corporate clients to choose drone photography to get shots that are different from the website and social media content of their competitors.

What can you use corporate drone photography for? There are many uses for drone photography in the corporate world, and these are bound to get more attention as the years go on (so you might as well be ahead of the game, right?) Here are SOME examples of what we can use drone photography for:

• Civic projects or building developments
• Property maps and surveys
• Capturing aerial views of property and land
• Unique aerial shots of corporate events
• Aerial portraits or group photos
• Landscape, travel, or street photography
• Advertisements
• Corporate introduction videos

Here is an aerial video we did for The Clare, a downtown building in Chicago:

https://vimeo.com/188904130

The Takeaway

We do many kinds of work for our clients, and corporate drone photography is one of our specialties. It is always exciting to see the different kinds of corporate photography we can do for our clients with drones. Most photographers are happy to collaborate on creative ideas you have for using aerial photography and really bring them to life on your business site. Whether you want to use footage for a website reel, a commercial, or to develop social media or blog content—drone photography can add a unique dimension to the content your company uses for marketing or internal use.