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A
sa qualifieddronepilotoneof
mybiggestheadachesis
findingsomewherethatI can
takeoffandland.That’s
becausealthoughyoucanfly overground
youdon’town,legallyyouhaveto have
thepermissionof thelandownerto takeoff
andland.I’vecontactedfarmers,local
councils,golfcoursesandallsorts,andI’ve
beenluckyenoughto geta coupleof
agreementsin place,butI’dloveto have
a fewmore.
A numberof dronepilotsI’vespoken
withonthemattersaytheytakethe
approachthatit’seasiertoask
forgivenessthantogetpermission.
That’sprobablytrue,butit’sa short-term
solutionthatwillultimatelydamagethe
reputationof dronesandthosewhofly
them.Floutingthelawalsomakesit even
harderforpilotswhowanttokeepthings
aboveboardbecausewe’reseenas
peoplewhosneakaboutflying aircraft
wherethey’renotwanted.
Seekpermission
Surely,it’sbettertoseekpermissionand
fly withconfidence– nothavingtolook
overyourshouldertocheckif you’ve
beenspotted?Seekingpermissionalso
meansthatif anyonecomesuptotalkto
youaboutyourdrone(andbelieveme
theywill)youcanletthemknowwhere
theywillbeabletoseeyourshotsand
videowithoutfearthatyou’reactually
givingthemtheevidencethatenables
themtotakelegalactionagainstyou.
Aswellashelpingtobreakdownany
preconceptionsaboutdronesandtheir
pilots,contactingthelandownergivesyou
theopportunitytodiscussthebesttime
andlocationforyoutoshoot.For
instance,thelandownermaybehappyfor
youtofly if theyarepresent,ortheymay
askyoutosticktooneparticularareaor
onlyfly at specific times.Byopeninga
dialogueyoustanda chanceof beingable
toreturntothelocationin thefuture.
It’snotjustlandownersthatneed
considerationfromdronepilots.In Iceland
recently I noticed that several of the most
popularphotographiclocationshadsigns
upstatingthatnodroneswereallowed.
That’sincrediblyfrustratingwhensomany
of usmarvelat theaerialpicturesand
videofootagethata dronecancapture
and,of course,somedronersaren’tput
offbya sign.Thisisn’talwaysa popular
moveamongstthemassesof
photographers,especiallythoseshooting
longexposureswhodiscoverthey’vegot
lighttrailscuttingacrosstheirimages.I’ve
evenheardof somereachingfora rockto
takedowntheoffendingaircraft.
It thereforeseemsprettyclearthat
thereneedstobesomegiveandtakeon
bothsidesandtakingthetimetowalk
overtootherphotographerstohavea
chataboutyourplanscouldmake
everyone’sshootmoresuccessful
whetherthecamerais land-orsky-
based.Offeringtocaptureanaerialshot
of thephotographersin a spectacular
landscapewiththeircamerascan also
reallyhelpimproverelations.
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED IN THIS COLUMN ARE NOT NECESSARILY THOSE OF AMATEUR PHOTOGRAPHER MAGA ZINE OR TI MEDIA LIMITED
©
GETT Y
Dronepilots,professionalandhobbyist,needto
thinkaboutthelong-termimpactoftheiractions
Viewpoint
Angela
AngelaNicholsonwasAmateurPhotographer’stechnical
editor.She’stestedeverythingfromcompactsto medium-
format cameras. Visitwww.angelanicholson.com.
Alittlebitofcooperationbetween
landowners and drone pilots goes a long way
© TIM COLEMAN
© GUOFEI LI, CHINA, WINNER, OPEN, NATURAL WORLD & WILDLIFE, 2020 SONY WORLD PHOTOGRAPHY AWARDS
CONTENT
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Creamofthecrop
Ourpickofthecategorywinnersofthis
year’sSonyWorldPhotographyAward
FujifilmXRawStudio
AngelaNicholsontakesa lookatthekey
featuresofthisfreesoftware
Wonderful 110
JohnWadeoninterestingandusable 110
cameras, both SLR and compact
Youmaythinkyourlocality
isn’tphotogenic,butthink
again, says Tim Coleman
Inspired by
lockdown
In next week’s issue
On sale Tuesday 12 May
‘Contactingthe
landownergivesyoua
chancetodiscussthe
besttimeandlocation
for you to shoot’
Nicholson
