26 http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk
DRONE PHOTOGRAPHY
geeky attention to weather forecasts
to come up with ideas and make
them work. A shot of London’s
Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park
took four days of delicate
negotiations with The Royal Parks,
[air trac body] NATS and Winter
Wonderland themselves. Hyde Park
is a restricted area with the airspace
controlled by the Met Police.’ He
was commissioned by The London
Evening Standard, which stipulated
that the image had to run on a
certain date. That meant that all
permissions had to be lined up at
the right time for the feature to run‘I try to give my images a news hook to hang the image on, be
that weather, a link to current aairs, or a famous landmark’
It’s perhaps not surprising
that his work has been such a
hit with a number of news
publications, given his background
working as a picture editor for both
The New Zealand Herald and The
London Evening Standard – he has
vital insight into what a newspaper
will publish. He explains, ‘I try to
give all my images a news hook to
hang the image on, be that weather,
a link to current aairs or a famous
landmark that everyone knows. It
helps the image massively when
pushing it to a picture desk. A great
example of this is my image of the
Glenfinnan Viaduct in Scotland as
it was used in the Harry Potter
films, giving it a great hook.’
A fully qualified PfCO pilot, Chris
uses the DJI Mavic 2 Pro (of which
he has two). He says, ‘The jump
from the first Mavic Pro was quite
significant for me – the ability to
shoot in low light is vital for about
50% of my images and the one-inch
sensor on the Hasselblad camera is
fantastic. I could never use a larger
drone for my work as often I have to
hike to a location. I also don’t want
a drone that is too intrusive.’
Planning the perfect drone shoot
can require a high level of
meticulous planning. Chris says, ‘It
takes a lot of brainstorming andLeeds Castle,
KentShots like this of
Hyde Park’s Winter
Wonderland require a
lot of planningLulworth Cove in Dorset