28 http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk
DRONE PHOTOGRAPHY
‘This decision proved vital.
I arrived in Glenfinnan to
snow once again and miraculously
the weather had cleared to reveal a
Narnia-like scene. I sent the drone
out and took four frames and it
then began to hail so it was a race
to get the drone back. I knew that
if I didn’t take the image there and
then in the failing light the snow
would very likely be gone in the
morning – and it was. The resulting
image made two double-page
spreads in The Guardian and The
Daily Mail as well as a half page in
The Daily Telegraph.’
Many of Chris’s images stem from
his love of landscape photography
(and Ansel Adams). ‘The drone
allows me to take a camera (almost)
anywhere, it’s not all about height
but just being able to skim the
drone over water for example,
taking it where I can’t physically go,’
he says. ‘I remember seeing Ansel
Adams work and instantly
understanding it so he has been a
major inspiration.’
One of Chris’s most popular
images is the mist swirling around
Shipley Windmill (home of fictional
TV character Jonathan Creek) in
West Sussex. ‘This is a great
example of going out on a limb. I’d
seen this windmill while passing by
and knew it would be a great pointfor a picture at some stage. That
time came when I was looking for a
weather image for the newspapers.
I’d seen the weather forecast for the
next day predicted very thick fog so
I decided to head to the windmill at
6am – the sun rose at 7.30. When I
arrived I thought I’d wasted my
time as the fog seemed too thick for
the sunrise. However, around 30
minutes later, it started to burn o.
I raised the drone and it was one of
those shots I knew instantly was
going to be pretty epic. Suddenly a
flock of birds appeared and almost
in a panic I pressed the shutter.’
The resulting image appeared over
half a page in The Daily Telegraph,Above: This
windmill in West
Sussex appeared in
the Jonathan Creek
TV series. This is
one of Chris’s most
popular images