Part of being a photographer (whether on the ground or in the air) is being creative and showing your subject in its best light. We think we do a great job being creative, but after a year in business we've found that some of the most interesting creativity we've encountered actually comes from our customers' ideas for how to use a drone. As this year comes to a close, we decided to reflect on and share with you some of our favorite, creative requests from customers - which will hopefully inspire you to think outside the box when it comes to utilizing drone services too!

Solar Eclipse day at Kunsmiller school: It's not too surprising that a creative arts school would come up with an original idea to document their students watching the eclipse this past August. We thought we would just be shooting video and photos of the students in the field as they watched the eclipse. But the school surprised us by having the students stand in the formation of the school's logo which made for some amazingly unique shots

Painting at Daniel's Park: Bob Ross was obviously pro enough to have his own TV show, but that doesn't mean other painters can't get in on the video action. For this shoot we met our lovely painter at (almost) Daniel's Park (drone use within Daniel's Park isn't allowed), a park in Douglas County that is situated on a plateau with gorgeous views of the Front Range mountains. She set up her easel facing the mountains and began to paint as we flew overhead and captured the process in real time, resulting in the painted mountains coming to life right before the viewers eyes. 

To build or not to build: Ever wonder what your window view would be like if your home had a second or third story? Yeah, we never really thought about that either, but our customer did! He wanted to know what views he would see out of his windows if he added a second story to his home. Thanks to accurate altitude measurement and live video feed from the drone, we were able to show him exactly what his view would be, 360 degrees around, if he did in fact add on another story. Side note: since this original job, this has become very popular with architects and developers as a fast, accurate, and cheap way to both understand for planning and to render for marketing views for future developments.

Recreating the past: Twenty years ago a picture of our customers' home was captured by a photographer in a helicopter. They loved the picture and bought a copy from the photographer. They had it enlarged and framed, and proudly displayed for years, but as time went on they made many improvements and changes to their property that the photograph no longer represented. For an anniversary gift, the couples' son hired us to recreate their beloved picture. Not only were we able to quickly and easily recreate it without the noise, hassle, and expense of a helicopter, we were also able to shoot from some new angles and even record a video that the owners could use should they decide to sell in the future. We enjoyed this job not just because of the creativity of the customers, but because of how well it demonstrated the technological advances that have changed the world over the past twenty years - some of which are what allow our industry to exist today.

Have your own ideas for creative drone uses? Share them with us in the comments or contact us to discuss how we can help you accomplish them!