• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • DroneLife
  • DroneRacingLife
  • JobForDrones
  • Our Youtube Channel
  • Our Forums
  • Subscribe
  • About & Contact
  • Podcast

Droneflyers.com

Quadcopter, Multirotor and Drones Resource Site

  • FREE Drone eBooks!
  • Beginners Guide
  • Aerial Photography/Video
  • Editorial/Industry News
  • Best Drones You Can Buy Now

Finding Places to Fly and Photograph with your Drone

July 3, 2015 by craigi

FacebookTweetPin

Finding Places to Fly and Photograph with your Drone.

For some this is very easy – for others a bit more difficult. Here are some hints and tips which may help you find some safe – and photogenic – places to fly!
Note: most of these suggestions assume you know how to take decent pics and videos which you can share with the owners or overseers of the properties.

Learn to use Google, Apple or Bing Satellite Maps to locate large open areas. During a recent trip to Florida, I noticed that a large fairgrounds was just a few blocks away. This area provided a great view of the city and surrounding area and was very safe for flying.

Walking or Biking around an area can often locate some additional places to fly. I founds some large abandoned areas near some railroad tracks which provided an amazing view of a local park as well as the center of town.

Consider your Contacts
Do you or your friends know the owners of the local golf course? How about those who may own a local pick-your-own farm or orchard? These are often beautiful properties with great views of the local area. You can offer them some free photos and video in return for permission to fly.

DCIM100MEDIADJI_0008.JPG
Historic Horse Barn

School Properties and Conservation Land

Many school properties are vacant or very lightly used on weekends – and so can provide a place to take your aerial photographs. Many towns and counties have so-called “Conservation Land”, which are properties that allow public access for activities like hunting, hiking, etc. As with any other flying grounds you’ll want to check them out first and make certain your activities won’t distirb others.

Advertising for Places to Fly

I recently found additional places to fly in the following manner:

I contacted the admin of a local botanical park and offered to take video and photos on their 10 acre grounds.

I noticed a nice shot of a local church in some of my pics, so I sent a copy along to the church (found their web site) and also offered to shoot some other pics for them. They really liked the pic and invited me to take pics and video on their property.

Church in Sarasota Florida
Church in Sarasota Florida

You can even consider an ad on Craigslist in the photo section – offering free services in trade for permission to do some flying.

Volunteer

Many areas have Land Trusts which funtion to preserve valuable farmland, wilderness and other open areas. I shared some of my photos and videos with one such ground locally and now have volunteered to help them on an informal basis. They will assign me a couple places to photograph and arrange, if needed, with the farmer or land owners in question. You may be able to find some local land trusts at this URL:
http://findalandtrust.org/

Be creative and you can likely find plenty of safe, fun and beautiful places to fly. As a bonus you will also likely have a wider audience for your photos and videos, as these organizations will often post your work on their web site.

FB Comments

Related

Related posts:

  1. DJI Phantom 3 Quadcopter – First Look, Review and Rating
  2. Understanding Brushless Camera Gimbals
  3. 5 Reasons Why DJI GO Only Scratches the Surface of your DJI Drone Potential
  4. DJI Phantom 4 – Computer Vision – Part 3 of our Review/Rating
FacebookTweetPin

Filed Under: Aerial Video and Photography, DJI Phantom Section, Guides, Uncategorized Tagged With: 2015, Camera, Comparison, DJI, GoPro, Guide, Guides, How to, Instructions, MultiRotor, Photography, Video

Primary Sidebar

Top Posts & Pages

  • Walkera Runner 250 Review Part 2- Flight Testing and Conclusion
  • Blade 350 QX and QX2 Quadcopter - Review, Rating and more...
  • FPV for Beginners - a quick DIY quadcopter project
  • DJI Phantom Models Differences - a Hobbyists Guide
  • unmanned vehicle system (UVS)
  • Syma X11 Review and Rating

Social

  • View droneflyers’s profile on Facebook
  • View bestquads’s profile on Twitter
  • View UCU4BAbFXrv9ShEkjEsgLBEw’s profile on YouTube
  • View user19925817’s profile on Vimeo


Subscribe Now

Footer

Copyright © 2025 · News Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

 

Loading Comments...
 

You must be logged in to post a comment.