AerialScotland Drone Imaging Scotland

AerialScotland is a company created by former press and events photographer Aaron Sneddon. Having photographed large events and worked with well known companies and individuals, Aaron now works exclusively in the field of drones, and all that they are capable of. Because of Aaron’s previous knowledge of photography, he can safely be called not just a drone operator, but a drone photographer.

Every week is a different week, from full on roof inspections of Scotland’s biggest and busiest hospitals to ortho photo creation for insurance companies and ship to ship filming out at sea.

The history of the company goes back to 2009. At first Aaron used a KAP (Kite Aerial Photography) rig, and this worked to a certain extent, but this didnt work in cities and where there was no wind. The solution was the Helikite. The Helikite was a hybrid kite/Helium balloon, great in all weather but high winds, where it became at times unstable, and hard to bring back down to earth once the wind got up. Images were taken using a pan/tilt platform that was operated remotely, much the same as a gimbal on a modern drone.

The day of the UAV arrived and AerialScotland began harnessing the technology, roll on past the DJI Phantom 1, Phantom 2, Phantom 3, DJI s900 and we are now in 2021.

Aaron has a PFCO (Permission for Commercial Operations) and A2 COFC. The Permission for Commercial Operations allows Aaron to work in built up areas using the DJI Inspire X5S within the limits prescribed by the CAA.

Services

Disciplines – Aerial video

From estate agents, land owners, media producers and insurance companies, AerialScotland guarantees video unique to the clients requirements.

Disciplines – Aerial Photography

Aerial photography is simply photography from the air. WIthout the knowledge of photographic principles, a drone operator is simply just that, they are not a photographer. As an experienced photographer, previously covering events like political meetings, press calls, even the pope visiting Scotland, Aaron of AerialScotland is able to say he is a drone photographer.
Aaron has done assignments for and provided images for most UK newspapers, magazines like Golf Illustrated, Total Film magazine, BBC magazines and more, before moving on to drone work.
Every assignment is different. Aaron covers everything from boat to boat photography and filming, aerial photography for estate agents, commercial photography for construction and construction monitoring companies, and inspection of both domestic and large commercial properties for insurance companies.
You can see that the images are all technically correct, I also use a range of drones from the DJI Inspire 2 XS, to the DJI Mavic 2 Pro, down to the little DJI Mini 2, which is ideal for city centres and the likes.
hy for estate agents, commercial photography for construction and construction monitoring companies, and inspection of both domestic and large commercial properties for insurance companies.

Disciplines – 3D Modelling

As well as high quality aerial video and photography, Aaron of AerialScotland has created a range of both public and private 3D models for clients. A statement from Aaron is below.
“I do not use automated flight planning software for 3d modelling, instead I tailor each flight to the shape of the building or site being scanned, and of course the topography of the land, because of this you will see higher quality models”.
The method used is called Photogrammetry, a bit of a science, but once you get the hang of it you can capture a dataset and recreate an object, building, land etc as a virtual clone. AerialScotland can recreate very realistic virtual clones, that can be rotated, zoomed etc on almost any pc or mobile device. Below you can explore some of the public models created, note client models and white label models are not public.

AerialScotland uses the DJI Inspire X5S, the DJI Mini 2 and DJI Mavic Pro 2.

The X5S is capable of high quality raw still images, great CinemaDNG RAW and ProRes video capture and more.
The DJI Mini 2 can be used almost anywhere, this includes in cities, above people and vehicles, this is the majic tool in the box used for roof inspections and filming where no streets have to be cut off during filming.
The DJI Mavic Pro 2 is a highly capable small drone. This drone shoots 10 bit LOG, has a 1 Inch sensor, it also has serious range and battery duration.
Aaron is fully insured with public liability included.

Gallery