I enjoyed learning recently about the annual international drone photography contest. The contest was mentioned in the papers and, of course, I learned more by Googling. I liked what I read and saw.
The contest recognizes that drone photography is more than fun indulged in by hobbyists with $300 drones and more than a surveillance technique used by the RCMP with $30,000 gear. It’s an art form, and on the list with its use as a valuable forensic engineering technique using a $10,000 drone fitted with a camera.
The winning and runner-up photographs in the contest are impressive – you must go online and see if there is an artistic bent to your nature at all. Impressed is the way I felt too when I first saw drone video of one of my forensic sites.
The contest photographs are submitted in four categories: Nature, People, Urban and Creativity by drone photographers from everywhere in the world. Profiles of the professional and amateur photographers are included on the contest site.
The photographs are judged by a panel of experts that include representatives from National Geographic in France and the US, and from Kodak. Both companies are two of several high profile sponsors of the annual competition. This year, 2017, is the fourth year the contest has been held.
Such quality in photography and high profile in contest sponsorship is telling about the future of this photographic technique. It echoes the increasing success I’m having in my forensic investigations getting evidence with a drone and presenting it to my earthbound clients.
Credits
- Some of the content in this blog has been taken from the drone contest website and also a conversation with Robert G. Guertin, Millenium Film & Video Productions, Dartmouth, NS, Canada.