Aerial Perspectives

The best angle at an event isn’t always the one you can see from the ground.

I’ve said before that two photographers can walk the same 500 meters of trail and come away with completely different images. Perspective is everything. What one person notices, another might walk straight past.

That’s what I enjoy most about working with a drone—it doesn’t replace that perspective, it expands it.

Even when I’m focused on shooting from the ground, the drone gives me another way to tell the same moment. It lets me show not just the rider, but the space around them—the scale of the course, the landscape, the feeling of the event as a whole.

Drones aren’t new, but the way they’re evolving makes them more practical to use in real event environments. Longer battery life, multiple focal lengths, and simple things like quickly switching to a portrait format all make it easier to capture content that actually fits how people view it now.

Event Value

Recently, I was in Glen Innes shooting the Goodness Gravel event. Cam, the new owner for 2026, asked if I could grab a few aerial images while I was out on course. It fit naturally into how I already work.

During events, I’m still primarily focused on what’s happening in front of me. The drone becomes part of the rhythm rather than the focus. I can send it up, let it hover while riders approach, then shift back to my ground cameras. When there’s a gap, I’ll reposition it or look for a different angle further along the course.

Once the battery runs low, it’s a simple reset—bring it back, swap batteries, and move on to the next location. It’s less about flying constantly and more about choosing the right moments to use it.

Better Still

There are still a few things I’d love to see improved. For example, having a 3:2 aspect ratio option on the longer lenses would make composing shots in-camera a bit more intuitive. Right now, it’s a matter of knowing how the image will crop later—but that’s something that comes with time and experience.

What matters more is what it adds to the final result.

From a client perspective, it means more variety without needing a separate drone operator. From my side, it’s another way to tell a more complete story of the event.

And honestly, that’s the part I enjoy most—finding new ways to show something familiar, just from a different point of view.