Photographer Captures Illuminated Halos, Geometric Shapes, And Swirls In The Sky Using Drone-Mounted LED
Will Ferguson, a photographer based in London, has been in love with long-exposure light painting shots ever since he picked up his first DSLR camera at the age of 17. “I began with the classic shot of cars driving along a motorway at night and progressed from there. I also have a passion for flying drones and I shoot a lot of commercial drone operations for clients,” says Will.
When the photographer heard that an LED lighting company had created a kit to safely attach small but bright LED lights to drones, he got excited about the opportunity of combining his two passions.
Image source: Will Ferguson
Ferguson captured a beautiful swirl and a halo of light around the British tower and it’s one of his favorite photos. The photographer says that it was a difficult shot because it was a windy night. “I went to this location to create a drone halo but realised quickly that getting the perfect circle in these conditions was going to be extremely tricky and not give me the result I was looking for. The wind wasn’t strong enough to ground the flight but it was strong enough to make my drone halos look like they’d had one too many to drink!!,” says the photographer.
Image source: Will Ferguson
“The way that I was able to hide the wind’s imperfections was to fly a spiral around Broadway Tower. To the human eye it was harder to see any little wobbles the drone had from the wind and also the wind was stronger at the top of the tower than it was as the bottom,” he added.
Image source: Will Ferguson
The photographer further says that the most important aspect of taking these images at night is safety. “It is legal in the UK to fly a drone at night within the CAA (Civil Aviation Authority) laws but I always do a pre-flight check of the location in daytime to ensure there aren’t any hazards such as electrical pylon wires or tree branches that I wouldn’t notice in the dark.”
Image source: Will Ferguson
“Drones do get a lot of bad press due to some irresponsible people flying them and I hope this image inspires others to go out and fly their drones. Just do it safely, using common sense and within the aerospace laws of your country,” mentions the photographer.
Image source: Will Ferguson
“I love how night photography uses the solitude and drama of the darkness to create images which are amplified through long exposure,” says the photographer.
Image source: Will Ferguson
Lastly, Ferguson gives some advice to other budding photographers- “Shoot passion projects. Shoot as much content as you can and shoot images that you can’t get enough of. That way you will always take great images and always want to innovate and improve. This Broadway Tower Drone Spiral image for me is the perfect example of this. I’ve gone out and taken a photo of something just because I love to do it. Put that image out there for the world to see and it just so happens that hundreds of thousands of people around the world also love it and now I have brands knocking at my door wanting to work with me on paid projects. You create your own luck.”
Image source: Will Ferguson
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