Anyone who reads my book will know that I wasn’t a huge fan of Westbury Cement Works after my first visit. It was a very cold day in February and being new to operating drones in an industrial environment, I hadn’t anticipated the problems we would experience with them. I soon learned that due to all of the metal work around and in the ground, we were very limited to the places that the drones would take off from without immediately getting GPS and compass errors. I was worried about how the dust may affect the drones and I could barely feel my thumbs whilst flying due to the cold. I got home after that first visit to the works never wanting to go back and I could never have imagined that I would eventually have a book published about a place that at that time, I had very little interest in!
Over numerous visits to the works, the drones – a DJI Inspire 1 Pro and Phantom 4 – were put through their paces, having to contend with dust, wind, low temperatures and operating close to metal work. Never once did they let me down. The Inspire provided all of the aerial images that feature in the book, and the dynamic range and detail that the micro four thirds sensor provides enables shadow and highlight details to be preserved at capture, and then maximized in post processing. This was something that was often important when trying to expose for the shadows and mid tones of the works, whilst also exposing for the bright sky.
There’s not a huge number of aerial pictures in the book, but without the aerial images, the book certainly wouldn’t have the same feel, and it definitely wouldn’t tell the full story of the cement works. I certainly couldn’t have afforded the cost of a helicopter to get the shots from above the chimney!
The flexibility of a camera that can placed anywhere in three-dimensional space proved invaluable to me whilst covering the demolition of Westbury Cement Works. Using a DJI platform gives me the ability to switch between shooting video and stills in the blink of an eye and the indispensable luxury of being able to adjust exposure whilst (excuse the pun) on the fly. This ensured that I was able to react to the changing lighting conditions, never missing a shot.
More of the book story will follow soon.
Click here for details of the book.
