TEXTILES.ORG
Q: How can drones be used
for tented events?
A:In case you haven’t noticed a small device whirring above you, drones are one the biggest recent developments in commercial technology.
What is a drone? It’s a very small aircraft guided by a handheld remote or computer on the ground. These pilotless devices are perfect for monitoring areas and taking aerial photographs.
In the past, drones were used mainly for military purposes, but recently they’ve become popular in the event world. Drones offer a unique way to do a site visit, provide detailed mapping for a site, produce unique event video footage, make aerial photography relatively inexpensive and can be used indoors and outdoors at low or high heights depending on the desired footage or photography.
Regal Tent Productions recently hired an aerial photography company, Up Photography of Toronto, Ont., Canada, to photograph one of our job sites. We asked the company to take aerial shots from a helicopter, but the event was in a no-fly zone. We thought we were out of luck until the photographers offered to use a drone.
The photos of that event, Taste of Toronto, put a new perspective on what the event looked like from a bird’s point of view. Overall, drones provide a unique way to visualize the entire site and show current and future clients what their event could look like.
Are drones always appropriate? For most public events, using a drone to capture footage of the site is a great promotional tool. But for some private events such as a wedding, a drone may distract guests and the photographs may be a departure from the traditional wedding photographs couples desire. Guests may be uncomfortable seeing a drone flying down the aisle with the bride, but it does provide one-of-a-kind footage. As drones become a regular sight to the general public, the unfamiliar and strange label associated with them is losing its grip and more people will be willing to use them no matter what the occasion.