Drone Pilot · Brighton
Drone Pilot in Brighton
Aerial filming across Brighton, the Sussex coast and the South Downs.
Get a quoteI fly for the shot, not just for the altitude. Most drone hire gets you a pilot. This gets you a cinematographer who happens to be flying, which means the moves are motivated, the exposure is right and the footage cuts into the rest of your film without a jarring change in look.
Brighton is a genuinely interesting place to fly. The seafront, the Downs behind the city and the light coming off the water give you material that inland work simply does not have. It is also airspace that needs respecting, so every job starts with a site and airspace check before anything leaves the ground.
What I shoot
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Aerial cinematography
Drone sequences built to cut into a film, matched to the ground camera and graded to the same look.
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Coastal and landscape
Seafront, cliffs and the South Downs. First light and last light, which is when this coast actually earns its reputation.
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Property and development
Aerial stills and reveals for estate agents, architects and developers who need the plot and its setting in one frame.
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Construction and progress
Repeatable overhead and oblique captures from the same points, so progress across months reads clearly.
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Events and venues
Establishing aerials for festivals, sport and venue marketing across Brighton and Sussex.
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Common questions
Can you legally fly a drone over Brighton?
Commercial drone work in the UK is governed by the Civil Aviation Authority, and where I can fly depends on the airspace and what is underneath the aircraft. Parts of Brighton and the coast sit near controlled airspace around Shoreham, and the seafront brings crowds into the picture, so each job gets an airspace and site assessment first. If a location needs a permission or a notification, I sort that before the shoot date rather than turning up and hoping.
What do you need from me before the shoot?
The location, the date and what the footage is for. From that I can check the airspace, look at what is on the ground, flag anything that needs landowner permission and tell you honestly whether the shot you want is achievable there.
What happens if the weather is bad?
Drones and coastal wind have a difficult relationship, and rain ends a flight day. I watch the forecast in the days before and will call a move early rather than waste your time on site. Rescheduling for weather does not cost you anything.
Do I get stills as well as video?
Yes. The aircraft shoots both, so if you want high resolution aerial stills alongside the video sequences, say so in the brief and they come back graded with everything else.
Can you match drone footage to my existing video?
That is the main reason to hire a cinematographer to fly rather than a pilot. Send me a reference or the existing cut and the aerials come back graded to sit inside it, instead of looking like a different film bolted on.
Where I work
Based in Brighton, on the road most weeks. Regular shoot days across:
Further afield is fine too. Past work has taken me across the UK and internationally.