Stills carry different requirements than motion — resolution, latitude, and the patience to wait out the light.
Key art, campaign stills and architectural work for a market that shoots year round in reliable light. The constraint in LA is rarely weather — it is getting authorization for the specific block you need at the specific hour the light works, inside airspace where the ceiling may be zero.
Aerial stills for key art, campaigns, editorial, architecture and listings. We shoot raw, deliver graded or flat depending on what your retoucher wants, and we plan around the sun rather than around the schedule where the schedule allows it. The same certification and insurance apply as on any motion job, because the airspace does not care what you are capturing.
LA works year round, which is why it became LA. June gloom flattens coastal mornings into July, and the Santa Anas bring the clearest air and the worst flying conditions of the year at the same time. Fire season now closes airspace with little notice.
Los Angeles is one of the hardest places in the country to fly legally. The basin sits under LAX Class B, and inside that footprint you are also threading Burbank, Van Nuys, Santa Monica, Long Beach and Hawthorne. Most of the city a production actually wants to shoot sits in controlled airspace with low or zero-foot LAANC ceilings, which means authorization is a planning problem, not a formality.
We shoot the Hollywood sign, downtown, the coastline from Malibu to Palos Verdes, and the studio lots — and we travel. CineDrones works nationwide, so if your production is basing in Los Angeles and shooting somewhere else entirely, that is a normal week for us.
High-resolution stills payloads with the latitude to hold a sky and a shadow in the same frame.
Our aerial units have worked on Ozark, Jack Ryan, Bosch, Mayans M.C., SEAL Team, NCIS: New Orleans, Fear the Walking Dead, American Horror Story, Modern Family, 9-1-1, Goliath, The Resident, Raising Dion, Castle Rock, Doctor Sleep and Chef's Table, for Netflix, Amazon, Apple, HBO, Hulu, Showtime, Sony, CBS, AMC, MTV and Bravo. See the work →
Raw files as standard, plus graded selects if you want them. We will deliver flat if your retoucher would rather start clean. Nothing is baked in that you cannot undo.
That is usually the plan. The constraint is rarely the light — it is getting authorization for the specific location at the specific hour, which is why these shoots get planned rather than improvised.
Commercial aerial photography carries the same requirements as motion work: a certificated pilot, airspace authorization where applicable, and usually a location permit. The airspace does not care whether you are shooting stills or motion.
DRONE PHOTOGRAPHY — OTHER MARKETS: Albuquerque Atlanta Austin Chicago Las Vegas Miami New Orleans New York Salt Lake City
Get ready to elevate your production to new heights with CineDrones! Operating in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, New York, Albuquerque, Austin, Atlanta, Chicago, Miami, Salt Lake City, and New Orleans, we bring the power of cutting-edge drone technology to every project. Whether you're capturing breathtaking aerial footage, thrilling FPV shots, or immersive drone-based virtual reality, our expert teams of FAA-certified pilots, aerial camera pros, and drone techs have you covered. Fully compliant with Part 107 regulations and protected by a $5M aviation liability policy, we guarantee precision, safety, and creativity. Plus, with Local 600 union and non-union crews available, we’re ready to deliver jaw-dropping results wherever you need them!