Stills carry different requirements than motion — resolution, latitude, and the patience to wait out the light.
Aerial stills in New York are mostly an architecture, development and editorial market, and the permitting overhead means each authorized flight has to earn its cost. We plan these as list-driven shoots: every frame identified before we launch, because there is no casual second attempt.
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.
Winter shortens the day sharply and wind between buildings gets serious. Late spring and autumn give the cleanest air and the best skyline visibility, which is when most of the aerial work here gets scheduled.
New York City is Class B three times over, boxed in by JFK, LaGuardia and Newark, with helicopter routes running the rivers below that. On top of federal airspace, the City has its own long-standing restrictions on where a drone may take off and land, enforced by NYPD rather than the FAA. Flying here legally is a two-agency problem.
We shoot the Manhattan skyline, the bridges, the boroughs, and the waterfront — and we travel. CineDrones works nationwide, so if your production is basing in New York 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 Los Angeles Miami New Orleans 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!