Hello everyone,

   Does anyone have experience using the Phantom 2+ for weddings? My son is a wedding photog and he has a slew of weddings he'd like to have me shoot from the Phantom. I just wondered if anyone had some tips or do's and dont's. We don't charge for the video service, it's a free add on, so technically no money is derived from the video. He charges for the wedding pic's, but not the video.

Thoughts? Ideas? Comments?

Many thanks,
Gary C

There are no loopholes in the commercial use of SUAS. If your son is charging for any type of services, then he is also shooting the aerial video for a commercial purpose. That said, my best suggestion would be for him to file an exemption request with the FAA.

https://www.faa.gov/uas/legislat ... _to_file_a_petition

A wedding is how I ended up with my Vision plus. My daughter decided to do a beach wedding on Sanibell Island fla. this summer. When she told us I started google searching etc and came across a video from a blade 350 about the island. I
I went nuts  watching videos and researching drones. When asked at xmas what I wanted by the kids I smiled and jumped all over it. at 59 I pretty much buy what I need etc.

I said for the first time in years I KNOW exactly what I want.
By then I decided a used unit from B&H would give the best bang for the buck so I said get gift card and Ill find what is best when ready order.
anyhow I have my plus (750 used and was as good as new) and I am working on learning how to do this as you are, hoping soon also the faa will finalize what we need do for non private wedding use.

my issue is after I learn  I need train a substitute operator for real wedding day-- i'll be busy..lol

kirk2579, the FAA has already finalized the process for non private wedding (or anything else) use. See my link above.

It's true that they are working on new rules for SUAS. The major difference will be the new SUAS certificate.

mike@singerscre Posted at 2015-3-26 20:29
kirk2579, the FAA has already finalized the process for non private wedding (or anything else) use.  ...

Thanks much,

I have seen that link for the petition before and basically I am not ready to jump that high!  

I feel that when said and done the final results will be much simpler and streamlined, I hope anyhow.

If not I'll just do what most do now , have fun.

Gary, I'm not going to lecture you about FAA regulations.  Mostly because if you don't know what the regulations are, that's none of our business.  But more importantly, I'm pretty sure that's not the advice you're looking for.  That said, here's my advice...

Make sure the couple is completely aware and agrees with your plan.
Make sure you capture everything they want.
Dress appropriately.  Look to the left.  See me in my tux?  That was me working a wedding.
You don't want to be a distraction.  This is about them.  Make sure you're high enough to not ruin the moment, but not too high to ruin the shot.
Make sure your takeoff and landing are away from the crowd.  1) It can be dangerous.  2) It can be distracting.
Make any movements slowly and subtly.  Aerial videography is a little different from ground-based.  People expect certain things from each.  When the video differs from expectation, that resonates with people in a negative way.
Make sure you have something good capturing audio on the ground.  Even if you're completely sure you'll be laying down a music bed, it's good to have the audio just in case you want to fade some in, or have both, or change your mind completely and just use the audio.  Having choices is always better.
Don't forget to charge everything completely beforehand.  Use fresh, alkaline batteries in your transmitter.  I'm not saying you need to do this with every flight, but before a wedding you do.  If something goes wrong, you're in for it.  Worst case, you injure somebody.  Either way, if I'm the father of the bride, I'm beating the crap out of you.  Certainly easier to just break open a fresh pack of Duracells, right?

And the final and best piece of advice I can offer you is...  If ANYTHING is or goes wrong, ABORT IMMEDIATELY.  There are too many people around for you to take ANY chances.  If the wind is too high, if you forgot your glasses, if ANYTHING is amiss, you mustn't risk.

Hope that helps!

Friffy1 Posted at 2015-3-27 02:27
Gary, I'm not going to lecture you about FAA regulations.  Mostly because if you don't know what the ...

good thoughts and  I will recall them when we do ours.

There is a video on here of someone filming a wedding. The Phantom crashed almost hitting a young girl

Thank you everyone. Great thoughts and excellent advice. My son is already a wedding photographer, having shot 431 weddings to date, but the aerial stuff is just an additional WOW factor. His clientele is high end and several have their own helos and pilots but they can't get too close because of prop wash, so the phantom is perfect.I appreciate the advice on FAA  and possible liability with guests. I'm just fishing for ideas and these are great.
Many thanks,
Gary C

Capt. Bill Posted at 2015-3-28 07:05
There is a video on here of someone filming a wedding. The Phantom crashed almost hitting a young gi ...

not sure the point but thanks anyhow.
in any endeavor there is always a reason one should not try, or not.

Gary C Posted at 2015-3-30 05:05
Thank you everyone. Great thoughts and excellent advice. My son is already a wedding photographer, h ...

with the way the apps are growing in abilities and capabilities I suspect by may or June poi etc. will be working well on some.
properly implemented POI  would help tremendously for this task

Some great ideas here.  Don't forget to check for solar activity - GPS locking/ or loss off.

I have seen "drones" used to place a camera high by landing the vehicle up on a rafter in a church then it is shut down and the camera does a time laps of the event.  After the wedding photography the drone is turned on and flown back.  I did not see how the images turned out, but, I thought is was a cool idea to get a new perspective.

Jayla Posted at 2015-10-14 22:10
I have seen "drones" used to place a camera high by landing the vehicle up on a rafter in a church t ...

That is a cool idea.

Just remember, still a distraction from the wedding. Anything flying overhead that sounds like a bunch of bees, people will look away from the wedding and look up. If they all are not prepar d for the distraction it will definately be one. Don't kill their moment for the sake of a video that is. Wide angle and can't get those close ups. Better to use a video cam if you can get the right angles. They zoom on there is a lot better. Not trying to take away from thenPhantom video, but it is a weeding where the preacher will be speeding and them answering but to listen to the bees..... Naw! Just my 2 cents. Weddings are one in a lifetime.

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