FAA Part 107 Drone Photographer

Commercial drone work is a regulated space. Every flight I run is in compliance with FAA Part 107, appropriate airspace authorization, documented insurance, written property-owner permission for private land, and a pre-flight risk assessment.

The license isn't a formality. Any aerial photo or video tied to a business, a real estate listing, a marketing campaign, a brand social post, a wedding film a vendor charges money for, falls under FAA Part 107. Flying that work without the certificate is a federal violation, not a gray area. The FAA's civil penalty framework allows fines that escalate into the tens of thousands of dollars per violation; the agency has pursued aerial photographers, real estate teams, marketing agencies, and 'I just have a DJI' side-hustle operators alike. SkyPan International was fined $200,000 in a high-profile settlement for unauthorized urban flights. Real estate brokerages have been put on notice for posting unlicensed aerial footage to MLS listings. The enforcement is real and it's ongoing.

There's also a quieter exposure most clients don't think about: insurance. Standard commercial liability policies won't pay out on a flight that broke FAA rules. If something goes wrong on an unlicensed shoot, a drone hits a vehicle, a roof, a guest, a power line, the damages land on whoever paid for the project. Hiring a Part 107-certified, registered, insured pilot transfers that exposure off your books and onto mine, where it belongs. You get a documented paper trail for every flight (LAANC clearance, COI, property-owner releases) and footage you can legally use without risk.

On the production side, I fly a three-platform fleet so the right drone goes up for every job: a DJI Mini 3 for sub-250g flights in tight regulated airspace and travel work, the DJI Mavic 3 Pro for most commercial cinema (broadcast-grade 4K, Hasselblad sensor, three-camera array with obstacle avoidance for tight architectural and industrial environments), and the DJI Avata 2 for cinematic FPV, immersive single-take flythroughs through redwood canopy, warehouses, and event spaces. I plan flights against forecast windows so monsoon wind and summer heat in Arizona don't compromise the footage.

Deliverables range from stand-alone drone reels to fully integrated drone-plus-ground campaigns. Most clients book drone work alongside ground photo + video for a complete package.