The sky is the limit for darrens drones

AN eye in the sky, like one from ‘M’ in a Bond film, is hovering over Mayo, writes Tom Gillespie.

The quadcopter is licensed by the Irish Aviation Authority and soon it will be joined by a larger drone. They are operated by Darren Moran and his company, Firefly Aerial Photography.

Darren resides at the Leg of Mutton lake, a short distance from Newport, beside the ancestral home of Princess Grace of Monaco. Darren, an ambulance dispatcher with the HSE in Castlbar, has always been keen on landscape photography and moving to aerial photography is an extension of this.

It was brought about following the decision of the HSE to move the ambulance control base from Castlebar, where he works, to Ballyshannon next later this month.As Darren is not keen to move to Donegal, he hopes his aerial photographic operation, both stills and video, will provide him with an alternative source of income.

Darren, one of 34 licences operators in Ireland, explained: “I was always big into landscape photography and a few people had asked me to do shots of their houses. They were wondering did I know anyone who did aerial photography. I saw a photographer using a drone on the internet. I thought it was a great idea as I had not seen it in Ireland. I undertook some research and I found a company in Dublin who informed me I would have to get a licence if I wanted to do it commercially.

“That was just before last Christmas. I had to do an aeronautical knowledge three-day course in Cork. I then had to make an operations manual, with pre-flight cheques, etcetera. I had to hand that into the Irish Aviation Authority after which they came out and did a demo flight with me in Westport United’s new ground two months ago and they gave me my licence there an then.”

He continued: “We can work safely, anywhere from ground level to a 400 feet altitude, using our GPS assisted UAVs. We always carry out a pre-flight survey and risk assessment prior to completing a project.

“The business is growing. I am trying to get in to route survey and provide a service to home owners, contractors, estate agents, site images for planning, roof surveys, building damage, architects and for those processing instance claims. We also provide live video feed and images for concerts, festivals, agriculture shows and sports events.

'Every estate agent knows that the right shot can make all the difference. Taking an overhead shot of your property will produce an image that makes an ordinary house look exceptional and an outstanding property look amazing. An aerial shot adds the wow factor and is the ideal way to show the full extent of a larger property, something that ground level photos just don’t achieve. When I get a second and larger drone I will be in a position to cover weddings.

“We work with a number of local estate agents and the response to our productions has been way ahead of our expectations. With our unmanned aircraft systems we can survey places that would otherwise be difficult to reach.” Examples include structural surveys of property roofs and chimneys, architectural surveys and archaeological top-down views.

Darren Moran can be contacted on (087) 9576683 or see www.fireflyphotography.ie.