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There's a new bird in town

A small camera-toting helicopter flies where the big boys can't and costs clients less.

By SHARON L. BOND
Published March 13, 2005

ST. PETERSBURG - First glance suggests two people in a parking lot with a super-cool, remote-controlled helicopter about to have some fun.

In reality, it is SkyPIX, an aerial photography business about to shoot photos of First Baptist Church on Gandy Boulevard.

Daniel and Carol Shaw own the company, which shoots pictures for real estate agents, developers, golf courses and construction companies. They use an industrial, radio-controlled miniature helicopter that looks like a big, complicated toy. It can go as high as 400 feet and has a battery that will allow it 30 minutes in the air. It costs about $9,000.

The Shaws photographed First Baptist last week for their portfolio and for the church, which they attend.

Carol Shaw, 29, operates the camera, and Daniel Shaw, 31, works the remote that controls the helicam. She is a photographer by training; he, an engineer. Both wanted to get away from desk jobs so they started the business. Carol Shaw still works part time at Home Shopping Network.

At First Baptist Church, they set up in the parking lot.

"Ready?" Daniel Shaw asks.

His wife turns on the camera. She stands slightly behind him, holding a video downlink that allows her to see what the camera sees and take the shots. He has put two orange cones in front of him to keep cars away, particularly during landing, when he's too busy to wave people away.

The rotors start and the 16-pound minicopter begins to lift off. It sounds like a real helicopter, only fainter. It lifts straight up and moves toward Gandy Boulevard.

"We'll fly close to the highway and then come back around," he says.

The wind is blowing, but it does not faze the helicam. It goes up and up, then forward until it reaches the edge of Gandy, where it turns back toward the church. The machine looks larger in the air than it does on the ground.

"Hold it right there," Carol Shaw says. "That's beautiful. Just hold it for a second."

She shoots, then asks, "Can you back away from the church a little bit more?

"Right there," she says. "Now hold that. Hold that some more. I've got to get another one."

By this time, the helicam has attracted six or eight birds that form a semicircle around it, hover for a minute or two, then fly away.

Usually it attracts a crowd of people, Carol Shaw says. When SkyPIX was shooting the Harley-Davidson Santa ride last Christmas, the helicam shared air space with a full-sized helicopter.

"If it is an event, we usually have a big guy above us," Carol Shaw says.

Aerial photography is done by companies using fixed-wing planes, helicopters, balloons, blimps, 55-foot tripods and miniatures such as SkyPIX's helicam.

The Shaws say they can get views that would be too low or require hovering too long for a regular helicopter.

"If a developer wants to build a tall condominium and wants to show the views from the different floors," that is perfect for the helicam, Daniel Shaw says. "We take pictures every 45 degrees at different altitudes" to produce the views from the nonexistent building.

Price is a factor, too, they say.

Some customers don't have the $800 to $1,000 per hour for a helicopter with a pilot and photographer. SkyPIX charges about $200 per hour for photography and $350 to $400 per hour for video.

Patricia Hardy-Smith owns Aero Photo in St. Petersburg. Her company owns two Cessna 172 airplanes. She just sold her helicopter and is in the market for another.

She does not feel competition from companies that use remote aircraft because she does so much volume.

"I can shoot 20 projects in an hour. We shoot 1,500 to 2,000 sites per month. Imagine trying to do that with a remote helicopter," she said.

SkyPIX can do two to three shoots a day. It moves the equipment by car from site to site, taking about 20 minutes to set up. The helicopter must be attached to the camera stand that flies beneath it. Radio tests are done to make sure nothing is in the area that would interfere with the radio control of the helicam. The autopilot that allows the machine to hover by itself without any input from the remote must be calibrated before each job.

[Last modified March 13, 2005, 00:22:15]