Drones have officially arrived in Hyderabad

Remember the buzz a drone had created this May as it delivered a pizza in South Mumbai? While drones are yet to serve Hyderabadis, they are making their presence felt in the city in many other ways.

From shooting lavish weddings, sprawling townships, 100-200 acre factories to films, camera-equipped drones are adding edge to these projects. That’s because you won’t possibly get bird’s eye view of these things until you decide to hire a helicopter. So, it is understandably also being used for surveillance in the Uppal dockyard. And, a few vigilante citizens are also using it to report abuse of water bodies.
 
Social cause

Not everyone can operate these drones, it’s a specialised skill. Sujay Reddy of Deepictography photography boutique has one-and-a-half years of experience in flying drones. When he is not shooting weddings, Sujay takes his personal DJI Phantom drone, fitted with super-wide angle lens, around the city to spot “social issues”. One day, his drone filmed the terrible state of the Durgam Cheruvu Lake. Sujay says, “I shared the photos with an NGO, which, in turn, reported it to the government authorities. Now, they have cleared the lake of weeds.”

An aerial selfie of Aditya Jella taken with the help of a drone
 
Real estate

City-based real estate firms are no longer relying on Google Earth because they have now deployed their drones for land surveys and shoots. An expert on drones, Amit Ghosh, says, “For buyers who can’t travel to Hyderabad, the real estate guys are sending them helpful bird’s eye views of the projects.”

Fashion and Weddings

Most recently, a drone was spotted at a fashion show in the city. Fitted with a Go Pro Camera, the Phantom 1 drone hovered 25 feet above the auditorium. It was Deepak Nadh and Rajesh’s idea. No surprise that their six-month old start-up, Pixelism, has earned quite a few takers. Their drone has now been called to Vijayawada to shoot a wedding.

Deepak says, “We leased the drone from Bengaluru for Rs 3.5 lakh. It will be with us for two-three months. So, we plan to use it in as many photography assignments as possible.”
Using a drone definitely shoots up the budget of clients, from Rs 10,000 to Rs 20,000, but it’s worth the extra buck.

“You get the perfect but hard-to-get aerial shots, sitting at your desk,” says Deepak. Deepika Puri of Deepictography photography boutique says, “We have used drone cameras in four weddings in the city so far. Not that we shoot full weddings with drones, it’s only to capture glimpses of the mood from top.”