We have all heard about the big fat weddings of the rich and famous in the country where everything from the ring ceremony in a hot air balloon to the groom arriving in a helicopter is yesterday’s news. However, the latest trend which is catching up even among the middle class and the not so rich is possibly illegal: aerial photography using drones.
Even though the Directorate General of Civil Aviation banned the use of these much hyped unmanned aerial vehicles for civil applications in October last year, dashing all hopes of getting them to deliver packages ordered from online shopping websites, drones continue to be employed for recording the proceedings at plush weddings.
Here’s a video of a drone hovering at one such Indian wedding.
Such videos, shot in a bigger canvas, could of course give any Bollywood romance movie a run for its money. Here’s exhibit 2, a trailer of one such "wedding movie".
Photographers bullish on the demand are only too happy to oblige. “People want their weddings to be an affair which is remembered for long and photography is the only way to do so,” said a photographer based in Delhi, on condition of anonymity. “They are willing to spend up to 30% of the wedding’s budget only on getting the perfect wedding movie made.”
Drones, he added, are only a part of the process and the whole theme of the wedding is what determines the cost and applicability of aerial footage. “For a 30 minute affair, we only use drones to record 5-10 minutes of footage. Rest of it is camera work as well as on-site design that we do to match the theme,” he said.
Here’s what a wedding venue looks like when shot with the help of a drone:
A Bangalore based photographer from a studio that is known for aerial photography told Scroll on the condition of anonymity that the illegality of drones is not even a factor. “We usually ask our clients to manage the permissions from police and authorities,” he said, adding that their clients are often the who’s who of society and they are thus able to "take care of things".
Aerial photographers, he explained, are now being hired for capturing footage of everything from political rallies to music festivals. “The cost comes out to be at least Rs 1 lakh for a day of coverage through drones and other set-up,” he added.
Here’s a Mumbai wedding shot through drone-mounted cameras.
We welcome your comments at
letters@scroll.in.
Even though the Directorate General of Civil Aviation banned the use of these much hyped unmanned aerial vehicles for civil applications in October last year, dashing all hopes of getting them to deliver packages ordered from online shopping websites, drones continue to be employed for recording the proceedings at plush weddings.
Here’s a video of a drone hovering at one such Indian wedding.
Such videos, shot in a bigger canvas, could of course give any Bollywood romance movie a run for its money. Here’s exhibit 2, a trailer of one such "wedding movie".
Photographers bullish on the demand are only too happy to oblige. “People want their weddings to be an affair which is remembered for long and photography is the only way to do so,” said a photographer based in Delhi, on condition of anonymity. “They are willing to spend up to 30% of the wedding’s budget only on getting the perfect wedding movie made.”
Drones, he added, are only a part of the process and the whole theme of the wedding is what determines the cost and applicability of aerial footage. “For a 30 minute affair, we only use drones to record 5-10 minutes of footage. Rest of it is camera work as well as on-site design that we do to match the theme,” he said.
Here’s what a wedding venue looks like when shot with the help of a drone:
A Bangalore based photographer from a studio that is known for aerial photography told Scroll on the condition of anonymity that the illegality of drones is not even a factor. “We usually ask our clients to manage the permissions from police and authorities,” he said, adding that their clients are often the who’s who of society and they are thus able to "take care of things".
Aerial photographers, he explained, are now being hired for capturing footage of everything from political rallies to music festivals. “The cost comes out to be at least Rs 1 lakh for a day of coverage through drones and other set-up,” he added.
Here’s a Mumbai wedding shot through drone-mounted cameras.