by Dave Powell | Jan 21, 2016 | News
It was a very early start for us this week as we were asked to do some aerial filming in Bath city centre. We knew it was going to be cold but we all underestimated just how cold it was going to be. Whilst we were unloading the equipment, the van gave the temperature of -5 degrees! If there had been any brass monkeys about, they would have been in trouble. Obviously because the aerial filming was going to be in the town centre, we had to work closely with Bath City Council whilst selecting the safest place to fly from. We found a small park called Parade Gardens. It was adjacent to the river and next to the (empty) Bath rugby stadium so we had plenty of room to fly. The main problem that can occur when flying in these temperatures is battery performance. When a Lipo battery gets cold, it’s discharge life is a lot quicker so we made sure we had a stack of them in order to get the footage we needed. We were mainly shooting aerial video in Bath but we managed to capture a couple of images whilst we were doing it. Here is one from just after sunrise....
by Dave Powell | Jan 15, 2016 | Home Page, News
We’re proud to see our aerial photos and video of the Radyr Weir Hydro Electric scheme on Wales Online today. It’s part of a project that we did for Dawnus Construction....
by Dave Powell | Nov 30, 2015 | News
Aerial photographs of the Radyr Weir Hydroelectric Scheme. Dawnus Construction Limited. Cardiff, Wales We were asked to take photos of something a little different this week. Dawnus Construction Limited is a large civil engineering and construction company with their head office in Swansea, South Wales. They were commissioned by the Cardiff Council Energy Department to build the new Hydro-Electric power station at Radyr Weir, just on the outskirts of Cardiff. We had actually filmed at the site with the drones a few weeks earlier for a BBC documentary but we were concentrating on the River Taff and were unaware of the scale of the project that Dawnus were working on. The main focus of the day’s filming was the installation of the two colossal Archimedes Turbine Screws. We were asked to capture some aerial photographs of the screws as they were being lifted into place. I wasn’t aware what an Archimedes Screw was so a quick ‘Google’ was needed to research the job. The resulting figures are mind boggling. Each screw is capable of a throughput of 4000 litres of water per second and between them they will ultimately be providing Cardiff with 1.6GWh of renewable energy per year. The guys at Dawnus are working to a very tight schedule as the deadline for the screws to start producing power is the 18th December. The site has been running 24 hours, 7 days a week to get the job finished in time. Their professionalism and knowledge of the project was clear to see and it was a pleasure working with a company such as this. Once the project is finished, Cardiff Council Energy Department...
by Dave Powell | Nov 6, 2015 | News
This time of year we are playing ‘cat and mouse’ with the weather but in between showers we have been able to capture some incredible aerial films of the trees in all their autumn colours. Last week we spent two days filming the entire length of the river Taff. From Pen y fan to Cardiff Bay for a series soon to be shown on the BBC. We found previously undiscovered (by us at least) stretches of the river that truly show how beautiful parts of the UK can be. If you get a chance, try the walk that leads to the Upper Neuadd Reservoir, around 5 miles from Talybont-on-Usk. It really is spectacular. Myself and my camera operator made the trek this week and spend a few hours flying around the mouth of the Taff and filming the valley that forms at the source of the river. The footage was great and we’re looking forward to seeing it on the BBC soon. This was the second time this month that our crews were asked to film for a BBC series. The first being Rhod Gilbert’s Work Experience for the Bafta award winning production company Zipline Creative. We spent a couple of days in the Ffos-y-fran open cast mine in Merthyr capturing some aerial footage for the episode to be shown in Feburary. It was a privilege to work with Rhys and Nathan of Zipline and we immensely enjoyed the shoot. Being able to film giant trucks, enormous diggers and even EXPLOSIONS in a colossal quarry is surely every 10 year old boy’s dream. Oh and did I mention the explosions!?...
by Dave Powell | Sep 10, 2015 | News
Drone Industrial Inspections Aerial Photography Wales are proud to announce our new partnership with one of the UK’s leading engineering construction organisations TEI (www.tei.co.uk). We are now helping them provide drone industrial inspections to their customers. TEI specialise in design, supply, repair, maintenance and site installation in the power generation and petrochemical industries. They are responsible for installation and maintenance projects in many of the largest industrial plants in the UK. Aerial Photography Wales have joined forces with TEI to offer aerial industrial inspections to their many clients. Using the latest drone technologies TEI can conduct industrial inspections and planned maintenance surveys quickly, safely and with little disruption to the client.Traditional industrial inspections were carried out by erecting scaffolding, using cherry pickers or for the highest areas hiring cranes. These methods are obviously time consuming and costly. Drone surveys allow us to carry out the same level of inspection from a safe ground level. Using 4K filming and high resolution photography we can offer drone industrial inspections in incredible detail. Allowing the engineers and surveyors the freedom to carry out their work from their office quickly and cost effectively. With every commission Aerial Photography Wales are diligent in their preparation and adhere to all UK laws when conducting a flight. When we are filming at a power plant or petrochemical site we work with TEI to ensure strict method statements and risk assessments are prepared before obtaining a Permit to Work. Only then to we deem it safe to operate. This way every step is taken to ensure the safety of our pilots & camera operators as well as the safety of TEI employees and their customers. Below is a video demonstrating one of the drone...
