Today we’d like to introduce you to Zach Ellefson.
Zach, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Drone City LLC was founded in 2020. This company was never really planned, I started it a few months after I bought my first drone because people kept asking me to get photos for them. I started by photographing sailboats, houses, farms, and real-estate stuff, and getting a lot of small business photos for folks……
Now, 3 years later I spend most of my time doing commercial drone stuff like 3D Mapping, Telecomm inspections, Real Estate, Surveillance, or Videography, BUT……. My love and passion will always be aerial photography. Most of my drone shots were captured with a drone called a DJI Inspire 2, and that drone is equipped with a Zenmuse X7 Camera, but we also operate Phantom 4’s, Mavic 2’s, M300, Mavic Air 2S, and soon the Mavic 3E and Mavic 3T.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
It has not been a smooth road, I went to the drone school of hard knocks. The drone industry is very new. After my first few thousand drone flights, I learned a lot. The first rule of drone flying is NEVER fly over people or in close proximity to people. Drones do not have airworthiness certificates like manned airplanes and helicopters. They are unreliable and I have had multiple drones fail and fall like bricks wherever they happen to be.
There are a ton of technical nuances involved in drone data collection, if you have a deep understanding of camera settings and videography it will be greatly beneficial. The hardest part is not flying, it’s learning the airspace regulations and framing photos and video well. On the commercial side, the technical specs of the data collection we do can vary greatly from easy to expert level. The more challenging operations we do is 3D modeling, Telecomm inspections, solar field inspections, and search and rescue.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about DroneCity LLC?
Drone City LLC is my company. I’m Zach the owner and chief pilot. We use our drones to get awesome photos and video clips that we can share on our social media outlets, and we also operate drones for various commercial purposes. DroneCity specializes in aerial photography, and we are known for getting unique aerial perspectives that only drones can get. What sets drone city apart is our experience and equipment.
We operate a very solid fleet of drones, including a DJI Inspire 2 with an X7 camera, a Matrice 300 RTK with an H20T camera, as well as various smaller drones. Each drone has enough batteries and charging equipment to run nonstop all day long which is a huge benefit to both us and our clients. We spend a lot of time doing photography, videography, 3D mapping, telecom inspections, thermal imaging, volunteer search and rescue, and real estate. DroneCity LLC is a family-owned business with a focus on highlighting our beautiful landscapes here in Minnesota.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
Drones are very fun, and give a unique perspective of our surroundings. If you have an interest in flying drones, I’d recommend researching the FAA drone regulations. Anyone can go buy a drone today, and fly it right now, but without any research or preparation, you could easily get into trouble.
There are strict airspace regulations, flight restrictions, and “rules of the sky” drone pilots MUST FOLLOW. Failure to fly responsibly could result in catastrophic incidents causing serious injury or death, no joke. DroneCitys final word of advice is NEVER, EVER fly your drone over people who are not participating in your operation, and do your due diligence.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.dronecityhd.com
- Instagram: @dronecityhd
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/drone11
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zach-ellefson-0591b5212?lipi=urn%3Ali%3Apage%3Ad_flagship3_profile_view_base_contact_details%3B%2BVTKOMzFTjiALmUoaPbDrw%3D%3D
