News! | Drone Demo Reel - FAA Part 107 Certified! - Matt Baldelli Photographer / Director / Adventurer

About 4 years ago I was working on set in upstate New York with a good friend of mine on a national advertising campaign, the production company he partners with hired out drone pilots from Seattle, and my mind was blown away.

After watching how they operated and the footage they were able to obtain using a Freefly System Drone + the Arri Alexa Mini with vintage Anamorphic lenses the footage was out of this world. With simple movements, the two of them were well-rehearsed only getting maybe 20 minutes of flight time on each battery with close to a $100,000 flying in the sky before the thunderstorms rolled in off the great lakes. Their experience helped them stay cool calm and collected which helped them capture some of the best footage I’ve seen. Since this moment I have been hooked on drone photography + cinematography!

Three years ago I finally started dabbling in drone work, learning the in’s and out’s of flying, working on rehearsing movements, learning the technology and that fast is slow, slow is smooth, smooth is fast. There were a lot of nerve-racking moments and a lot of great moments, at the end of the day this was a fantastic diving board for me. These experiences helped me gain enough hours and knowledge to shoot professionally under high-stress conditions to execute the needs of my clients.

Covid-19 hit early this year, quarantine as unwelcome as it was, it allowed me to have the time to sit down and dive deeper into a few areas I’ve been wanting to explore – learning Final Cut Pro X, obtaining the FAA Part 107 License, and a hunter education course.

After a week of learning and studying from Greg at the Pilot Institute, I felt ready to schedule my FAA Part 107 Exam. My extensive background in skydiving and B.A.S.E. jumping helped expedite the learning curve with my airport and weather knowledge. As of May, I’m officially an FAA Part 107 Pilot, insurance, and can fly commercially in the United States.