Buzzing menace invading every beauty spot and private moment
Selfie sticks are so last year. Now social media obsessives are taking snaps from the air with drones
STANDING on the perfect white sands of a remote scottish beach, waves lapping at their feet as they made their vows, anna and gary Campbell hall shared their first kiss as Mr and Mrs.
It was an intimate moment — one recorded for posterity by a high-tech wedding video captured by a flying drone with a camera. as you watch the video, suddenly the camera zooms off, flying high above the couple to reveal the simply beautiful location they’re marrying in from above.
Waves crash against the rocks of the wild coastline and we see how the atlantic Ocean changes from deep, sparkling blue to turquoise as it reaches shallower water. It is, without doubt, a stunning image. The drone takeover has been sparked by the modern-day obsession with posting the most ‘impressive’ pictures on social media sites such as Instagram and Facebook.
Drones have become increasingly available and lower in price since they were launched onto the domestic market more than a decade ago. The remotecontrolled machines can fly hundreds of feet in the air carrying a camera, and can be bought for as little as £40.
The footage they take is transmitted live to the operator’s tablet or smartphone.
While aficionados rave about the images this new technology can create, others think very differently. Just last month, new laws came into force in the UK to try to limit the dangers caused by the drones.
In the past two years alone, nearmisses with aeroplanes in the UK have more than tripled, soaring from 29 in 2015 to 92 in 2017.
There are also increasing concerns about privacy, with homeowners complaining about being filmed in their gardens, and even through their windows, by mysterious operators they can’t see.
THAT’S not to mention the noise annoyance caused by the small plastic aircraft buzzing around — the noise they produce is equivalent in volume to a vacuum cleaner and can be resoundingly loud if used in beauty spots.
anna Campbell-hall, 41, hadn’t planned to have a video made of her september 2016 ceremony in Crear, argyll, until she saw drone footage of another couple’s nuptials on social media.
‘It was shot at the same location we were marrying in and it was absolutely amazing,’ says the jeweller, who was then living in London. ‘It really showed off the dramatic coastline and the gorgeous views of the beach, the ruined chapel and the sea.
‘The high shots allowed us to see the area as we’d never seen it before — from a bird’s eye view.
‘It was stunning. afterwards, it was a lovely way to share the day with the people who weren’t there — much more so than photos. The drone video really captured the spirit of the day.’
Few would object to such filming on a huge, privately owned estate in the wilds of scotland.
But filming a private wedding at an exclusive venue is quite different, for example, to filming at a local park where children are playing or in private back gardens.
Parents have expressed concerns that young children might be filmed swimming or in a state of undress by paedophiles.
Many people are now taking measures to limit the intrusion caused by drone use.
alison Noone, landlady of a pub in Margate, Kent, says drone use is so ‘rampant’ across the coastline that her boyfriend has had to put up blinds to stop them peering through his windows.
‘I think they’re dangerous,’ says alison, 53. ‘They go low. I saw them all last summer and used to think: “Where’s that going? Is it filming me?” It is such an invasion of privacy.’
Vintage clothes shop manager Deborah Ellis agrees.
‘I’ve seen them on Margate beach, and you think: “What are they filming? There are naked children on that beach.” as a parent, it would make me feel very uncomfortable.’
Even TV presenter Richard Madeley has voiced his concerns after being filmed without permission in his Cornish back garden two years ago. ‘I can’t tell you how violated and threatened I felt,’ he said. ‘and [also] hugely angered.’
In the heatwave, it’s Britain’s beaches and beauty spots that are bearing the brunt of drone warfare as holidaymakers wishing to relax find themselves pitted against others for whom nothing is off-limits in their quest to capture the perfect shot. Marilyn Dunstan, 64, has been bothered by drones several times while on Uphill beach near Weston-super-Mare, somerset, with her granddaughter, scarlett.
‘I think they’re quite dangerous,’ she says. ‘People can lose control over them.
‘We were out the other day and there were a couple about that kept getting quite close to us — it’s worrying when they come close to your faces like that.’
But it’s not just people who are irritated, animals are being disturbed, too.
Eva hermann, 52, is a horse rider who also regularly walks her five greyhounds on the same beach.
‘I really don’t like it when they come close to the horses,’ says. Eva, a doctor. ‘sometimes they’ll come down quite close and spook the horses, especially the youngsters.
‘When you’re on a young horse, you don’t want to encounter a drone at all. If one comes close, that’s when they freak out.
‘It’s not good. They make a horrible noise and my dogs are very sensitive to them, too, and try to chase them away.’
Britain’s Royal Parks became so
concerned about the effect of drones on animals on their land that they’ve banned them.
‘Their use can have a negative impact on park wildlife and also interfere with the safety and comfort of other park visitors,’ a spokesman said recently.
‘There is evidence of such devices causing alarm to animals by flying too close. We have also had an example of a drone rising above grazing animals and then crashing to the ground.’
Despite the myriad dangers, it seems drones are here to stay. Currys PC World report that drone sales so far this year are up by an incredible 60 per cent on last year.
With so many being sold — the actual number of owners in the UK is impossible to estimate — it’s perhaps no wonder the Government brought in new regulations last month.
It follows years of increasing concern about the dangers untrained drone pilots pose.
In May this year, one machine came within six metres of crashing into a plane at Luton airport.
Ten months earlier, another put 130 people’s lives at risk by almost colliding with an aircraft at Gatwick.
In 2016, a British Airways Airbus A320, flying from Geneva with 132 passengers and five crew on board, was actually struck by a drone as it landed at Heathrow. Thankfully no one was hurt.
So, as of last month, it became illegal to fly one within one kilometre (0.6 of a mile) of an airport or airfield, or higher than 120 metres (nearly 400ft) anywhere in the UK — although the Civil Aviation Authority can make exceptions in some (unspecified) circumstances. Next year, even tougher laws will come into force. From the end of November 2019, owners of drones weighing more than 250g (half a pound) will have to register with the CAA and take an online safety test.
It’s thought most drones now weigh more than this.
The safety test, which will be administered either online or through a smartphone app, will cover subjects such as safety, security and privacy.
The problem is that many drone hobbyists will not be aware of the new laws.
‘The biggest problem we see in the industry is people who just go and buy a drone and fly it somewhere inappropriate without knowing there are any rules,’ says Elliott Corke, director of The Aerial Academy, which trains both commercial and amateur drone users.
Unlike those who just see using a drone as a pastime, anyone using it for work must, by law, pass a one-off certification course (which costs around £1,000) then apply for CAA Permission at £247 (which has to be renewed each year at a cost of £185) and buy insurance.
‘Drones have become easier to fly over the years,’ says Mr Corke, ‘but people struggle when things start to go wrong — the wind is a bit high or something goes wrong with the drone. They don’t know how to react.
‘So most of our training is on what to do in situations like this — how to control the drone when you lose the GPS signal; what to do if it starts to disappear; who they should call — it’s that kind of stuff people are unaware of when they buy from a shop.
‘What they should do is read the manual before they fly to make sure they understand the safety features such as the “return to home” function.’
BUYERS should also check where they are allowed to fly using websites (with names such as noflydrones.co.uk), he says, as they may be surprised at number of places where they’re not welcome.
‘Under the rules,’ says Mr Corke, ‘a park is a recreational area which is classed as a congested area so there can be issues flying a drone in a park unless there’s a specific bylaw saying you can.
‘you’re quite limited in where you can use them.’
But there is no question that when they’re used properly, the results can be magnificent.
YouTube is full of videos of the very best shots of Britain — from verdant forests to white cliffs, stately homes and picturesque gardens — all taken from angles we don’t usually see.
‘Before drones became accessible, the only way to get such footage was to hire a helicopter which would cost hundreds of pounds for a few minutes,’ says Phil Vinter, a CAA-licensed film director and professional cameraman who uses drones regularly in his work.
‘Then you’d have to be hanging out of the helicopter door with a camera on your shoulder, shouting instructions to the pilot so you could get in the right position for filming. ‘It was difficult and costly. ‘But now, I can launch a drone and get better footage for a fraction of the cost — I’ve got two machines and the most expensive was only £1,500.
‘It’s more than paid for itself, and besides, it’s worth every penny when you see people’s eyes light up as they watch the finished video.
‘It adds something special, a bit of polish — it’s incredible.’
But is that wow factor really worth the inconvenience — and danger — drones often pose?