Page 39: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (September 2017)

About the Author

Jonathan Atkin, NYC based; known for meticulously planned aerial media from manned helicopters enhances brand- ing for blue water cargo shipping, cruise lines, towing companies, shipyards and “ the broader workboat sector with pas-

Whether used for noninvasive whale blow-hole mucous sion and knowledge throughout North gathering or dangerous on-board ? re investigations

America. With a ? eet of hi-res camera drones are reshaping many maritime missions.

drones, the Atkin Drone Team, (insured and licensed) offers clients options for drone assisted immersive aerial imag- es heretofore unachievable with other photo platforms.

www.shipshooter.com

My Favorite Drone

From a life photographing from hot air balloons, kites, parasails and profes- sionally from manned helicopters, Jona- than Atkin eagerly embraces drones as amazing photo platforms supplement- ing, not in place of manned helicopters.

The Atkin Drone team includes Jeff

Brink, an award winning cinematogra- pher, FAA certi? ed Pilot-in-Command, co-founder of Aerobo, a premier cin- ematography company. And several on call video editors. Our ? eet includes six aircraft, and the state-of-the-art DJI In- spire 2, is our “beast.” The X5s cam- era and lenses are brilliant. Love it. It is unfazed by moderate breeze, with mas- sive telemetry redundancy and sounds really cool. Two other Inspire 1s are in with infrared, FLIR and other payloads missions. Whether contracting outside without amazing telemetry) and exper- the “Atkin hangar” as well. All Inspires make drones a multi-mission platform. agencies or developing in-house drone tise with innovative software. Marketing retract landing gear, giving unobstruct-

Coupled with hardware, innovative teams, maritime agencies will no lon- divisions are using drones as great visual ed views with full 3 axis gimbals. The software permits vector based search ger assign drone usage ad hoc by call- solutions, but they must be the right tool latest Phantom 4 Pro has build quality and rescue, mapping, analysis, 3D rep- ing “Uncle Joe” with an amateur early for the job. Drones are not a “cheaper” that makes you want to feed it as a pet. resentations, thermographic imaging Phantom to ? y haphazardly, snapping alternative to manned aircraft. They are

An early Phantom 3 Pro with mounted and more. Echoing Admiral Michel’s photos or rolling the “video tape,” at indeed a unique and different tool for ? ood lights and the small “? y-me- concern, DJI drones now have ADS-B perhaps some risk to all. an immersive vantage point. Therefore, through the wheelhouse,” DJI Mavic receivers, alerting the operator of near- The maritime sector requires vetted drone operators must be more than “te-

Pro. Round out the hangar. My fave? by manned aircraft. Other systems and drone pilots, camera operators with FAA chies” but marine savvy professional that’s like which child? Inspire2 simply protocols for safe integration of airspace licenses, liability insurance, thorough ? lmmakers and photographers, fused for quality, stability and show stopping will undoubtedly become commonplace. experience in the care and feeding of with a fundamental passion and in-depth awesomeness. The Mavic Pro for un-

The largest challenge of maritime us- complex drone equipment, batteries, knowledge of the marine sector and its equalled ease of set up, surprising ca- ers is to apply due diligence to drone maintenance, record keeping, complete unique needs to successfully complete pability, ? yability and the grins elicited use as they do for all other maritime competence in manual ? ying (with and maritime missions.

when its “transformer” character un- folds from a small package.

All images courtesy and copyright Jonathan Atkin, www.shipshooter.com www.marinelink.com 39

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