02. Aerial drone
Aerial drone photography
Flown by an FAA Part 107 certified pilot, not subcontracted out to a third party. Twelve frames that answer the question a ground camera never can: what does the lot actually look like.
Chapter 01
What Part 107 actually restricts near Atlanta's shelf
A drone photographer flying inside a 30-mile radius of Social Circle is not flying in open countryside the whole time. Class B and C airspace around Hartsfield-Jackson and the smaller fields nearby carries real ceiling and notification rules, and a pilot without the certificate is flying on hope rather than authorization.
Michael holds the Part 107 remote pilot certificate himself, which is what lets the aerial work happen on a listing legally rather than quietly. When an agent asks who actually flies the drone, the honest answer here is the same person who answers the phone.
Kitchen island in granite and white cabinetry under pendant lighting, photographed for a listing
Lot lines and approach shots a ground camera cannot tell
A buyer's second question after seeing the interior is almost always about the lot itself, how far the property line runs, what backs up to the yard, whether the neighbor's roofline or a treeline blocks a view the listing promised. A photo taken standing in the driveway cannot answer any of that.
The aerial set is built around exactly those questions: a straight-down or near-straight-down frame that reads the lot boundaries, and an approach shot from the direction most buyers will actually drive in from, so the first impression online matches the first impression in person.
Chapter 03
Weather and light windows
Wind, not rain, is what actually grounds a shoot. A drone can fly through a light overcast without trouble, and even benefits from it, flat cloud cover softens shadows across a roofline that harsh midday sun would otherwise blow out. Sustained wind past the aircraft's rated limit is the real stop condition.
Light angle matters as much as weather. Aerial frames are timed for the same low, raking sun that makes the ground-level shots work, because a lot photographed at high noon reads flat no matter how good the drone is. Both the ground and aerial sets are planned around the same window on the same visit.
Wilson & Smith, FAA Part 107 certified. GAMLS Affiliate Non-Member. Call (770) 282-9094.