How Much Do Commercial Drone Services Cost in Knoxville?
If you’re looking for commercial drone photography or video in Knoxville, one of the first questions is usually pretty simple:
How much does it cost?
At Vella Crew, our standard commercial drone rate is $900 per day.
That rate works for many commercial drone photography and video projects throughout Knoxville, Maryville and East Tennessee. Some projects may require additional planning, travel, specialty operations, additional equipment or post-production, so the final scope can vary depending on what you’re trying to capture.
What Do You Get for $900 a Day?
Commercial drone work is more than showing up, putting a drone in the air and grabbing a few shots.
Before we fly, we need to understand the location, airspace, weather, safety considerations and what you’re actually trying to accomplish with the footage.
The $900 day rate is our starting point for professional commercial drone production and gives us the ability to approach the shoot as a production rather than racing against an hourly clock.
Depending on the project, we may be capturing:
- Commercial aerial video
- Aerial photography
- Establishing shots
- Property and facility footage
- Construction progress
- Tourism and hospitality content
- Marketing and advertising footage
- Footage for a larger video production
What Can Affect the Cost of Drone Services?
Not every drone job is the same.
Location and Airspace
Where we’re flying matters.
A location in open airspace may be relatively straightforward, while a project near an airport or inside controlled airspace can require additional planning or authorization.
Knoxville and the surrounding area have several airports and different types of airspace, so that’s something we look at before the shoot rather than figuring it out when we arrive.
What Are We Capturing?
Five aerial photographs of a property require a different approach than cinematic footage for a commercial or tourism campaign.
Video often requires multiple passes, different focal lengths, different altitudes and intentional camera movement to create footage that works with the rest of the production.
Drone Photography, Video or Both?
Some projects only need aerial photographs.
Others need video, photography and multiple types of shots for websites, advertising and social media.
Knowing the final deliverables ahead of time allows us to plan the flight around what your business actually needs.
Is Drone Part of a Larger Video Production?
Sometimes drone is the entire job.
Other times it’s simply another camera in a larger production.
If we’re already filming a commercial, corporate video, attraction, hotel or branded project, we can incorporate aerial footage into the production so everything works together visually.
That is very different from simply hiring someone to capture a few disconnected aerial shots.
Why a Day Rate Instead of Charging by Flight Time?
Because the amount of time the drone is physically in the air doesn’t represent the entire job.
Commercial drone work can include:
- Airspace research
- Location planning
- Weather monitoring
- Equipment preparation
- Travel
- Safety planning
- Battery and media management
- File organization
- Coordination with a production crew
A drone might only be flying for part of the day, but that doesn’t mean the production only required that amount of time.
The day-rate structure also gives us room to wait for the right light, adjust for conditions and capture additional angles without turning every additional flight into another line item.
Are Commercial Drone Pilots Required to Be FAA Certified?
Commercial drone operations in the United States generally fall under the FAA’s Part 107 regulations.
That means businesses should work with a properly certified commercial drone pilot who understands airspace, operating requirements and the limitations surrounding the particular flight.
It’s not just about knowing how to fly a drone.
It’s knowing whether the flight can legally and safely be done in the first place.
What Should You Look for When Hiring a Drone Pilot?
Start with FAA certification, but don’t stop there.
If you’re hiring someone to create commercial imagery, you also want someone who understands cameras and production.
A drone can be perfectly positioned in the air and still create mediocre footage.
Composition, movement, lighting, lens choice and understanding how the shot fits into the finished project all matter.
For larger commercial productions, experience working around crews, talent, vehicles and active locations becomes important as well.
Commercial Drone Services in Knoxville, Maryville & East Tennessee
Vella Crew’s standard commercial drone rate is $900 per day.
We provide commercial drone video and aerial photography throughout Knoxville, Maryville and East Tennessee for businesses, agencies and production companies.
Drone services can be booked independently or incorporated into a larger video production.
If you have a project in mind, send us the location, what you’re trying to capture and how the finished footage will be used. We can look at the airspace and production requirements and determine the best approach for the shoot.
Need commercial drone photography or video?