What do you care about?

The reason it seems that price is all your customers care about is that you haven’t given them anything else to care about.Simon Sinek

In the photography industry, the battle for price has been a savage war lately. In the film days, you had to hire a professional because the process was complicated. Being a hobbyist was cost prohibitive. Pros could also make extra money selling stock because there was only one negative. Now, with better & cheaper technology, the image count has risen quickly and the war is starting to take its toll on many professionals.

We have found that more than the lowest price drives our client’s decisions. Often, they could get it cheaper or do it themselves but they see value in the service that professionals provide. In talking to our clients about why they value our service, we mostly hear about our reliability, quality & personability.

  • Reliability – with a team of photographers and a proven system, we have options in case plan A, B & C all fall through. And that matters when clients are on a deadline.
  • Quality – Yes, the camera still matters as does post-production and our clients know it. People still hire professionals because of their training and practice.
  • Person-ability – Being nice these days is a bonus in any industry. For too long, photographers got a bad rap because of bad attitudes. Treat clients right, and the price will be a secondary factor.

What do your clients care about? Are you giving them more than price?

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Nashville, you look marvelous!

What’s it like flying around Nashville with all of the beautiful landmarks and amazing new growth? Well, you could come work for us OR take a look at some of our video stock clips. It’s taken us a while to collect enough to share and also a while to go through all of the great footage. Most footage was shot in 4K with an Inspire 2 and some stock if from the helicopter using an X3 lens with a DJI osmo.

We are hosting the clips on our zenfolio site for purchase for any of your video projects. Past footage has been used for anything from a bid proposal for large projects, to amp up a web site or even for national TV shows. If you are not thinking about incorporating video into your marketing, maybe this will spur your creativity!

Click here to view our stock video gallery

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Showing the Love

Last week you met Alyssa and said goodbye to Tiffany. This week we are celebrating 2 anniversaries: Jessi Braswell in the Nashville office has been with us since 2015 and Chelsea Patterson in the Georgia office has been with us since 2017. We couldn’t do it without either of them for very long, they are the glue and the drivers behind our successful sales and customer service. How do we love these girls….let’s count the ways!

5 – days a week you will get a cheerful voice answering all of your questions

4 – quarters of the year that these girls crush it!

3 – primary colors that either of them will have in their hair at once

2 – well, there is two of them, the dynamic duo? the pair in the air?

1 – amount of times you have to ask them for anything, they are Johnnies on the spot!

We love you, Chelsea and Jessi!! You are rock stars and we are your touring band 🙂

 

Last Flight Out!

We always feel a little sad when we have to say goodbye to one of our team members. This week, Tiffany is leaving us to follow her family and her faith to Georgia. She has been our rock-star in production, making sure everything looks the best it can be and gets out the door quickly. We wish her the best in her endeavors and look forward to seeing her soar in her new phase of life.

As the saying goes, a door closes but a window opens. And we welcome Alyssa back through our open window (well, we let her use the door mostly ). You may remember Alyssa, she was with us a couple of summers ago to help out in production. She is back up to speed and working on images like a champ. We are excited to have her back and are very grateful that she is recalling her earlier training.

Say hello to Alyssa when you hear from her and help us in wishing Tiffany all the best. Here are some photos from Tiffany’s last flight and Alyssa’s first in the R44 with Helistar Aviation…looks like a chilly one!

Stronger Together

Some news from our sister company in Atlanta! Aerial Innovations of GA, Inc. is proud to announce their new owner and Flight Commander, Wendy Whittemore. For 27 years, Sheri Christianson aka Sky Queen has been at the helm of Atlanta’s premier aerial photography company and is excited to bring Wendy on board. Sheri will stay on as COO and Chief Photographer while Wendy will work on incorporating exciting new services including UAV/drone photo & video and Architectural Photography.

Our clients in Georgia, Tennessee and Kentucky can expect the same great service from our flight teams. Both offices (Nashville & Atlanta) will continue to serve their existing clients with no changes to staff, communications or billing; all emails and phone numbers will remain the same. We are happy to answer any questions about your specific project by calling either of our offices or for additional FAQ, click here.

The values of Aerial Innovations of GA, Inc. and TN & KY, Inc. have always been to provide quality photography with attention to your schedule and budget. We feel that with this transition, our team will be stronger and better able to serve a growing industry. Our Images are Your Images and now all systems are go for 2018. Zoom Zoom!

Aerial Innovations of GA, Inc. : 770-986-0333 : flyga@aerialga.com

Aerial Innovations of TN & KY, Inc. : 615-650-2002 : info@flytenn.com

Visit us online at     www.flytenn.com      www.aerialkentucky.com     www.aerialga.com

View some photos of our Georgia Flight Crew below

Sheri, Chelsea, Meredith, Cass and Wendy

Click here to view the Tennessee Team! : Jessi, Lynse, Tiffany and our Photographers

 

 

 

 

 

Our Best Drone Footage of 2017

Following up with our posts with our best images from 2017, we are also looking back at all the great drone and video footage we have gotten. Once again, our clients have come up with some very interesting and creative uses for our DJI Inspire 2 to capture. Each project has it’s unique set of challenges and, as always, the planning and prep work are key to keeping the cameras rolling.

Maybe you will be inspired for some creative work in 2018? We are ready for take off!

Click here to see our 2017 Show Reel

Looking Back on 2017

2017 was not a typical year for us by any means. We welcomed new people, new services and new customers. Our current clients expanded their portfolios with skyline expanding projects including bridges, skyscrapers and demolition. They had us create videos, panoramas, twilight images and, as always, a yearbook for each of their projects with our aerial progress images. We have compiled our favorites (beyond just 5 like we did for our countdown blogs) into different galleries on our stock site.

Visit each of our galleries

AERIAL       CONSTRUCTION       GROUND       DRONE       CREATIVE

We are ready for take off in 2018….bring it on, guys!

 

Our Top 5 – #1 The Nashville Skyline

It was hard to pick any one project this year, there seemed to be so much going on all at once. But one thing that really kept us on our toes this year was the changing skyline. Almost every photo we have taken is now out of date as new high rises and cranes kept popping up. We are not complaining by any stretch but it’s been a challenge to get those key skyline shots. Below are a few, let us know what you think.

And the biggest change to the skyline was due in part to the multitude of hotels going in. We were lucky to shoot some of the more beautiful ones like the Westin, J.W. Marriott and Thompson Hotels. We have not gotten in to see many of the renovated historic buildings turned into hotels but have dropped by the new 21C Hotel and Museum for an art pick-me-up.

Thanks for all of the great projects in 2017. Looking at construction reports for 2018, we may just be getting started.

 

Our Top 5 – #2 Amazing Events

The summer of 2017 brought us the term “the path of totality”. We were very lucky to both witness a total eclipse of the sun here in Middle TN but be in the area where it would be the darkest the longest. For weeks everyone prepared and got their spots lined up. Our photographers were everywhere from north of Nashville, in Kentucky to downtown with the crowds. Below are a few images from that day.

We also had a personal event that was amazing, our show opening at the Lexus of Nashville dealership. Although not the crowd size that the eclipse had, we had enough clients, friends and family to put on one of the best openings that Lexus had seen. The images will be up through the end of February in case you missed it.

Both events were great fun and a nice break to our normal routine..which is anything but normal when you are flying around! FYI we stayed safely on the ground for the eclipse, sometimes standing still is eventful enough!

Full Eclipse Image and Shadow Image by Rick Smith 

Our Top 5 – #3 Video for Days!

We had a great time this year with lots of creative uses for our drone. Almost every week another client would call with a different project.  It varied from filming Nashville landmarks for a lobby video to capturing the fast paced bridge demo and rebuilding on I-24 this fall. If our clients could think it up, we figured out how to film it!

Two unique jobs we worked on was the construction and grand opening of the Wonder Porcelain plant in Lebanon, TN. We did a complete package with monthly aerial progress for T.W. Frierson during construction, several drone videos, interior video of the final plant and even got to film the ribbon cutting with all of the team members. It was a big job (literally, it was thousands of square feet!) but our team rose to the challenge.

The landmark bank building at Broadway and 3rd Ave in Nashville has been going under some extreme renovations by Turner Construction to make way for Blake Shelton’s Ole Red Bar. The entire building was gutted, rebuilt on the inside and is now getting capped off with another roof top bar. The unique construction events were best captured from above and at a close range. We were on site for multiple key events with the drone and can’t wait for a birds-eye view from the top.