Drone Photography Survey Project for The Duchy of Cornwall

As part of my ongoing study towards an MA in Photography I have recently completed a live external project with the Duchy of Cornwall. As one of the largest land owners in the South West, the Duchy has a number of interests which include management of mining heritage sites across Devon and Cornwall. Interested to explore how drone photography could be utilised to survey sites for possible ground subsidence and incursion of Japanese Knotweed, the Duchy granted me access to a number of sites around Bodmin Moor and the Tamar Valley and commissioned me to produce a series of work. 

The images shown were produced in August and September this year on Bodmin Moor and at the Prince of Wales mine near Harrowbarrow. Drone Photography was used to evaluate the detail that can obtained to identify foliage types and I also explored the potential application of Photogrammetry, capturing sequences of images that were combined in post production to produce high resolution photographic maps, or orthomosaics. 

My thanks to the Duchy of Cornwall for allowing me to work with them on this project, exploring the potential applications of drone-based imaging. I hope that further opportunities can be developed in the future.