Martha Stewart Has a Drone: Is This a Good Thing?
Martha Stewart is the acknowledged first lady when it comes to the home and lifestyle industry. And now it turns out she’s no slouch when it comes to emerging technology either. Among the latest Martha “Likes” is a DJI Phantom, her new flying camera drone.
On her Martha: Up Close & Personal blog, Martha reveals that a member of her security detail, Dominic Arena, has been using it to take photos of her 153-acre farm, located in Bedford, New York. However, Martha cautions, “controlling them takes practice and getting used to. Since my farm has lots of open fields, Dominic thought it would be the best place to get acquainted with his new toy.”
There are some beautiful aerial photos on the blog, including one of sunrise at the Cross River Reservoir. This is Martha’s world, so there are also photos of stables, the horse paddock, the donkey paddock, the chicken grazing paddock and chicken coop, along with Martha’s Winter house, Summer house, and the Tenant house (her daughter's home). Of course, there are also photos of the greenhouses, peony garden, blueberry garden, and the boxwood allee.
Alas, it’s not perfect. Regarding the photo of her blueberry garden, Martha points out, “It's actually not curved at all, but only appears so due to distortion created by the wide-angle lens on the drone camera.”
Martha’s drone doesn’t seem to be used in high-traffic areas, but the current legality about drones is, well, murky. Are camera drones subject to government regulation?
Admitting that “there are a lot of misconceptions and misinformation about unmanned aircraft system (UAS) regulations,” the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a bulletin: "Busting Myths about the FAA and Unmanned Aircraft."
According to the FAQ, FAA approval is not needed when “model aircraft” are kept below 400 feet above ground level and “flown a sufficient distance from populated areas and full scale aircraft, and are not for business purposes.”
Drone photography. So far, it’s a good thing.
