Last updated: 4 October 2026
Drone photography in Melbourne is legal for commercial work only under CASA licensing, and it earns its place on a brief only when altitude, scale or movement gives you something the ground cannot. I fly as a CASA licensed remote pilot, carry $20M public liability, and handle the airspace approvals for every flight.
Most drone footage looks the same. A slow reveal from low to high, a wide establishing shot, a property or venue drifting across the frame. That is not drone photography. That is a drone used as a gimmick.
Aerial coverage here is a story driven tool, used where it carries something the ground cannot. The DJI Mini 5 Pro is my aerial platform, paired with the Sony Alpha 1 II and the Sony Alpha 7V for complete ground to sky production across Melbourne and Victoria.
When the shot carries a specific job in the story rather than opening the film because a drone was on the call sheet. Five briefs where it reliably lifts the result are property, venues, place based brands, events and construction.
Property and architecture. Scale is close to impossible to communicate from the ground. A drone reveals the relationship between a building and its landscape, the site context and the sense of space no ground lens replicates.
Venues and hospitality. Estate wineries, wedding venues and retreats cannot be read from a single ground perspective. Aerial footage shows guests what they are arriving into, not just what they will stand in front of.
Environmental and agricultural brands. Land, water, landscape. If a brand is tied to place, aerial photography carries that connection at a scale the ground cannot reach.
Events and activations. Crowd scale, venue context and the energy of a space. Aerial coverage adds a dimension that cameras at ground level cannot get on their own.
Construction and development progress. Before, during and after documentation of a site communicates progress in a way no other medium manages, which is why progress sets are shot from the same points each visit.
Yes. Commercial drone operations in Australia require CASA licensing, and flying without it exposes both you and your production company to liability while invalidating the footage for commercial use.
Every flight I operate runs under current CASA licensing as a licensed remote pilot. I manage airspace approvals for controlled zones, notify the relevant authorities where that is required, and carry $20M public liability for aerial operations.
Melbourne and its surrounds hold a lot of controlled airspace, particularly around the CBD, Tullamarine, Essendon and Moorabbin. Those requirements are handled as part of the production brief, so they are not left with you.
As one integrated system rather than two shoots joined in post. The aerial shots are storyboarded alongside the ground shots, and the colour grade applied afterwards is consistent across both.
The edit treats drone and ground footage as complementary views of the same story, not interchangeable assets from two visual worlds. This is where a lot of productions come apart: the drone footage looks like one film, the ground footage looks like another, and the cut feels disjointed because the two were never designed together.
I plan both from the same brief, shoot both with connected intent, and grade both to the same visual identity.
Short form aerial cuts hold attention well on the feed, particularly for property, venue and lifestyle brands. A vertical reveal or a ground to sky transition gives a viewer a reason to stay that a static ground frame does not, so the aerial shoot gets designed for the feed rather than a showreel.
The formats I cut aerial content to:
If the brief leads with social, the shot list is built for the feed first and the longer cut comes out of the same material.
Across Melbourne metro and the rest of Victoria, from a base in Belgrave. The regions I work in most often sit within a comfortable drive of the Dandenongs, and travel further out is assessed with the airspace requirements at brief stage.
If aerial belongs on your brief, drone photo and video work covers how it is planned and flown, and you can start a project with the location and the dates when you are ready to scope it.
Is drone photography legal in Melbourne?
Commercial drone work in Australia requires CASA licensing. I fly as a CASA licensed remote pilot, carry $20M public liability for aerial operations, and manage the airspace approvals for every production.
Can you fly a drone near the Melbourne CBD?
Parts of the Melbourne CBD sit inside controlled airspace, as do the areas around Tullamarine, Essendon and Moorabbin. I assess each location at brief stage and obtain the required approvals where a flight is permitted.
Do you match drone and ground footage in post?
Yes. The aerial shots are storyboarded alongside the ground shots and the same colour grade is applied across both, so the final cut reads as one film rather than two shoots joined in the edit.
How much does drone photography cost in Melbourne?
Aerial coverage is usually part of a broader production rather than a line item on its own. Standalone aerial sessions are available, and the figure depends on location, duration and airspace requirements, so it is quoted at brief stage.
What drone do you use?
A DJI Mini 5 Pro, paired on the ground with a Sony Alpha 1 II, a Sony Alpha 7V and an FX3. It is a compact platform that suits the majority of Melbourne location types and keeps approvals straightforward.