The Shuswap · British Columbia, Canada

Aerial film and photography for Shuswap lake country.

Four arms of one lake meeting at Cinnemousun Narrows, houseboats out of Sicamous, cabins and resort strata on Shuswap and Mara lakes, Salmon Arm's wharf and its July festival. Atom2Adam takes commissions around the lake — and has flown here already, at Westgate Cafe on Salmon Arm's west side.

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From above Westgate Public Market in Salmon Arm, looking past a teal hut and across the highway to green fields, the edge of town, and Shuswap Lake under the far hills
Past a teal hut and across the highway to the fields, the edge of town and Shuswap Lake under the far hills. Westgate Cafe, Salmon Arm, British Columbia — from the studio's work.Westgate Cafe

Does Atom2Adam work in the Shuswap?

Yes. Atom2Adam, a global creative consultancy and media agency operating from Calgary, takes commissions around Shuswap Lake — Salmon Arm, Sicamous, Sorrento, Blind Bay, Scotch Creek and Chase. Its published work here is Westgate Cafe in Salmon Arm: eleven aerial takes and three aerial photographs. British Columbia is routine for the studio; the crew travels 511 km from Calgary on Highway 1, and travel is billed at cost.

Shuswap at a glance

Facts for a commission in the Shuswap, British Columbia
AgencyGlobal creative consultancy & media agency
Operating baseCalgary, Alberta, Canada
CommunitiesSalmon Arm, Sicamous, Sorrento, Blind Bay, Scotch Creek, Chase
Work made hereWestgate Cafe, Salmon Arm — eleven aerial takes, three aerial photographs
From Calgary511 km on Highway 1, about 5 h 41 min (Shuswap Tourism)
Scheduled flightsKelowna (YLW) or Kamloops (YKA), each within a one-to-two-hour drive
AerialNot on BC Parks land without permission; the City's airport is a No Drone Zone
CoverageBritish Columbia — routine for the studio
ResponseWe reply within one business day

A lake that sells from the water and the air.

Shuswap Lake is shaped like an H: four arms — the Main Arm, Seymour, Anstey and Salmon Arm — that meet at Cinnemousun Narrows, north-east of Sicamous (BC Parks). The lake runs up to 89 km long and 5 km wide, and most of its 23 marine-park sites are reached only by water. That is why the region's best-known product, a week on a houseboat, and its most common listing, a cabin with a dock, both read clearest from above.

Sicamous, in Destination BC's words, stakes its claim as the Houseboat Capital of Canada, with a houseboat-building industry and about 250 rental boats. At the 2021 census, 661 of its 1,905 private dwellings — about 35% — were not occupied by usual residents. Salmon Arm adds a wharf Shuswap Tourism calls North America's longest curved inland wooden wharf, the six licensed grape wineries Wine BC counts in its coolest interior region, and the ROOTSandBLUES festival, next on 23–25 July 2027.

The lake's own institutions buy this work. In June 2026 the City of Salmon Arm asked for a year of drone imagery, drone video and still photography across all four seasons, to support its marketing and tourism promotion. Vacation property sells to buyers from further afield: in 2020 a listing agent described to The Globe and Mail an uptick in Albertans and Vancouverites buying here.

What the lake asks for first.

  1. 04From the air, where it is allowed. Docks, beaches, moorage and the line from a cabin to the water are aerial subjects. They are flown around what the lake protects: BC Parks rarely permits drones on its marine-park sites, Salmon Arm Bay holds the province's largest Western Grebe colony, and the City declares its airport a No Drone Zone — aerial cinematography and photography.
  2. 02Films for houseboats and resorts. A houseboat or lake-resort film has to show the week, not the boat: the narrows, a beach at dusk, an arm with nobody on it. BC Parks says Shuswap Lake Provincial Park runs at capacity from early July to Labour Day, so the shoot lands either side of that, or in the crowd on purpose — hospitality and campaign films.
  3. 03Stills for cabins, cellars and cafés. Lakefront cabins and resort strata, cafés and cellar doors, the region's cool-climate wineries: interiors, food and the view, made for listings, menus and press. See hospitality, interiors and lifestyle photography.
  4. 01A plan that knows who to ask. Salmon Arm had no film permit process in late 2025, so filming requests went to council; Chase answers to the Thompson-Nicola Regional District, not Columbia Shuswap; reserve land answers to its band. The permissions are sorted before the crew leaves Calgary — part of the consultancy and creative direction.
  5. 05Edited once, sold all year. A lake shot in July is sold in January. Edit, colour, sound and finishing at the studio turn one shoot into the cut-downs a resort, a broker or a tourism office runs through every season, delivered digitally — post-production and finishing.

Commissions the lake country supports.

These come from what the Shuswap's economy is built on — water, boats, farms and visitors — not from a list of past clients.

  • Cabins and resort strata

    Cottages with a boat slip, lots with their own dock, shared beaches on Shuswap and Mara lakes: the listing rests on the shoreline, and the shoreline reads from the air.

  • Houseboat fleets

    About 250 rental houseboats work out of Sicamous. Fleet films, interiors and the week on the water, cut for booking pages and social.

  • Wineries and cafés

    Harvest, cellar doors and tables for the Shuswap's six licensed grape wineries and the cafés along Highway 1, made for the season each one sells.

  • Municipal and tourism content

    Four-season stills and aerials for councils and tourism offices that brief the way Salmon Arm did in June 2026.

  • Festivals

    ROOTSandBLUES on 23–25 July 2027, and the Salute to the Sockeye at Tsútswecw in a dominant year — from the ground, with the organisers' and BC Parks' agreement.

  • Highway 1 businesses

    Cafés, markets and stops on the Trans-Canada, filmed the way Westgate Cafe was: from the sign out to the valley.

Made in Salmon Arm.

Westgate Cafe, in Westgate Public Market on Salmon Arm's west side, is the studio's published work in the Shuswap: eleven aerial takes and three aerial photographs, aerial only. The café is the subject; no client is named.

The pull back from the café.

Twenty-one seconds from the Westgate Cafe story: the camera pulls back and rises from the café's orange front until the whole painted market, its red steel gable, the lot and Mount Ida stand in one frame. It is the move a Highway 1 business, a lake resort or a marina uses to put itself in its valley — made in Salmon Arm, by the studio.

Pulling back and rising from the orange front of Westgate Cafe in Salmon Arm until the whole painted market stands in frame: its red steel gable, the lot, and Mount Ida over the roof
Pulling back from the orange front until the market, the lot and Mount Ida over the roof share the frame. Westgate Cafe, Salmon Arm, British Columbia — from the studio's work.The whole story

Planning a Shuswap shoot.

Getting there. Shuswap Tourism puts Salmon Arm 511 km from Calgary on Highway 1, about 5 h 41 min. The nearest scheduled flights land at Kelowna (YLW) or Kamloops (YKA), both with Calgary service and each within a one-to-two-hour drive. BC drivers obey winter tire and chain signs from 1 October to 30 April.

Seasons. The astronomical day runs about 16½ hours in late June and under 8 in late December (US Naval Observatory). Salmon Arm averages 202.7 cm of snow a year, most of it in December and January. From early July to Labour Day the lake is at its busiest.

Airspace. The City of Salmon Arm declares Shuswap Regional Airport (CZAM) a No Drone Zone. Transport Canada bars drones within 9.3 km of a wildfire, which matters from July to September. Every site is checked against those and the rest of Transport Canada's rules before a date is confirmed.

Parks and wildlife. Shuswap Lake Marine Provincial Park is 23 sites around the lake, most reached only by water; with Shuswap Lake Provincial Park at Scotch Creek, Herald Park at Margaret Falls and Tsútswecw on the Adams River, it is BC Parks land, where drones need permission BC Parks says it rarely grants. Salmon Arm Bay's Western Grebe colony is kept clear of aircraft.

Permission. As of November 2025 Salmon Arm had no film permit process, and council decided filming requests; Chase is a village of the Thompson-Nicola Regional District. The Shuswap lies within unceded Secwépemc territory, and reserve land — the Neskonlith band's near Salmon Arm and Chase among it — is filmed only with the band's permission.

The sockeye year. 2026 is a dominant year for the Adams River sockeye run, and the Salute to the Sockeye runs at Tsútswecw Provincial Park from 9 to 25 October 2026. It is a provincial park: filming there is agreed with the Adams River Salmon Society and BC Parks, and aerial work is not assumed.

Questions about the Shuswap, answered.

Has Atom2Adam worked in the Shuswap before?

Yes, in Salmon Arm. The studio's Westgate Cafe story was made on the city's west side: eleven aerial takes and three aerial photographs of the café and Westgate Public Market, with Mount Ida and Shuswap Lake in frame. It is aerial only, it names no client, and it is the whole of the studio's work in the Shuswap so far.

Can you fly a drone over Shuswap Lake?

Over much of it, with planning — not everywhere. The marine-park sites, Shuswap Lake Provincial Park, Herald Park and Tsútswecw are BC Parks land, where drones need permission that is rarely granted. The City treats its airport as a No Drone Zone, and Salmon Arm Bay's grebe colony is avoided. Each site is checked before a date is set.

Do I need a film permit to shoot in Salmon Arm?

Ask the City first. As of November 2025 Salmon Arm had no film permit process, and filming requests went to council, which approved a feature's request to shoot in its own chambers that December. Provincial parks and Crown land go through FrontCounter BC, and reserve land through the band whose land it is.

Does Atom2Adam have a crew near Salmon Arm?

No. Atom2Adam operates from Calgary and claims no office or crew in the Shuswap. The consultancy is delivered remotely; for the shoot, the crew drives 511 km on Highway 1 or flies to Kelowna or Kamloops. British Columbia is routine for the studio, and travel is billed at cost on top of the fee.

When is the best time to film Shuswap Lake from the air?

For open water and quiet beaches, late spring and early autumn. The lake is busiest from early July to Labour Day, and wildfire limits can close summer airspace. June days run about 16½ hours of daylight; winter brings about 2 m of snow a year to Salmon Arm — a different film, and the right one for some briefs.

Where the facts on this page come from

Checked against these sources on . Access, permits and airspace change, so each is confirmed again for the specific site when a commission is scoped.

The agency

Shuswap, on a global agency’s map.

Atom2Adam is a global creative consultancy and media agency. It advises on how a place, a brand or an experience should be seen — creative direction, visual strategy, campaign planning — and then makes the work: film, photography, aerial cinematography and post-production, finished for every screen it will live on. It operates from Calgary, Canada; the consultancy is delivered anywhere, and production travels on a client-funded basis.

Commissions travel. The consultancy — direction, strategy, references, the plan — needs no flight and is delivered anywhere. When production leaves the Calgary base, the client covers travel, accommodation, ground transport and local permits at cost; the fee covers the work.

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