The frame only altitude can make.
Scale, geography and environment. Aerial cinematography and photography flown under a Transport Canada Advanced RPAS certificate — which permits work inside the controlled airspace that covers most of Calgary — and directed as part of the film rather than added to it.
Does Atom2Adam offer aerial cinematography and photography?
Yes. Aerial is one of five capabilities at Atom2Adam, a global creative consultancy and media agency operating from Calgary, Canada — aerial cinematography, drone film, aerial photography, landscape cinematography and architectural and property aerials, flown under a Transport Canada Advanced RPAS certificate with NAV CANADA authorisation filed for any address inside controlled airspace. Elsewhere in the world the destination's own aviation authority governs and its permits are part of the scope; airspace is confirmed for the specific address before every flight, wherever the commission is.
What it decides. What it makes.
The judgment first, then the work that follows from it.
Decides
- Altitude — chosen from the subject, not the airframe
- The move, and the argument it makes: an orbit, a reveal, a push-in, a tracking pass
- The hour — low raking light separates terrain, grade and texture
- Airspace — confirmed from coordinates before the date is booked
Makes
- Aerial cinematography and drone film
- Aerial photography
- Landscape and establishing sequences
- Architectural and property aerials
- FPV flythroughs, where a single unbroken move earns its place
- Plan-view frames for lot, boundary and access
In scope
The craft.
What separates a good version of this work from a bad one.
- 01
Altitude is chosen from the subject
A single home reads best well below the regulatory ceiling; a large parcel needs enough height to contain the boundary. Flying as high as legally possible is the most common mistake in aerial work, and it is why so much of it looks the same.
- 02
A move is a sentence
An orbit says look at this from every side. A reveal says here is what you could not see. A drift with no intent says nothing at all, however long it is held.
- 03
Terrain and light decide what is flyable
A valley funnels wind and shortens the light window; in the Bow Valley the usable hour closes well before the published sunset, because the peaks take the sun first. The shoot is scheduled around that rather than around the calendar.
- 04
Airspace is confirmed, never assumed
Most of Calgary sits inside the CYYC control zone and the city's western edge under Springbank; an Advanced RPAS certificate is what makes flight there possible, and the NAV CANADA authorisation is in hand before the date is confirmed. Outside Canada the destination's authority governs, and its permits are scoped into the commission.
Inside a commission.
Aerial work is directed as part of the film, not added to it: the shot list is built from the cut, so what is flown is what is used, and the frames are graded in the same colour language as the ground camera and the stills. In a full commission it becomes the aerial film — scale, geography and environment — and the aerial photography for web, print and listings. When a commission travels, the local flight permits and airspace authorisations at the destination are covered by the client at cost, like the rest of the expenses.
How a commission is structuredThe work behind it
16 projects
- Subjects
The craft, in detail.
Four articles on what separates good aerial work from the rest.
- Aerial cinematographyA move is a sentence. Most aerial footage is a shrug.
- Aerial photographyAltitude is not a camera position. It is an argument.
- Real estate mediaA listing photograph has one job: make the right buyer drive out.
- FPV drone filmingOne continuous take through a space a conventional airframe cannot enter.
Questions, answered.
Is Atom2Adam licensed to fly in controlled airspace?
Yes. Commercial operation in Canada requires a Transport Canada RPAS Pilot Certificate, and Advanced Operations is the level that permits flight inside controlled airspace or near bystanders — which covers most addresses in urban Alberta. Atom2Adam flies under an Advanced certificate and files NAV CANADA authorisation where the address requires it, before the shoot date is confirmed.
Can aerial work be commissioned outside Canada?
Yes, on a client-funded travel basis. Outside Canada the destination's own aviation authority governs, and its permits and any destination-specific insurance rider are part of the scope the client covers at cost. Airspace is checked from coordinates rather than from a town name, so an address is the most useful thing a brief can contain.
What is the difference between aerial footage and aerial cinematography?
Intent. Aerial footage records what is there from above. Cinematography chooses a move that makes a point — a reveal that shows elevation, an orbit that proves a property has no bad side — and grades it to sit inside the film beside the ground camera. The equipment is identical; the shot list and the finish are not.