Maritime & Navy Drone Photography & Videos
Aerial photography and filmmaking for the Armed Forces, ports and marinas, boats and yachts, and events or productions at sea
We’ve signed the Armed Forces Covenant
The Armed Forces Covenant details the relationship between the nation of Great Britain, the government, and our Armed Forces. It acknowledges that the whole nation has a moral obligation to Armed Forces members and their families. It outlines how they should be treated. Solent Sky Services strives to support the employment of Service spouses and partners. We offer a discount to members of the Armed Forces community, and actively contribute to charitable events. We proudly support the Career Transition Partnership (CTP), helping to establish a tailored employment pathway for Service Leavers.
We live in, work in, and are named after a region that’s steeped in naval and maritime history, and which today is known globally as a key commercial port. Portsmouth, Southampton, and the wider Solent area has shaped much of our portfolio. We deliver cinema-quality 8K and 4K aerial marine videos and high-resolution above-water photography, flying from the coastline or from boats and ships.
As well as filming seaborne vessels from just above the waterline or at high bird’s-eye angles, we also specialise in documenting Royal Navy and Armed Forces events, and have had the honour of working closely with high-ranking officials and members of the Royal Family on occasion. Our operations also extend into civil and maritime engineering, including beach and ocean analysis, 3D sea defence modelling, and mapping of marinas and dockyards.
Qualified FPV Pilots
We hold operational authorisation, granted to us by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) — for legal FPV flying! We’re also a member of Drone Safe Register.
National Drone Coverage
Our pilots and ground team work all over the UK, on corporate and residential construction sites, both in the city and further out of town.
Serious About Safety
Risk assessments, pre-flight plans, and specialist PPE: we ensure every shoot is safe, and closely adhere to rules on flying near large crowds and congested areas.
Hand-Launching
We’re professionally insured for and confidently experienced with launching and catching drones by hand while operating from small boats and platforms out at sea.
Zoom Lenses
at 8K and 4K
With our Xenmuse X7 full frame lenses docked on our DJI Inspire 3, we capture 8K CinemaDNG and Apple ProRes at varied focal lengths. Our Blackmagic ground cameras shoot 6K, and our Mavic Pro 3 achieves 5.1K.
360º Imagery for Maritime Industries
VR videos and 360º photography of ships, maritime events, and commercial/passenger ports is a vital part of modern marketing, boosting engagement on social media and bolstering B2B presentations.
Drone Video Editing
for Marine Industries
We offer full production packages, and can create engaging and informative videos for presentations and events, social media, internal newsletters, press, websites, product guides, and many other uses.
High-Speed Sport and FPV Drones
Our ever-growing range of aerial gear includes agile FPV ‘whoop’ drones for keeping up with faster vehicles. Perfect for when boats outpace our 60mph DJI Inspire 2, and for capturing uniquely dynamic videos.
Full-Service
Marketing
We’ve worked on campaigns with military organisations, luxury boat retailers, and passenger/cargo service firms. We’re masters of integrating aerial imagery into B2C and B2B marketing.
All-Round
Communication
Our team is equipped with Eartec headsets, so we remain in constant contact. We can also provide ship captains, harbour masters, etc. with them. Perfect for coordinating every shoot safely.
All-Day
Aerial Filming
We’re equipped with battery charging generators to keep our drones running all day. Ideal for dawn-to-dusk jobs aboard boats, or in busy ports where continuous filming is key to the shoot.
Multi-Date &
Multi-Destination Deals
We offer multi-day packages for lengthier, more complex shooting schedules. Need a team of pilots, filmmakers, and editors at every port of call on a week-long route? Book ahead in bulk with us!
Showcase: Maritime and Naval Drone Photos and Videos
Showcasing Solent Stevedores’ world-class facilities
Specialist port operator Solent Stevedores approached us just before lockdown struck, with a brief for three ‘visually-stunning’ videos. One would cover their general operations; another would showcase their industry-leading freight rail services; and the third would capture their work within the cruise industry.
The feedback to our videos was overwhelmingly kind, with Solent Stevedores stakeholders saying things like: “this gave me goosebumps,” “visually stunning work,” and “you’ve exceeded our expectations.”
HMS Queen Elizabeth returns to Portsmouth
British aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth’s return to Portsmouth in December 2019 was a particularly special one: it marked the first time she met HMS Prince of Wales!
We always capture the return of our Navy, either for our own enjoyment or on behalf of the regional press and maritime media, who are always on the lookout for drone pilots who respect the heightened regulations around flying near military craft. Drone code pros!
Flights like these are a great opportunity to show how passionate Portsmouth is about its naval legacy, with some shots focused on the crowds who always line the seafront for homecomings and departures.
Royal Navy parade at Armed Forces Day 2018
As seafaring fanatics, Naval history nerds, and signatories of the Armed Forces Covenant, we were excited and honoured when Portsmouth City Council requested we shoot the Armed Forces Day 2018 parade on Southsea seafront.
As always, we planned ahead to ensure our flights were legal and safe — very important when shooting near crowds of 1,000 people, and especially imperative when there’s a parachute drop-in on the event schedule!
Our take-off zone was over 400 metres away from Southsea Common, so using our cinema-quality zoom lenses was essential for obtaining the best footage we could from a safe distance.
Portico Shipping: lifting 95-tonne cargo for maritime build
In September 2019, we captured the move of some new 95-tonne fender spacer units from ML Ltd. through aerial photography and drone videos, with our friends and regular collaborators at Portico Shipping.
Our drone imagery and aerial 360º visuals have been a core part of Portico’s efforts to become a trusted supplier of cargo services, and a strong showcase for their maritime shipping capabilities.
We used our DJI Inspire 2 with wide lenses and zoom lenses to shoot both a broader picture and a close-up perspective. We also filmed from the ground, and affixed GoPros to cranes to shoot intriguing POV shots.
Boats.co.uk: launching and catching drones by hand aboard yachts
We’ve sailed the seas with yacht retailer Boats.co.uk on several occasions, shooting RAW footage for their marketing teams to edit into social media-ready videos.
Like most of our maritime shoots, every Boats.co.uk project has called for hand-launching and hand-catching, often from small RIBs swaying on choppy waves! We’ve the experience, PPE, and insurance to ensure this special technique is always carried out safely.
We’ve also conducted interior shoots aboard a number of superyachts, capturing ‘standard’ photos for print editorial and 360º panoramas to be embedded on website product pages.
Brittany Ferries: collaborating with harbour masters and port authorities
We provided a selection of cinema-quality aerial videos to France-to-UK ferry company Brittany Ferries for their B2C and B2B marketing.
As well as acquiring permissions for the flights from the Queen’s Harbour Masters in Portsmouth and Plymouth, we went a step further for the Plymouth flights, seeking approval from the Association of British Ports.
A member of staff from Brittany Ferries accompanied us, and we had a great time talking her through our storyboards, flight plans, and equipment!
Solent Stevedores: Intro Video
An epic introductory video to Solent Stevedores. Watch the video and read more on our blog.
Video: Portico Shipping Cargo
The units we filmed arriving at Portico ensured Portsmouth was ready to receive HMS Prince of Wales, which boasts a flight deck that’s 70 metres wide and 280 metres long — enough space for three football pitches! She also holds an impressive 45 days’ worth of food. Watch the video and read more on our blog →
Video: Return of HMS Queen Elizabeth
HMS Queen Elizabeth had been working off the east coast of the United States prior to her return to Portsmouth. The mission had tested the abilities of the grand vessel and its F-35. Watch the video and read more on our blog →
Video: Armed Forces Day 2018
It’s no surprise that the Royal Marine parade looked amazingly well-coordinated on Southsea’s seafront esplanade, and particularly impressive from an aerial perspective! Watch the video and read more on our blog →
Wightlink Ferries: all-day filming between Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight
If you happened to be aboard a Wightlink ferry in the latter half of 2018, you might have spotted us lugging around heavy cases full of drones, cameras, lenses, and battery charging generators!
We were drifting to and from the Isle of Wight, shooting a terabyte’s worth of RAW 4K footage for the passenger ferry firm to use in their promotional campaigns.
As soon as we got back to land on our side of the channel, we set to work processing, colour grading, cutting, and organising the footage, and delivered it to the Wightlink offices on physical media the very next morning. Whenever a personal touch is a possibility, we go for it.
We can’t share any of the visuals from the commercial flights (NDA!) but above is a highlights reel of Wightlink vessels we’ve shot more casually.
Video: DHL Global Forwarding loads 30 Machines in a first of it’s kind operation and ships from UK to Australia
DHL Industrial Projects supported Terex Corporation, a global manufacturer of materials processing machinery and aerial work platforms, with transportation of heavy machines from Southampton, UK, to Brisbane, Australia.
We were commissioned to produce photo and video content to showcase the project.
HMS Queen Elizabeth returns to Portsmouth — again!
We take every opportunity we can get to head out onto the Solent waters. It’s such an incredible spot for taking to the sea, no matter which craft you find yourself in! For us, well, we wound up in a friend of a friend’s new boat after agreeing that it’d be cool to snap some drone pictures of it speeding around.
We were thinking about popping over to Osborne Bay for a quick dip when we spotted a looming silhouette on the horizon. Lo and behold, HMS Queen Elizabeth was returning to Portsmouth that same day, unbeknownst to us!
Without hesitation, we refocused our attention from our humble boat to the impressive feat of naval engineering that calls Portsmouth its home. See both videos we shot on the day below.
Colva Care: corporate showcase with a seafaring surprise
Southampton IT firm Colva Care treated their clients to a boat ride at their 2019 corporate get-together. We filmed the entire day as part of an event photography package, and that included some stylish aerial shots of the vessel clients were invited to enjoy.
Solent Stevedores: Rail Services
Capturing the cargo handling titan’s industry-leading freight rail services. A cinematic, high-energy edit, featuring widescreen 4K footage.
Solent Stevedores: Together
Covering the Solent Stevedores team’s hard work, particularly through the curveballs thrown by a global pandemic.
Video: Boats.co.uk Yachts
Against such stunning coastline backdrops as The Needles off the western edge of the Isle of Wight and the Old Harry Harry Rocks stretching out from Swanage, we’ve worked with Boats.co.uk on capturing aerial photos and footage, which their marketing teams have edited into videos.
Kind words from our clients
“Mike and his team have been incredible supportive of the vital youth work that we do. He's gone above and beyond a number of times this year and produced some excellent work. We wouldn't hesitate to recommend Solent Sky Services.”
— Richard Lloyd-Williams
Tall Ships Youth Trust
“Great guys — amazing work, both drone- and land- based. They had the eye for what we wanted to achieve, and we now have some amazing footage. I would highly recommend.”
— Ashley Fernandes
Colva Ltd.
“Mike has been tremendous in working with us on what is a hugely important project. His eye for a shot is fantastic and the equipment he uses is top-tier. More than that, though, he's been fantastic to work with and has been incredibly patient with us when things haven't gone right on our side. He's been very generous with his time, too, and we couldn't recommend Solent Sky Services enough!”
— Kristian Balkin
Wightlink Ferries
“Solent Sky Services are fast to communicate, personable, and provide an excellent level of professionalism. BG Install Ltd. will be sure to use them again in the future.”
