Recent BYU grad Kevin Paulson is trying an uncommon method of earning his living - aerial photography.

As of December 1, Paulson has officially been working in his trade for 3 months.

There is a twist, however, Paulson takes all of the photos from 35 mm cameras attached to homemade remote-controlled model airplanes.

"It's more or less just a hobby I decided to turn into a money-making venture," he said. "I designed and built the planes from scratch."

Paulson's airplanes have an 8-foot wingspan and a range of about 1 mile.

He launches his planes from parks or large grassy knolls nearby his target photo area. Sometimes the target is a general residential area. Sometimes the target is BYU campus or the Provo temple.

Paulson, a one-man business, takes the photos at the same time he controls the plane.

"I have a video downlink from the plane so I can see what I'm getting a picture of," he said. "I think what I do is much more difficult than what aerial photographers in a plane do."

There is a big payoff for the increased risk, Paulson said.

"I can get better detail and I can get better shots than they can get," he said.

Remote-controlled aircraft, called "RC airplanes" or "RCA" by the hobbyist community, are a popular but difficult device to manipulate.

"I have flown remote control planes myself, but it's hard to do-it takes skill," said McKay Assay, 33, a senior from Orem double-majoring in mechanical engineering and math education. Assay studies in the office space where Paulson worked on his thesis before graduating, and has seen Paulson's pictures and planes.

"I think it's cool," Asay said. "He's used the skills he's obtained from the engineering program to further enhance his skills as an RC modeler. He's put his education to the real test of day-to-day living by trying to create an occupation that can provide for him. I hope he sticks with it."

If starting your own business can be a risky venture, Paulson takes the risk to an even higher level.

With each flight of his plane, Paulson sends his photographic equipment 10 to 40 stories into the air. He doesn't have insurance. He can't afford it yet.

"It is a risk," he conceded. "I've crashed the plane a couple times. Fortunately, my plane is pretty safe. In my worst crash, I landed it in somebody's tree, and they weren't upset."

Paulson estimates that the worst damage his plane could cause would be to break a window, but it would most likely bounce off.

The plane only goes 10 to 15 miles per hour.

Paulson doesn't develop the film himself; his development work goes to Digitography. Once his prints are back, though, he does his own sales work, going door-to-door in the area he photographed.

He carries with him 8 by 10 blow-ups, which can contain between 5 and 20 houses per shot, depending on how high the plane was when he snapped the shot.

"Most people are more interested in the photos when they hear how I got them," he said. "One of my customers was a blind man - I think he was more interested in helping me out than getting the picture, but it's still a cool story to tell."

One of Paulson's big "competitors" is MapQuest,

"A lot of people don't realize that aerial photographs from MapQuest are different from aerial photographs I take," he said. "MapQuest maps are 5 years old, and are all overhead satellite shots from far away. In my photos, you can see your kids' toys."

Paulson said his door-to-door deal is the best offer for his customers.

"If they were to contract with me, it would cost a lot more," he said.

Paulson offers framed 8 by 10s for $30 dollars, and can obtain digital scans of the negatives for interested customers. He also hands out fliers advertising his contract rates-considerably higher than his door-to-door offer, but still, he claims, a better offer than any other aerial photography company could make.

"I have checked out every competing company that I could," he said, "but just in case I missed anyone, I make an offer to undercut anyone by 5 percent. I can do this because I have about half the cost of a typical aerial photographer. It's pretty standard to pay $500 dollars for aerial photography. My overhead is very low."

Paulson is currently funding the business with an investment by his parents and his credit card. He hasn't tried getting additional funding.

"I funded it all myself because I don't want anyone to control it," he said. "My parents are pretty supportive. I figure once the business picks up, I can earn $1,000 dollars to $4,000 dollars a month, working hard."

Paulson has set up a Web site, www.kevinsplanes.com, to help show off his product.

"My goal with the Web site is to be able to reach people when they aren't home, leave a flyer that says 'Your house is on the Web!' and they can see a low-resolution photo on-line," he said. "Then they can pay for a high resolution photo online or they can have me bring a print to their house."

Paulson moves his finger across the list of photography options advertised on his flyer. "Some of these I can't do yet," he said, "but I will be able to. Video I will be doing in the future but I haven't yet - well, I haven't sold any yet, but I have taken a lot. What I want to do is low fly-bys of Provo, and make a tape called 'Provo from a model airplane.'"

Paulson is looking at other areas to branch into. He has worked with a few interested real estate agents who have purchased his photos to help with their business.

"An aerial photograph improves the real estate value of your home," he said. "A house sells better if you have a digital photo of the house."

For now, though, Paulson generates most of his profit through door-to-door sales.

Paulson said he became intrigued with the concept of aerial photography while working with micro-air vehicles and talking with Jim Walker, who used to teach at BYU.

Walker is now retired and serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, taking aerial photographs of Church sites.

Paulson took several classes at BYU that have helped him develop the abilities to do what he is doing now. He took a class on building your own airplane from mechanical engineering professor Jerry Bowman.

"I think it's great," Bowman said of Paulson's current project. "I hope it works. I think it's kind of ambitious to try something like that."

Paulson said he wants to continue doing aerial photography with his RC airplanes for as long as he can.

"I want to give it a chance; I'd like to get part-time work so I can to this," Paulson said. "Maybe it will just be on the side."



Copyright Brigham Young University 25 Nov 2002