so ive been flying for about two years now and i have my part 107 and honestly the job i have now is fine but its just... fine. i keep seeing people talk about doing aerial photography and videography full time and i get a little jealous every time. i do a lot of real estate shoots on weekends already, maybe 3-4 a month, and i enjoy it way more than my actual job which is just IT support stuff.

my question is whether anyone has actually made the jump to doing drone work full time and if it was worth it. like i dont want the glossy version where everything worked out great, i want to know about the slow months, the clients who dont pay, all that stuff. is there enough work to actually sustain yourself or do you kind of have to piece it together with other freelance stuff?

also wondering if real estate is even the right niche to focus on or if i should be looking at other stuff like construction progress shots or events or whatever. i genuinely have no idea how saturated the market is in my area (midwest, mid-size city if that matters)

honest answer? the first year was rough. like really rough. i had savings which is the only reason i didnt panic completely but there were months where i made maybe $800 and i was doing everything right — networking, cold emails, had a decent portfolio site. real estate kept me afloat early on and its steady work but the margins arent amazing once you factor in editing time and travel.

what actually changed things for me was landing one construction client who needed weekly progress documentation. that single contract basically covered my rent every month and it freed me up to be picky about other jobs. so my actual advice is dont quit until you have at least one anchor client that gives you recurring work. the one-off real estate stuff is fine but you cant build a business on it alone, or at least i couldnt. events i tried and honestly hated it, too much pressure and weird lighting and clients who expect magic.

im kind of in the same boat as you so i cant give you the been there done that answer but i talked to a guy at a local photography meetup who does drone work alongside regular ground photography and he said the bundling is what makes it viable. like offering both aerial and standard shots for real estate clients so you're not just the drone guy, you're the whole package. might be worth thinking about if you have any camera skills beyond the drone stuff