Isaac Crabtree has been teaching science at Greenville High School for the past 12 years, and while he has always been interested in taking pictures, it wasn’t until he flew a drone for the first time in 2017 that his interest in technology and the outdoors were combined into a passion for aerial photography. As a life-long learner, Isaac quickly dove into the “University of YouTube,” where he began to understand the connection between the art and science of photography.
Isaac loves capturing the rugged beauty of northern Maine from a new perspective. Aside from being just plain fun to fly, he loves the freedom offered from a drone. Isaac enjoys the places aerial photography takes him. Whether a pre-dawn hike to the top of a mountain for a sunrise flight, or a long dirt road to capture a generations-old family camp, aerial photography has allowed him to explore parts of our state many will likely never see.
Since 2017, he has flown nearly a thousand miles over hundreds of hours. His photos have been featured across numerous social media platforms, in print, and in galleries. He is a two-time finalist in the Maine Outdoor Film Festival’s Broke and Stoke competition. Isaac lives in the Moosehead Lake Region with his wife and daughter. He loves exploring Maine and sharing the beauty it has to offer from a different perspective.
We talked with Isaac to get more insight into his drone photography background and some of his favorite spots to fly.
How long have you been flying drones?
Four years in April if you don’t count those mini-helicopters that my brother and I would get for Christmas and promptly crash and destroy.
What’s your favorite drone to fly with?
I’m currently flying the Mavic 3 by DJI. It has two lenses, a 7x zoom lens in addition to the standard wide lens. DJI recently released the Mavic 3 Pro which has a third medium range lens as well which looks pretty sweet. I’ll probably upgrade to that at some point.
What advice would you give someone just getting into drone photography?
Practice practice practice. Fly every day. The more you fly the more comfortable you’ll get. Once flying is second nature, you can focus on actually taking pictures.
What’s the biggest learning curve for drone photography?
Learning how to compose an image properly. It’s so easy to fly up 400 feet and shoot. It’s much harder (and riskier) to resist that urge and stay low, but it’s the only way to work in a foreground.
Where’s the worst place you’ve ever gotten a drone stuck?
Never stuck, though I’ve crashed twice. Once I hit a tree branch over the shore of a lake and watched the drone tumble about 10 feet before it leveled out and resumed hovering. Another time I was filming some video for a client and had to turn off my obstacle avoidance to get a shot. That time when I hit the tree it was so cold that the props shattered. The drone fell about 30 feet into the snow. It took about 20 minutes to find the drone and required some wading through waist-high snow, but after a quick dusting and replacement of the props it was as good as new.
We live in such a beautiful state, where are your favorite places to fly?
I’d sooner name my favorite child (Ruby, obviously, but she’s an only child). I suppose I could list a few of my top spots, in no particular order.
- The Onawa Trestle: A stunning place that has so many options for various compositions. I find new shots every time I fly there.
- Mountain Peaks: For me, specifically Borestone, but any mountain top is great to stretch the 400 feet above ground level allowed by the FAA.
- Moosehead Lake: Islands, boaters, and mountains make for great subjects. Being that ginormous gives endless opportunities for exploration.
- The Coast: When I can get over my mistrust of traffic lights (I can go weeks without seeing one up in the North Woods), I do like to make my way south to find some salt water. My time here is generally limited so I tend to seek out the classics.
Out of all your photos, do you have a favorite?
It’s really hard to say. I’m not even sure I could narrow it down to a handful. Frozen Kineo is certainly a contender, but that might have more to do with what it did for my career as a photographer. I think perhaps the experience of the shoot is better than the final product anyway. I’m always on the lookout for one of those flights where I burn up three batteries and can’t wipe the smile from my face on the way home.
See his upcoming Down East Adventures!
