After seeing the popularity of aerial Ball State photos on social media, a Muncie local decided to take a photo above campus with a drone.
Luke Russell bought his drone from Amazon a week-and-a-half ago, after seeing a drone take a group shot at his friend’s wedding. He began looking at other drone videos and was mesmerized by the idea of taking aerial photography without being in the air himself.
Russell posted an announcement to his Indiana Drones Facebook page saying if the post got 200 likes, he would come take a group photo of Ball State students in front of the L.A. Pittenger Student Center. The post received 327 likes, but only about 10 people showed up for the photo at noon Nov. 9.
Jordan Owen, a sophomore journalism and advertising major, saw the post on his Facebook news feed and said he has seen other drones flying over campus.
“I wanted to be a part of the picture, so I came with my girlfriend,” Owen said.
While on Facebook, Owen tagged his friend David Barthel, a sophomore telecommunications and audio production major.
“When [Owen] asked me if I wanted to go, I said it sounded cool because I haven’t seen a drone in real life before, I had just heard about them," Barthel said. "I wanted to check it out and see how cool it was, and it was pretty neat. I honestly thought there would be more people, and I was sad to see just my best friends [there].”
Russell said he does not need a permit for his drone, but there are requirements he must follow, like keeping the drone in his line of sight. Drones are not supposed to be used for commercial purposes, but Russell has applied for an exemption, and if it goes through, he would like to do weddings as well as take photos of other college campuses and do marketing for his doctor and lawyer clients.
“I’m really looking forward to when it snows and taking it outside to fly up the White River, although it’s very nerve-racking to fly over water because if it falls, it’s gone,” Russell said. “I’ll come out to downtown when they have all the Christmas stuff going on, and when it snows I’ll come back to Ball State.”
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