Welter turns drone hobby into profitable business

     Sometimes a hobby is just a hobby. Other times, a hobby turns into a passion and leads to more…

     For Monticello High School sophomore Reggie Welter, his hobby and interest in flying drones is quickly turning into a moneymaker.

     Welter has owned a couple of drones for the past two years.

     “In 2015 and 2016, there was a drone boom,” he said of the market. “Now you have these massive companies selling them.”

     Welter said his initial interest peaked in 2016 and he purchased a toy drone, as he called it, that November.

     “I caught on to it, did some research and bought one,” he said.

     Welter explained drones have actually been on the market since the mid-2000s, “and now we’ve come a long way.”

     After learning to fly and maneuver a “toy drone,” Welter upgraded to a more high-tech drone and is now starting his own business in drone aerial photography.

     “They’re not just for fun,” Welter said of the drone-flying sport.

     Welter said he never considered himself a photographer, but the concept is different when you’re flying a drone in the sky and taking photos.

     “I just thought I would use it for ag purposes and for ground surveying,” said Welter. “I didn’t think I would explore the photography side.”

     His main focus right now is agriculture-based photography and field mapping. Welter said he could cover about 160 acres in less than 10 minutes. Welter admitted he got the idea from his FFA advisor and high school agriculture teacher, Eric Scmitt.

     “When you look at the current market,” and Welter, “there’s not much out there for what I’m focused on. This is where the trend is going.

     “I love ag and I work on a couple farms, so this comes easy to me.”

     He said many farmers walk their fields looking for the areas that need to be treated by pesticides. Flying a drone with the high-tech mapping software can save so much time.

     “You can see the live footage on the iPad as it’s happening,” he said.

     On the field mapping side, Welter said using NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) mapping he can fly his drone over a field and detect the areas of the field that are in need of attention. He said the red areas on the map indicate something is wrong in the vegetation, while the green areas indicate a healthy crop.

     On the photography side, Welter’s been having some fun. He’s already photographed every Monticello School District building, and his canvas prints are hanging inside each school office as well as the District Office.

     He’s also taken aerial photos of farmers in their fields during harvest time and general farmstead scenes.

     “We have a picture of our farm and home (from the air), and I looked at that and it got me thinking,” Welter said of where the aerial photography idea originated. He said using a drone drastically reduces the costs involved in piloting a plane to take aerial photos.

     “I can do it for a fourth of the cost,” he said. “It’s a lot cheaper.”

     So, Welter started researching the latest and greatest drones and cameras out there for such a business. He purchased a 4k camera for his DJI drone, which captures some of the best aerial photos and video.

     “I looked at what other people are using around the world,” shared Welter. “I’m not the first one to do this; a lot of people are doing this.” Welter said DJI drones are the leading industry brand.

     Welter said drones really aren’t that hard to maneuver. “Today’s technology pretty much flies itself,” he said. “You can put them on auto-pilot and they have a lot of different features.”

     When it comes to editing his photos, Welter said he prefers the more natural look rather than too much heavy editing. He uses his Mac Book for the photo and video editing.

     “My camera does a pretty good job with the photos already,” he said. “I just adjust the brightness and contrast a bit.”

     During the 2017 harvest season, Welter flew his drone over Bill Greif’s fields as crews worked all day.

     “I wanted to put together a video about what it’s like in the field at harvest time,” Welter said.

     He spent an entire day filming with eight hours of footage. After some editing, Welter put together two different videos, one three minutes in length and one 30 seconds.

     “I had to look at all of the footage and narrow it down,” he said of the process.

     Welter is hoping to offer people different sizes of photo canvas prints.

     In turning his passion into a business, Welter secured a drone license from the FAA, which dictates how high he can fly, which is 400 feet.

     “Depending on the size of the farm,” he said of aerial photography, “you want to be anywhere from 200 to 33 feet in the air.”

     Welter visited the Marion airport to take the written FAA drone test, saying he learned a lot about general aviation in the process.

     “It’s not about infringing on people’s privacy,” he said. “But I want people to know I’ve taken the steps to be responsible.”

     To inquire about Welter’s aerial photo/video and ag services, you can e-mail him at reginald.welter@monticello.k12.ia.us or call 319-480-9893.

     Welter is the son of Bob and Julie Welter.