High resolution image

The FAA uses intent, so if the intent of the flight when you took the photo was as a hobbyist, and then DJI later offers to pay you for the photo, that is okay.

If you were flying with the intent to have DJI (or anyone) pay you for the photo (whether they offered first or ever actually pay for one), then that would be a commercial flight and require a 107 pilot certificate.

Hmm, that's a good point,. There is probably some amount of time or income you need to derive to be considered professional, just like the "hobby/loss" rule that the IRS uses to determine if you are really in a business that you are deducting expenses for that has not made money (you can only lose money for so long before the IRS says it's not a real business). Best to check with a financial/accounting type.
 
Im curious about the outcome of this situation. Please keep us updated.
 
Are you in the US? If yes, if you sell the picture to DJI is that considered commercial activity and therefore you need a commercial license from the FAA? I ask because I have a few pictures that people would like to buy (I fly for my personal enjoyment), but I am not really sure I can sell them because I don't have a commercial license nor am I running a business with aerial photography.
On the other hand, as you didn't advertise your pics, hand out cards and they approached you and not the other way round, I can't see why you can't sell it. It's a one off. It's not like running a business/company selling these pics all the time. Personally I think you will be ok and not be breaking any rules selling just one pic. I say go for it. And like I said before, DJI may actually take you on the team so def go for it. But if it a one off... Then grab as much cash as you can for the pic. Don't get too greedy.. Or they will just turn you away. Ask if they can pay/ give you something as a goodwill gesture for your work in return
 
Nice shot,
I'm a newbie to drone. Been learning to take pictures, yet still can't do anything sharp so far.
May I know if you lock your gimbal when taking shots? What type of setting you're using? Every picture I took, look blurry to me.
Thank you for your time and input.
 
Im in the UK, i will post up the reply of what they said when im at home. basically along the lines of they don't offer any rewards. I wasn't expecting to receive anything so ive gave them the picture. I wonder has anyone else been asked by DJI to use there image?
 
Too bad you decided to give it to them - they are taking advantage of you to be sure. This will also let them think they can rip over others.. A bad precedent.

Im in the UK, i will post up the reply of what they said when im at home. basically along the lines of they don't offer any rewards. I wasn't expecting to receive anything so ive gave them the picture. I wonder has anyone else been asked by DJI to use there image?
 
Like the pic! But I agree with the others, you should get paid for it. DJI will just post it and use it to better themselves.
 
Hello all. I have a photo on skypixel that DJI would like to use on there sites, they are asking me to send them a high resolution version of the photo. Might be a stupid question but how do I do that? I'm sure it was a 5 shot HDR merged in lightroom then exported as a JPEG.
eMail it as an attachment.
 
They aren't paying for it no. Should they be? Here is the photo as a JPEGView attachment 84231
As a professional photographer it's almost painful to see someone ask if they should get money for their work. The only reason they want to use your photograph is to promote their products. Therefore your image has value. That value is negotiable depending on how much they want it and how little you are willing to settle for. The industry standard depends on the usage. The more widely the image is used, like in national magazine ads, or internet content, or sales brochures, or point of purchase displays, the more the image is worth. To give you some idea of what companies will pay for images, a friend who shoots International opera stars sells photos of select stars to Rolex for about $7,000 apiece. Rolex will feature the image in magazine ads with their watches. In lieu of payment, an interested party, DJI in this case will hope to get free content in exchange for showing the world your work. That may please you but believe me, even if they were to visibly credit you as the photographer, few will notice. In other words, you'll get nothing in return. The truth is, with so many people offering their work for nothing in exchange for a bit public display, DJI is unlikely to offer you anything; they don't have to. How much should you ask for? Without a conversation regarding the intended usage, it's hard to get anything that will fairly compensate you. At the very least, you could ask for several hundred dollars. Also, DO NOT sign away all rights, and do not give them the raw files. If they want these it means they really want to use your image and they should pay for it. Let me add that it's a beautiful image. Don't give it away to anyone who will make money on it without paying for it.
 
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The FAA uses intent, so if the intent of the flight when you took the photo was as a hobbyist, and then DJI later offers to pay you for the photo, that is okay.

If you were flying with the intent to have DJI (or anyone) pay you for the photo (whether they offered first or ever actually pay for one), then that would be a commercial flight and require a 107 pilot certificate.

Has anyone had any experience regarding whether the FAA or anyone else in the Govt. in any way monitors if you're making money from drone images? My understanding is the FAA concern relates to drone operator's use of the airspace. And they obviously aren't monitoring that very closely. So who is looking over anyone's shoulder besides ourselves with what we do with images?
 
DJI are not good at customer service when it comes to many, many phantom pilots experienceing problems with their craft.
I personally would not send any !
That's my opinion.
Give them no photos or videos.
Their customer service is shocking to many , many customers.
B
 
Ok, lets start from the beginning with a few points. i am purely a hobbyist. I go out, take phots do a quick edit and post them to my drone facebook page and the occasional photo to skypixel. And forget all about them. I have never had any bother with my drones from DJI so i wouldn't know what there customer service is like. When i got the email i was surprised and generally feeling good about myself. As per title of thread, i wanted to know what the best resolution was for this photo (never been asked to send a high res photo to anyone). Never gave any thought about making money. My first thought was great there going to promote my image, I'm well up for that. As I'm in the UK I'm led to believe that the CAA require you to have a commercial license if making profitable gains from aerial photography. With that in mind, surely i cant ask DJI for anything? So therefore my last action should be to tell DJI that they cant use my image because i cant make anything from it because i don't have a license? PS how do i upload the email?
 
Ok, lets start from the beginning with a few points. i am purely a hobbyist. I go out, take phots do a quick edit and post them to my drone facebook page and the occasional photo to skypixel. And forget all about them. I have never had any bother with my drones from DJI so i wouldn't know what there customer service is like. When i got the email i was surprised and generally feeling good about myself. As per title of thread, i wanted to know what the best resolution was for this photo (never been asked to send a high res photo to anyone). Never gave any thought about making money. My first thought was great there going to promote my image, I'm well up for that. As I'm in the UK I'm led to believe that the CAA require you to have a commercial license if making profitable gains from aerial photography. With that in mind, surely i cant ask DJI for anything? So therefore my last action should be to tell DJI that they cant use my image because i cant make anything from it because i don't have a license? PS how do i upload the email?
If it was me, as a hobbyist, I would put my name or logo on the photo in the lower left corner, and see if DJI would use that. At least you get some credit, right? No money, but notoriety and it may lead somewhere. I can almost guarantee that DJI isn't going to pay a dime for a photo when they have thousands to pick from, taken by hobbyist that would be thrilled just to be picked by DJI. This is a supply and demand scenario, where the supply is very high, and the demand for an exact photo isn't.

As for emailing a high res photo, if it won't go as an attachment, use Dropbox and send DJI a link to download it from dropbox. Dropbox accounts are free for up to 2GB. Google Drive lets you do the same thing if you have that.
 
100% spot on.
And giving your work away makes it much harder for professionals to be suitably compensated. Just a bad idea for everyone (DJI)
As a professional photographer it's almost painful to see someone ask if they should get money for their work. The only reason they want to use your photograph is to promote their products. Therefore your image has value. That value is negotiable depending on how much they want it and how little you are willing to settle for. The industry standard depends on the usage. The more widely the image is used, like in national magazine ads, or internet content, or sales brochures, or point of purchase displays, the more the image is worth. To give you some idea of what companies will pay for images, a friend who shoots International opera stars sells photos of select stars to Rolex for about $7,000 apiece. Rolex will feature the image in magazine ads with their watches. In lieu of payment, an interested party, DJI in this case will hope to get free content in exchange for showing the world your work. That may please you but believe me, even if they were to visibly credit you as the photographer, few will notice. In other words, you'll get nothing in return. The truth is, with so many people offering their work for nothing in exchange for a bit public display, DJI is unlikely to offer you anything; they don't have to. How much should you ask for? Without a conversation regarding the intended usage, it's hard to get anything that will fairly compensate you. At the very least, you could ask for several hundred dollars. Also, DO NOT sign away all rights, and do not give them the raw files. If they want these it means they really want to use your image and they should pay for it. Let me add that it's a beautiful image. Don't give it away to anyone who will make money on it without paying for it.
 
Has anyone had any experience regarding whether the FAA or anyone else in the Govt. in any way monitors if you're making money from drone images? My understanding is the FAA concern relates to drone operator's use of the airspace. And they obviously aren't monitoring that very closely. So who is looking over anyone's shoulder besides ourselves with what we do with images?
The FAA have enough trouble finding the people and funding to do things that matter.
Their core business is aviation safety.
Fly in a way that causes a dangerous situation and you may come to their attention.
But they aren't the photo selling police and aren't checking every aerial photo sold to ensure that the photographers had appropriate certification.
 

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