Drones these days come in all shapes and sizes and can range in price from less than £100 to several hundreds of pounds, but they should no longer be regarded as ‘just toys’, but as the photographer’s tool.

As with most purchases in life, you get what you pay for and the cheapest might not be the best option in the longer term for the serious photographer.

These were just a few of the important points stressed by Craig Goffin, when he was the guest speaker last week for the Isle of Man Photographic Society and gave a most informative presentation titled ‘The Isle of Man by Drone’.

(This was a change to the published programme as Craig’s indisposition late last year had caused his presentation to be postponed until 2023.)

Drones are high-flying cameras that allow the operator to capture novel perspectives of popular subjects and to create stunning compositions that are not possible from ground level.

They have been one of the most interesting developments in recent years for professional and amateur photographers and, in the case of the former, are far more cost effective in film work that having to use a helicopter.

In the case of the amateur, drones have increased in popularity because they are relatively inexpensive, increasingly technically sophisticated, and some prices are falling too, so the cost has reduced considerably.

The quality of the imagery in terms of colour saturation and resolution could also be seen to be improving from the shots of the changing shades of autumn.

After giving an explanation of the rules and regulations covering the use of drones, the ‘no-go’ areas, and the situations where training and certification is required, Craig went on to give an illustrated talk during which many well know places on our beautiful Isle of Man were featured from unfamiliar angles, to the delight of those present.

It doesn’t matter how well we think we know our island, when places are viewed from the air and from unusual angles, they can look quite different this generated a healthy debate as we all tried to identify the different locations.

A well-deserved vote of thanks was given by the society’s president, Tony Curtis, at the end of what had been a fascinating and varied presentation on a subject which was fairly new to most members.

Our next meeting will be held on January 18 at 7pm at the St John Ambulance headquarters, off Glencrutchery Road in Douglas will be our second open competition and the mobile phone competition.

As always, guests and potential new members are most welcome to attend, subject to a nominal charge to offset the society’s running costs. iomps.com

Antony Hamilton