A few weeks ago Horizon Imaging received a strange request from a fellow drone aerial photography company who were inspecting the exterior of an old public swimming bath in Brixton, London – could we put our telescopic mast inside the old boiler chimney of the swimming bath to inspect the condition of the brickwork?! As our mast is fully portable and sits in its own 4-legged tripod, the answer was “of urse we can”!
Inspection photograph taken with our telescopic mast inside a boiler chimney at an old public baths in Brixton, London. Click to enlarge.
A photograph showing our telescopic mast taking inspection photographs inside the chimney. Click to enlarge.
Access to the chimney was through a hole in a crumbling brick wall that was just large enough to climb through if you ducked … and you can imagine what the floor of the derelict chimney was like after years of pigeons perching on all the ledges inside the chimney – just be glad the screen you’re reading this on isn’t capable of reproducing smells! With the mast and tripod set up, a ring of 8 overlapping photos were taken at 45° intervals until the camera was back where it started – and then the mast was extended so the next row of images just overlapped the previous row. Oh, and the light was coming from a little battery powered video light that was attached to the camera’s hot-shoe – it looked like a scene from War Of The Worlds!
Although our mast was not tall enough to reach the top of the chimney, it was still able to extend approximately 75% of the way up the chimney, and the bricks above this height were simply inspected using a longer focal-length zoom lens.
Do you have an awkwardly-shaped building that needs to be inspected for insurance or renovation purposes? We offer aerial inspection services using both our telescopic mast and remote-controlled drone – whatever your project, we have every angle covered. Contact us today for more information and we’ll happily discuss your requirements with you.