The Drone Dish: Chase Guttman

Chase Guttman has always been into photography. His dad is a renowned travel journalist and Chase is now following his steps adding a lot of aerial compositions to his portfolio. He has been to all the 50 states in the US and he has also traveled to more than 70 countries despite his young age. Chase has also written on the the first books on drone photography called “The Handbook of Drone Photography” and he’s now working with different companies and universities around the country teaching photography and videography. You can see more of Chase's work HERE. Thanks for chatting with us, Chase! Check back here for more interviews with some of the world's best drone pilots. VIDEO TRANSCRIPT: Tyler Mason: We're excited to be joined by world traveler, Chase Guttman, on the Drone Dish today. Chase, thanks for coming on the show. Chase Guttman: Thank you so much for having me, I really appreciate it. TM: Absolutely. I know you've been to all 50 states in the United States and you've been to over 70 countries. Where did this love of travel start for you? CG: I was extremely lucky growing up. My dad is a travel journalist so I really started seeing the world at, basically, his foot. TM: How long were you actually taking pictures yourself before you added the drone in and how did you decide to add that into your mix? CG: My background, per se, is in travel photography. I've basically had a camera in my hand my entire life. I started with a toy camera, right, as a little kid and that became a point and shoot camera and that became a DSLR camera. And since then, I've been really emersed in visual story telling as a whole. And drones, for me, have always been super fascinating because everything has been shot to death. Everyone and their mom thinks they're a travel photographer these days. Even when you think of icons like the Statute of Liberty or Eiffel Tower, it's all been shot to death and, for me, how to get a photograph that stands out has always been a matter of perspective and drones are the democratization of perspective, in my view. And the ability to tinker with height is so revolutionary that I immediately flocked to drones as soon as the technology really became a standard and started to grow. TM: I know you've obviously brought a camera with you to a lot of your travels and you brought the drone with you as well for a lot of it. Do you have a favorite place so far that you've been able to fly, favorite location? CG: If I had to pick my favorite, favorite place it would probably be Southeast Asia. I just came back from backpacking through about five or six countries in Southeast Asia and just seeing the amazing culture and architecture and beautiful cities and towns from above is really just an amazing experience. TM: I know you've written a book on the subject of drones, as well. The Handbook of Drone Photography. Tell me a little bit about that, the process for that, and then what it was like to write that book. CG: Yeah, so the Handbook of Drone Photography was one of the first ever books written on the topic, I'm really excited to say and it received really amazing acclaim and accords from everything from the Telegraph and the Daily Mail to Travel and Leisure and a bunch of different outlets in general. It was an amazing experience writing the book. It's basically like a how-to guide to get started in the drone space especially with photography and I just kind of run with it and it's led to so many amazing opportunities. TM: Right. As far as kind of a balance of ground or terrestrial photography versus aerial photography, how do you view your style and your approach and balancing those two and can they compliment each other at all? CG: I think everything in terms of story telling needs an aspect from the ground and an aspect from the air and everywhere in between. And so, drones, for me, have been a way kind of making my work stand out, as I mentioned and so that's I've complimented the land based photography I'm already doing. It's just a really important part of the larger story telling tool kit. TM: Obviously still pretty young, a college student right now but what do you hope the future holds for you as far as drones and aerial photography go? CG: I'm going to continue my business, as I said, I'm teaching this summer for a bunch of different companies and working with different clients on everything from consulting to photography and videography as well. TM: Well Chase, it's pretty impressive to see what you've done so far at a young age. We look forward to what the future holds for you and seeing more of your work. Thanks for coming on the Drone Dish today. CG: Thank you so much for having me. I really appreciate it.