Spot drone: the Madonna of Utelle, between sky and memory
When I flew over the Madonna of Utelle with my drone, I felt like I was looking at something bigger than the landscape. This perched sanctuary, between sky and rock, emits a singular energy, made of silence, rising winds, and changing light.
As a photographer and pilot, I always seek to combine respect for the place, flight safety and aesthetics of images. That's why I put together in this PDF a practical guide for tracking: access points, areas to monitor (helicopters, raptors, pilgrims...), interesting angles, suggestions for shooting... It's a field-tested card.
This place, located in the heights of the valley of Vesubia, offers a rare variety: 360° panorama on the Mercantour, perfect winding road for tracking, sunset on the ridges, and of course the chapel itself, point of visual and spiritual catch.
And for visuals: here is a short tracking video that I made on site. It gives a good overview of the lights, the relief, and the composition possible according to the hours of the day.
This place, I recommend it to responsible pilots and fans of images. It takes a few minutes to understand that flying here is much more than doing video: it's feeling a territory, and trying to translate it into images.
Pierre–Gérard Martin – Photographer and drone pilot