RAW Digital Group is a Michigan drone company based in Detroit. Its FAA Part 107 certified pilots fly aerial photo, video and FPV statewide, from resorts Up North to plants and developments, with published prices from $450 for photos, $1,500 for video and $2,500 for FPV. Travel outside Metro Detroit is quoted.
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A Michigan drone company that works from Detroit
Some projects start in Detroit and end up in Traverse City. A resort group wants every property filmed the same way. A manufacturer has plants in three counties. A developer has a site in Grand Rapids and another in Lansing. For that kind of work, a Michigan drone company has to handle travel, state rules and weather across the state, not just the airspace around one city.
We are based at 2200 Hunt St in Detroit and fly statewide. Our pilots hold FAA Part 107 certificates, and the same crew shoots the ground coverage and cuts the edit. For downtown Detroit work, see our Detroit drone photography page. For the four-county metro area, where travel is included, see drone services in Metro Detroit.
How travel and pairing work
Outside Wayne, Oakland, Macomb and Washtenaw counties, we quote travel per project and list it in the quote, so you can see what the trip costs next to the flying. The simplest way to lower it is to pair shoots: two resorts on the same stretch of shoreline, or plants in neighboring cities, can share one trip.
Distance also changes how we plan the day. A shoot three hours from the studio gets a weather call the day before, a backup date written into the quote and a shot list that puts each location in its best light. Our guide to drone video for multi-location brands covers how to brief a program that spans several sites.
The rules that follow you across Michigan
The FAA’s Part 107 rules are the same everywhere in the state. What changes is who controls the ground and, in some places, the air.
- Michigan’s drone law. The Unmanned Aircraft Systems Act, PA 436 of 2016, took effect April 4, 2017. It says FAA-authorized commercial operators may fly in a manner consistent with federal law, and it bars local governments from regulating drone ownership or operation, with narrow exceptions. One of them lets a community that bans cars, such as Mackinac Island, adopt rules against drones that interfere with horses. The law does not give anyone the right to take off from land they do not control, and it makes harassment and privacy violations by drone a misdemeanor. This is general information, not legal advice.
- State parks and recreation areas. The DNR’s Land Use Order 5.1 requires written DNR permission for any commercial drone use. It also bars flights within 100 yards of a cultural or historical site or structure, over occupied beaches, campgrounds and equestrian facilities, and over the viewing platforms at Tahquamenon Falls and Palms Book State Park.
- National lakeshores. Following a 2014 National Park Service policy memo, parks use their authority under 36 CFR 1.5 to ban drones. The Pictured Rocks compendium, dated July 8, 2026, prohibits launching, landing or operating a drone on park lands and waters without the superintendent’s written approval, and Sleeping Bear Dunes has the same rule. For resorts and homes near either park, we launch from private land and keep the flight off park property.
- Universities. The University of Michigan bars drones on or over its property without a written waiver, according to its public safety division. Michigan State’s Ordinance 9.00 requires approval from the police chief to launch or land on university property. Western Michigan’s drone policy requires an approved operating plan and a written agreement with insurance for outside operators.
Airspace outside the metro area has its own pattern. FAA data shows surface Class C around the airports in Lansing, Flint and Grand Rapids, and Class D at Traverse City, Kalamazoo, Battle Creek, Jackson, Muskegon, MBS International near Saginaw and Sawyer near Marquette, among others. College football Saturdays add FAA stadium restrictions in Ann Arbor and East Lansing. We check the grid for every address before we travel, and our guide to hiring a drone pilot in Michigan lists what to ask any operator.
Seasons across the state
Michigan is long enough that the calendar differs by region.
- Fall color. Pure Michigan’s fall color guide says peak color begins in the northern Upper Peninsula and moves south into the Lower Peninsula. We book Up North and Upper Peninsula shoots first, then work south, and check the week’s color reports before each trip.
- Summer. Resort and lakeshore season is also when beaches are busiest, and the state park order bars flights over occupied beaches. Early mornings give clean shorelines and calm water.
- Winter. Days are short and snow can cut visibility below the 3 statute miles Part 107 requires. We build in weather days and plan around the few hours of good light, which can make snow-covered resorts and ski hills look their best.
Where we fly outside Metro Detroit
Outside the four counties, we keep local pages for Battle Creek, Bay City, Brighton, Flint, Frankenmuth, Grand Blanc, Grand Haven, Grand Rapids, Holland, Howell, Jackson, Kalamazoo, Lansing, Mackinac Island, Midland, Monroe, Mount Pleasant, Muskegon, Petoskey, Port Huron, Saginaw and Traverse City. Each page covers the local airport, the airspace grid and the launch rules that matter there. The full map is on our Michigan drone photography page.
Planning a shoot somewhere in Michigan?
Send every address, a date window and what the footage is for. We will check the airspace, park and campus rules, group the sites into the fewest trips and send a fixed quote with travel listed. Prices and every city we cover are on our Michigan drone photography page. Start a drone project.