RAW Digital Group flies drone photography and video in Madison Heights, MI, with FAA Part 107 certified pilots from its Detroit studio. Published starting prices are $450 for aerial photos, $1,500 for aerial video and $2,500 for FPV fly-throughs, with no travel charge in Wayne, Oakland, Macomb and Washtenaw counties.
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What Madison Heights businesses film from the air
Madison Heights covers about 7.1 square miles of land, according to Census Bureau boundary data, but it packs a lot of commercial property into that space. The city’s 2024 economic development plan puts its main industrial areas along Stephenson Highway and in the northeast corner between Whitcomb and 14 Mile Road, with an older industrial strip along 10 Mile. It places the two major retail areas on 12 Mile and 14 Mile, linked by John R, and a downtown development district along John R and 11 Mile.
That mix drives the aerial work. Brokers and owners of industrial and flex buildings need drone photography that shows dock doors, truck courts, parking and the drive to the freeway in one image. The same plan notes I-696 along the city’s southern edge and I-75 running through it, and for a sale or lease listing, a drone video that pulls back to show both highways answers the location question faster than a map. Retail centers and outparcels on the main corridors need clean overheads for leasing packages, and small businesses in the John R and 11 Mile district use short aerial clips for social content.
Open airspace between two airports
We checked the FAA’s Class Airspace and UAS facility map layers across the city. Madison Heights is Class G at the surface everywhere we sampled, with Class E starting 700 feet above ground and no facility map grid, which means no LAANC request below the Part 107 limit of 400 feet. Detroit Metro’s Class B floor sits at 3,500 feet MSL over the southwest corner and 4,000 feet over the rest of the city.
The controlled airspace is close, though. Coleman A. Young International’s Class D ends about 1.3 miles south of the city limit, and Oakland/Troy Airport, a towerless field, is about 2.7 miles from the northwest edge. Neither covers the city, but Part 107 requires a drone to give way to every crewed aircraft, so our pilots keep a visual watch through every flight, and we check B4UFLY or a LAANC app for temporary flight restrictions on the day. Selfridge’s restrictions, a concern in parts of Macomb County, do not reach this far west. Our Detroit drone rules guide covers the regional picture.
Red Oaks and other public land
The biggest green space in town is Red Oaks County Park, 163 acres built over the enclosed George W. Kuhn Drain, with a waterpark, golf course, nature center and dog park, according to Pure Michigan. It is Oakland County parkland, and the county’s 2025 rules require a written permit for photography or video that advertises a product or service or that uses a crew, models or props. We treat that as a standing requirement for any paid shoot there, and we keep the aircraft away from the waterpark crowds in summer.
Light and seasons
Flat industrial roofs and big parking fields read best in low morning or evening sun, which gives buildings shape that disappears at noon. Late spring through early fall gives the cleanest lots and green edges, while a clear winter day after snow can make a site plan easy to read. For retail, we time flights for when the lot looks active without crowding, usually a weekday morning.
Planning a Madison Heights shoot
Send the address and what you need to deliver. We confirm the airspace, the owner’s permission and any county park permit before we quote. See our Detroit drone photography services, including industrial drone video and commercial real estate drone photography, or contact us to start.