What Milford businesses film from the air
Milford is a village built on a river bend. The Huron River Water Trail describes its historic core as sitting on both sides of a bend in the Huron River, where Pettibone Creek flows in. From the air, that means a shop, restaurant or office downtown can be shown with the river, Central Park and Main Street in the same frame, which is hard to get from the ground.
Beyond the village, aerial photography in Milford Township serves real estate on larger lots and around the lakes, where a drone shows acreage, tree lines and water frontage in a way a ground photo cannot. The parkland is the other draw. Kensington Metropark covers 4,481 acres around Kent Lake, according to the Metroparks, and its 8.5 mile paved loop has a 3.4 mile extension into Milford. We have filmed at Kensington Metropark.
Open airspace, with a county airport to the south
According to the FAA’s Class Airspace data, downtown Milford, Central Park, Kensington and the rest of the township sit in uncontrolled Class G airspace at the surface, with no FAA UAS facility map grid. There is no LAANC request to file and no ceiling below the Part 107 limit of 400 feet. Oakland County International Airport’s controlled airspace, which shapes every shoot in Waterford, ends well to the northeast.
The field to watch is Oakland Southwest Airport (Y47) in New Hudson. Oakland County says the airport began operating in 1946 as a training field for veterans and that the county bought it in 2000. It sits about 3 nautical miles from the middle of Kensington by our measurement, and FAA data shows no controlled airspace around it. That means no LAANC step, but light aircraft still use the field, so we keep a sharp lookout for low traffic on the south side of the township.
Parks, permits and state land
Most of the public land around Milford belongs to someone with its own rules. At Kensington, the Metroparks allow drones under Rule 28 but require a commercial filming permit, and because much of the park is within 5 miles of Oakland Southwest Airport, the rule calls for prior notice to the airport operator. Proud Lake Recreation Area upstream and Highland Recreation Area to the northeast are Michigan DNR land, where commercial drone flights need written DNR permission. We line up those approvals before we set a date.
Light, seasons and events
The Huron River and Kent Lake look best from late spring into early fall, and October color along the river and in the parks is the strongest reason to book a fall shoot. Calm mornings give the flattest water. Downtown fills for events the village lists across the year, including Milford Memories on the second full weekend of August, Thursday concerts at Central Park’s LaFontaine Family Amphitheater and a car show on the third Sunday of September. Part 107 limits flying over crowds, so event coverage uses a launch point we control and a flight path that stays off the people below.
Planning a Milford shoot
Whether you need a drone photographer for a listing or a drone videographer for a brand or construction piece, send the address, date window and what you need delivered. We check the airspace, the park or landowner permission and the village calendar before we quote. See our Detroit drone photography services, including real estate drone photography and FPV fly-through video, or contact us to start.