RAW Digital Group flies drone photography and video in Port Huron, 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 travel to Port Huron quoted per project.
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What Port Huron businesses film from the air
Nearly every aerial photography request in Port Huron involves water. Waterfront homes and condos on the St. Clair River and Lake Huron sell on their views, and a drone shows a buyer the shoreline, the docks and the shipping lane in one frame. Marinas and boating businesses along the Black River need content that shows slips, access and the short run to the lake. Hotels, restaurants and tourism groups use drone video of the bridge and the river to sell a weekend. Downtown redevelopment, and industrial and logistics sites near the bridge corridor, need clean site and access views for leasing and investors.
Simple airspace, one hard border
Port Huron’s airspace is simple on paper. In the FAA’s data, the only U.S. controlled airspace over downtown, the Black River, the Blue Water Bridge approach and Fort Gratiot is Class E starting 700 feet above ground, and the FAA facility map shows no LAANC grid, so a Part 107 drone videographer flying below 400 feet needs no LAANC authorization. St. Clair County International Airport, about 5 miles southwest of the city, is a county-owned field with no control tower.
The constraint that matters is the border. The international line runs down the St. Clair River, and U.S. Part 107 certification does not carry across it. Transport Canada says a foreign pilot flying a drone of 250 grams or more in Canada needs a Canadian drone pilot certificate and a special flight operations certificate, and it lists 60 business days for commercial applications. On a river shoot we keep the aircraft over the U.S. side and let the lens do the reaching.
The bridge, the lighthouse and race week
The Blue Water Bridge is Port Huron’s signature aerial subject. According to MDOT, the original span opened to traffic in October 1938 and the second span in 1997, linking I-94 and I-69 with Ontario’s Highway 402 at Point Edward. Its U.S. plaza is a Customs and Border Protection port of entry, so we never launch from bridge or plaza property. Just north, the Fort Gratiot Lighthouse, built in 1829, is the oldest lighthouse in Michigan, according to St. Clair County Parks, which has owned the light station since 2010. North of the city, Lakeport State Park falls under the DNR’s written-permission rule for commercial drone use.
In July the Bayview Mackinac Race brings its fleet to Port Huron. Organizers call it the world’s longest continuously run long-distance freshwater yacht race, and the 2026 running, the 102nd, started July 18 with about 190 boats, according to race coverage at the time. Part 107 limits flights over people, so race-week aerials are planned around the crowds on the Black River and the shoreline.
Light and seasons
Summer brings boats, full marinas and blue water, the look most waterfront clients want. Morning light works well on the river, where the sun rises over the Canadian shore and lights the Michigan side. Wind off Lake Huron can be strong, so we hold a backup date for every shoot and fly the lakeshore on calmer days. Twilight flights, legal under Part 107 with anti-collision lighting, catch the bridge lit against the sky.
Planning a Port Huron shoot
Send the address, date window and what you need to deliver. We check the airspace, the border line, park and bridge property and landowner permission before we send a fixed quote. See our Detroit drone photography services, including waterfront drone photography and real estate drone photography, or contact us to start.