See Your Story From Above — FAA-Licensed Drone Video in Boulder
Kestrel flies cinema drones over the Front Range's mountains, builds, and brands — FAA-licensed pilots, filmmaker flight plans, and footage delivered in 48 hours.
Pilots Who Think Like Cinematographers
Anyone can put a drone in the sky; the craft is knowing where the light will be at 6:40, how wind moves over a ridge, and which three moves tell the story without a cut. Kestrel's pilots plan every flight like a shot list — airspace cleared, batteries staged, backup windows booked — so the shot you imagined is the shot that lands in your inbox.
- ✓FAA Part 107 pilots, insured to $2M
- ✓LAANC airspace authorizations handled
- ✓Flight plans built around light & wind
- ✓Backup weather windows on every booking
Six Ways to Use the Sky
Cinema on one side of the business, data on the other — same pilots, same precision.
The Front Range, From Where It Looks Best
The Kestrel Standard
Legal Air, Always
Part 107 certification, LAANC authorizations, and insurance certs your client or GC can verify before we lift off.
Flights Planned to Light
Golden hour isn't luck — it's scheduling. Every booking includes a light plan and a backup weather window.
48-Hour Delivery
Graded selects in two days, full-resolution masters organized and archived — reshoots on us if we missed the brief.
Brief to Footage in Four Passes
Scout the Sky
Location, airspace, and light checked before we quote — you'll know exactly what's flyable and when.
Plan the Shots
A short shot list of moves and moments, agreed up front — plus the weather-backup window.
Fly the Window
Batteries staged, spotter up, moves rehearsed — we fly the plan and chase the light while it's perfect.
Deliver the Air
Graded selects in 48 hours, masters in every format, and raw files archived if you ever need them.
The Same Sky, Measured
Half our flights aren't for films at all. Builders, land managers, and solar installers use Kestrel for orthomosaic maps, elevation models, and monthly progress records — survey-grade imagery you can measure, compare, and drop into project software. One flight can feed the marketing reel and the project meeting; most clients only pay for the drone once.
- ✓Orthomosaic maps & elevation models
- ✓Monthly progress flights, same angles every time
- ✓Measurable imagery for project software
- ✓Cinema + data captured in a single visit
What Six Years of Front Range Air Taught Us
Wind Is the Real Client
Mountain air has opinions. Reading ridge lift, valley flows, and afternoon build-ups is why our footage is smooth and our drones come home.
Legality Is a Feature
Airspace violations end careers and projects. Licensed, insured, authorized flight isn't overhead — it's the product your lawyer likes.
The Shot List Beats the Joystick
Planned moves cut edit time in half and battery use by more. We fly like the edit is already open.
From the Ground Crew
We hired Kestrel for one resort film and they've flown every season since. The winter opener they shot — first light over fresh corduroy — is the single best-performing ad we've ever run. They plan flights like cinematographers, not hobbyists, and it shows in every frame.
Monthly progress flights over our 40-acre site, delivered as both cinematic video for stakeholders and orthomosaic maps for the project team. One vendor, both jobs, never a missed month — even through a Colorado winter.
The FPV flight through our brewery — in one take, through the door, between the tanks, out to the taproom — did two million views and filled the tour calendar for a month. Worth every penny twice over.
Asked Before Liftoff
What does a drone shoot cost?
Single-location cinematography starts in the low four figures including planning, flight, and graded delivery. Mapping and progress programs are priced per site with monthly rates. Day rates for productions include pilot, spotter, and gear.
Are you allowed to fly here?
Usually — and we'll tell you definitively before quoting. We hold FAA Part 107 certification and secure LAANC authorizations for controlled airspace, including the Front Range's trickier zones. If a location genuinely can't be flown, we'll say so and suggest alternatives.
What happens if the weather turns?
Every booking includes a backup window at no extra cost. Colorado weather is part of the job — we watch it obsessively and call reschedules early, not at the launch site.
Can you match footage to our existing project?
Yes — send reference frames and we'll grade to match your production's look, and fly moves that cut naturally into your edit. We regularly deliver into other editors' timelines.
How accurate are the maps?
With ground control points, orthomosaics reach survey-grade accuracy suitable for progress measurement and earthwork estimates. We'll spec the accuracy level to what your project actually needs.
Do you fly outside the Front Range?
Statewide regularly, neighboring states for the right projects — travel is quoted plainly up front. Mountain towns are our favorite commute.
Golden Hour Books First
Tell us the location and the story — a flight plan and quote come back within a day.
Tell Us What to Fly
One business day to a flight plan and quote. Pin-drop the location if you can — airspace checks start immediately.