Fiona Lake Blog

• Engagements are listed as soon as they’re definite. There’s always more, awaiting confirmation, so sing out if you have any date queries.
• You receive personal service as I have no staff. Multi-tasking is not my forte so if I’m taking photographs for you or you’re attending a workshop, you have my undivided attention.
• Long hours and a busy schedule when travelling means I’m hard to catch when roaming – there’s info on how to contact me when travelling, down the bottom of this page.

FUTURE events we could cross paths at & dates out of the office:

2024

• Full-on house renos ongoing…plus…more in-person drone training, tailored for individuals – plus the aerial photography workshops I’ve been promising for SE Queensland & coastal NSW. (Dates TBA, when house sorted)
• 4-6 March AAUS RPAS of the Skies, speaker (Canberra, ACT)
• The African Drone Forum (date TBC). I had intended being in Rwanda for the 2020 African Drone Forum but when a visiting soccer team was quarantined in Brisbane in late January, due to an unnamed, serious, virus – I put all overseas travel on hold. It was great to finally meet South African drone industry leader Kim James, at the October 2023 Washington DC Women & Drones Awards presentation.
• Late winter/early spring (dry season) – the cattle station visit for an Outback magazine story that couldn’t squeeze onto the calendar in 2022 then was postponed in 2023 due to unseasonal rain.

Previous Events & trips, summary:

2023:

• November & December: more one-to-one training in North Queensland….plus moving house (2nd time in 12 months) & renos begun.
• Oct 30 UAVNZ – 2023 conference (online)  UAVNZ is New Zealand’s drone organisation – set up as a division of Aviation New Zealand. Great quality conference with a list of speakers that were 1) unusually diverse and 2) hands-on drone operators. A rare dose of practicality and realism, in an era when so many drone events are choked with regulatory discussions.
• 2 Oct – 2 Nov; UK & USA; various adventures – including Gravity Industries & the Women & Drones awards night and summit, at the Smithsonian Aerospace Museum in Washington DC
• Sept 20-21 Far North Queensland (thermal photography; ground & aerial)
• Sept 5-7 Commercial UAV Expo, Las Vegas; invited speaker – on 2 panels (away 4-11 Sept)
• 14-16 Aug – Victoria & southern NSW
• 21 July – Devonport, Tasmania 2023 Tasmanian Drone Industry Summit – speaking on innovation & insights plus conference trip to Cradle Mountain, & whisky tasting. (Away 18-24 July.)
• 7-9 July, Brisbane
• 5-9 June, Cairns (North Qld); Tropical Innovation Festival
• April 29 – May 3; aerial photography, northern Victoria/southern NSW
• March 20 – April 5; Kimberley coastal photography (WA & NT)
• March 2-6 Western Qld to Top End (NT)
• Feb – 3-8 – Victorian high country/southern NSW
• Jan – Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Las Vegas (USA). Away 30 Dec 2022 – 11 Jan 2023
• 2023’s Major news – at long last, due to enquiries: one-to-one tailored drone training now provided, in addition to group workshops.  See separate preliminary announcement blog post on Personal Drone Training.  If you would like a personalised drone training session please send details of what you need & want, via the contact page, so we can discuss your options.

2022:

• October 21 – ag drone workshop, Tambellup, Western Australia (away 18 – 28 Oct)
• Sept 27-30 Far North Queensland, aerial photography (new drone)
• Sept 6-8 – Commercial UAV Expo, Las Vegas – Dates away – 3 – 13 Sept.
• Sept 16-19 – commercial photography, Mt Isa (north western Qld)
• July 27-29 Riverine Plains Innovation Expo, Yarrawonga (Vic/NSW border).  3 days of events – farm tours, trade show then conference. Flying the thermal drone & speaking about drones in ag – mythbusting & practical tips.  Away 26 July to 2 August.
• July 30 – Victorian Drone Photography Masterclass, Bright (Alpine – snow country, Victoria). Bright is a historic town set in a photogenic landscape, just a few hours drive north from Melbourne. Event details in the Victorian Drone Photography Masterclass blog post.   Delayed 2 years due to Covid. A great group of attendees, very interesting.
• July 2 – North Queensland Drone Workshop, Townsville. Topic & other details on the Nth Qld Drone Workshop blog post. 1 day general drone workshop;  covering as much of the fundamentals as possible, a myriad of tips that I wish I’d been able to find out in one day when I first started. (Instead I’ve learned via hours of flying drones in every Australian state & territory, bucketloads of ongoing research, and attending events here and in other countries.) What topics to cover? The A to Z fundamentals of what every drone pilot needs to know to fly safely, legally, productively and enjoyably.    The venue is an inspiring location, overlooking the sea and Magnetic Island.
• June 4-7 – SE Qld/northern NSW, aerial photography (& thermography – cold buildings)
• May 11-19 – Top end (NT), aerial photography
• April 22-25 – Central Qld, aerial photography
• April 3-7 – Far North Queensland, aerial photography
• March 9-10 – Brisbane (SE Qld) AgriFutures Rural Women’s Award finalist interviews & presentation. (Away 9-11 March)
• March 1 – Barham (southern Riverina, NSW); Drones on Farms workshop; hosted by the Western Murray Land Improvement Group. (Originally scheduled for Sept 2021, then Jan 2022; postponed until March 2022, due to covid 19). (Away 28 Feb to Mar 4)

2021:

• Nov 13-14; Wandoan (southern Qld) – two day Drone Photography Masterclass, run by the Wandoan Arts Council.
• Nov 15-19; Brisbane – Cert 1 in thermography course (away Nov 12 to 24)
• Nov 3; Agtech 21, Emerald (Central Qld) – agtech event. Away 2-4 Nov.
• Sept-Oct – Three trips to Brisbane
• August 7-24 South Australia. August 13 – Marree (Far Northern SA), Pastoral Best Practice Bootcamp – multi topic day. My presentation was on the practical use of drones on arid stations. Run by the SA Arid Lands Landscape Board. (Rescheduled from March 2021); plus commercial photography work, commissioned & freelance, in northern SA.
• July cane industry commercial work, Burdekin irrigation area (North Queensland) (single days only)
• June 16, Brisbane (Qld), Australian Association for Unmanned Systems conference (AAUS), in conjunction with Rotortech, presentation on drone use in Australian agriculture. (Rescheduled from 2020; due to Covid19.) (Away 15-24 June)
• June 21-22 – Nindigully then Hebel (Southern Qld), ag drone workshops.  Hebel on 22 June & Nindigully on 21 June.  (Away 15 – 24 June)
• May 25 & 26 Hobart, Tasmania – Drone Photography Masterclass, followed by a half-day drone photography business session. A unique location for a unique drone event – Hadley’s Orient Hotel.  (Away from home 21 May to 5 June.) More information on the Tasmanian Drone Photography Masterclass.
• May 2-8 Beef Australia, Rockhampton (Central Queensland) – as usual in the Walter Pierce Pavilion; Stand WP65. What a great event – record crowds – more than 31,000 on the busiest day.  For the first time, I sold out of books completely. Looking forward to 2024!
• March 17-19; Atherton Tablelands (Far North Queensland) – commission ag drone photography.
• March 10-11; Australian Association for Unmanned Systems (AAUS) ‘RPAS in Australian Skies’ conference in Canberra.  Announced as the AAUS ‘Industry Champion – Education & Safety award winner, at the gala dinner. (Away 9-15 March).
• February; Burdekin/Haughton irrigation area (North Queensland), cane industry photography commission work.
• January; Western & Southern Queensland, trips to Brisbane & Mt Isa (work & pers).

During 2021 & 2022 I was invited back to speak at drone conferences in China, the US and Europe – but unable to attend due to Covid.

Other drone events I was to speak at have been altered, postponed or permanently cancelled due to Covid19 related reasons; such as the Drone Zone at the 2021 Avalon Airshow (near Geelong, Victoria); and a number of other events in Qld, NSW and Victoria.

2020:

• Central Australia (NT), 18 December, full day drones in ag workshop; Mount Riddock Station, organised by Desert Poppies & funding support received from a number of sources, principally the National Drought and North Queensland Flood Response and Recovery Agency. (Away 15 Dec to 22 Dec)
• Online, Canada – Advancing Women in Agriculture conference; 24-25 Nov; pre-recorded video presentation: ‘If you bought a drone, you might be as surprised as I was’; followed by online Q & A session.
• South West Queensland; Introduction to drones in agriculture workshops. November – 21 in Quilpie, 22 in Thargomindah, 24 in Cunnamulla, 25 in Morven.  (Away 19 Nov to 26 Nov)
• South Australia, commission photography; first week of November (away 1 – 7 November)
• North West Queensland; E-Beef ag drone workshops – Cloncurry & Hughenden; 27 & 29 October (away 26 to 30 October). How to put drones to good use on northern cattle stations; mythbusting; and agtech that is better for some purposes. The E-Beef project is supported by a partnership comprising Southern Gulf NRM, Desert Channels Queensland, Northern Gulf RMG, and Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries. Funding for the project is from the Australian Government’s National Landcare Program and the Queensland Government Drought and Climate Adaptation Program.

• 
• Online, USA – Commercial UAV Expo – Americas – Drones in agriculture & ranching; live panel session Friday 18 Sept (US West Coast PDT, Thursday 17)

• Great to be speaking at another Commercial UAV Expo, this time at the US event (online) – the roundtable discussion on drones in agriculture and ranching. An interesting group of panellists and a great topic, not discussed at other drone conferences.

• Online, China – Drone World Congress 2020 in Shenzhen (run by the World UAV Federation) – International Precision Agricultural Aviation conference; pre-recorded video presentation: ‘Spray drones in Australia – progress and impediments to uptake’.

• South East Queensland, interviews of leading drone industry pilots; away 1-5 Sept
• South West Queensland, 2 day drone & aerial photography workshop, a Rural Academy event; hosted by the Quilpie Cultural Association & funded by Queensland’s Regional Arts Development Fund (RADF) and also the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA); 25-26 July.  These drone workshops are unique, Australia-wide so participants often travel long distances to participate. Several of the two dozen attendees drove 1,000km to attend and several others drove 500km (one way. IE 2,000 & 1,000km in total).
• Online, Australia – Farms Advice podcast, July interview with Jack Creswell
• Online, Germany – 50th Dronemasters Meetup – online event, midnight 3 June to 2am 4 June (based in Canada); seven speakers on drones from around the world – Germany, UK, Ghana, USA plus myself.  (Not recorded; only broadcast live)
• Online, Victoria – Cynthia Mahoney & Associates ‘Wellbeing Wednesday’ interview, 6 May (hour long, session recorded with participant Q & A session)
• Online, Canada – The Drone Trainer Podcast interview, March (hour long, pre-recorded session)
• Western Queensland, commission drone photography, mid March
• Online, South East Queensland – Wandoan Photo Challenge –  late March; judged the photography entries again this year, delighted to be asked again! Luckily – online, not in person. This is the best-run rural photography competition in Australia, as far as I know.  But – the images must have been taken within a 100km radius of Wandoan. Lucky locals! Other photography competition organisers would do well to read the Wandoan T & C.
• Far North Queensland/Gulf Country, commission drone photography – 5 – 10 March
• North Queensland, Rural Drone Academy workshop, Sarina – 29 Feb; Introduction to drones workshop, full day; plus Sarina school talk (away 28 Feb – 1 March). Sponsored by the Bendigo Community Bank.
• Central Queensland, Queensland Department of Agriculture & Fisheries, Rockhampton region; commission photography; 18-22 February.
• January; limited work hours due to illness; & reduced computer hours due to major system upgrade (not completed until early February).

2020 POSTPONED, CANCELLED, SUBSTANTIALLY ALTERED (not all listed here):

By January 2020 I had drone events and photography commission work lined up for every month of 2020, including 3-4 overseas work trips. Commission jobs were cancelled for North Queensland, the Gulf Country & NT and other jobs that normally would have materialised during the course of the year, remained absent. Some of the 2020 major engagements cancelled or postponed:

• USA & Canada; drone-related training – March (postponed indefinitely)
• Townsville City Library, North Qld – 2 drone & aerial photography workshops plus author talk; during Townsville City Council’s July ‘Festival of Stories’; 14-18 July (postponed; probably cancelled)
• USA; InterDrone Texas- 2 panels and on the Women and Drones trade stand. Conference originally to run 18-20 August then rescheduled for 15-17 December 2020, then moved online.
• Broken Hill Agfair, Western NSW; drones in agriculture & mobile phone photography workshops, in conjunction with the RFDS. (Agfair postponed again until 2022. Was to be early May 2020, then May 2021, now 2022; workshop probably cancelled).
• The Netherlands; Commercial UAV Expo Europe, I was to present a talk on drones in agriculture. Conference was to run 1-3 December 2020, in conjunction with Amsterdam Drone Week.

2019:

• Far North Queensland; commission photography – away 16 Dec to 19 Dec (home just in time to mail book orders for pre-Christmas delivery)
• Queensland Rural Press Club Christmas function (Brisbane) for the annual photography award presentation, then Victoria for MLA commission photography; away 5 – 12 December.
• Interrupted work hours & travel in November, due to a family member’s illness & recovery.
• Melbourne (Victoria) – away 8 – 10 November
• Innamincka (South Australia) Rural Academy training – ag drone workshop, RFDS wellness weekend – away 1-4 November.
• Department of Agriculture & Fisheries, Innisfail (Far North Queensland) commercial photography – away 22-23 October.
• Marcus Oldham agricultural college, Geelong (Vic) – Rural Academy training – ag drone talk for farm management students; away 15 -17 Oct.
• World of Drones Congress, Brisbane (SE Queensland) – 26-27 Sept (away 20-27 Sept); presented a talk on drones in agriculture – current reality vs myths, and predictions.
• RAPAD Outback AeroDrone Symposium, Barcaldine (CW Queensland) – 21-23 September (away 20-27 Sept); Rural Academy training – presented a half-day aerial photography masterclass.
• Cobb & Co Festival, Surat (Southern Qld), 23-25 Aug (away 22 – 26 Aug). A commemoration of the last Cobb & Co Coach run in Australia – 95 years ago. Australian agriculture was founded on the sweat & loyalty of hard working horses and I love to see respect being paid to them. So I especially enjoyed being part of recognising this vital part of Australia’s inland history, and taking drone images.  I look forward to the next Cobb & Co Festival, the centenary – in 2024.
• IRELAND & UK FARM TOUR:  16 July – 10 Aug 2019 (away 15 July – 17 Aug).  Ireland, Wales, England & Scotland; during the height of Britain’s summer – I escorted 25 farmers around a huge diversity of highlights – agricultural and otherwise. This particular tour had three unique features. 1) an unusual number of opportunities to converse with a large diversity of locals involved in agriculture, sometimes over lunch or dinner; 2) more events visited than any other farm tour & 3) Professional-standard photographs to remind everyone of their journey highlights. More details on this fantastic farm tour of Ireland and the UK on this blog page. Don’t hesitate to contact me by phone (07 4728 4922) or email if you have any queries regarding future tours, or you would like to subscribe to my Overseas Farm Tour newsletter.

• Atherton Tablelands & Cairns (Far North Queensland) – away 6-8 July.
• The 3rd Drone World Congress, 2019 –  run by the World UAV Federation, Shenzhen, China. Plus 2 other drone events; Nanjing & Huizhou. 19-24 June (away 17 – 25 June). Presented a talk on drones in Australian agriculture, & innovative ways to increase uptake – at the conferences in Shenzhen & Nanjing.
• NQ Dry Tropics – mobile phone photography workshops (in house), 13 & 14 June; Townsville & Ayr (North Queensland)
• Blackall Cultural Association 2 day drone photography masterclass, Blackall (Central Western Queensland) 8-9 June. (Away 6 -10 June)  Rural Academy training, funded by RADF & the Blackall-Tambo Regional Council.
• Pooncarie Field Day (Western NSW), 4 May (away 5-6 May) – Rural Academy training; presentation on using drones on farms & stations.
• Commercial UAV Expo, Europe (Amsterdam, Netherlands); 8-10 April 2019 (away 2 April to 25 April). Presented on drones in agriculture plus involved in a roundtable discussion. Also Belgium, France, UK.
• Wandoan Photography Challenge, South East Queensland, late March – delighted to judge this great regional photography competition in 2019. I judged it from home rather than on the spot, but mention it here as it’s a great annual opportunity for photographers within a 100km radius of Wandoan to win very generous prize money and see their work recognised.
• Australian International Airshow & Aerospace & Defence Exposition, Avalon Airport, Victoria; 1-3 March 2019 (away 28 Feb – 11 March); plus commercial photography in northern Victoria & Tasmania. Avalon Airshow is the most comprehensive air show in the southern hemisphere and 2019 included the drone showcase. I was invited to present an introduction to drones in agriculture session. I love aviation so enjoyed it immensely, & hope to return in 2021!
• Tintern Old Girls Association – presentation at the AGM, along with fellow former boarder & now film producer, Fiona Eagger. 6 March.
• Late January to early February – floods in Townsville; interrupted postal and other services, apologies for delays.
• Austrade lunch, Brisbane – away 30 January.
• Commercial photography, Top End (NT) & Kimberley (WA); away 11 January until 21 January.

PREVIOUS EVENTS:

• Previous events give a good indication of the diversity and what might be on in future. If you’d like to see a listing of the main 2016-2018 events, visit the Previous Events page.
• Some comments from workshop attendees can be found on the Comments from participants page.

ANNUAL OFFICE CLOSURES & POTENTIAL INTERRUPTIONS:

• Late December to late January – shorter public hours are worked in order to catch up on the busy year that’s just finished, and new one ahead.
• February – tropical Australia’s highest rainfall month; it’s the height of the wet season and it’s not unusual for business to be interrupted by heavy rain or a cyclone.  Work continues but I rarely commit to travelling away between the last week of January and mid March because of this. Sometimes there’s interruptions to our power supply and postal, phone and internet services.
• Public holidays – I often work on public holidays & weekends but in order to complete work on these days, phonecalls are usually not taken (but emails often answered).

BEST WAYS TO CONTACT FIONA LAKE:

• When I’m in the office, email is best for 24/7 enquiries (or ring [07] 4728 4922).
• When travelling, social media is the best way to start the conversation, especially if your enquiry is urgent.
• Sometimes I do not have access to any networks, but your message will be responded to as soon as possible.

Fiona Lake – social media account contact options:

• Twitter & LinkedIn: the fastest way to get a message to me when I’m travelling.
• Facebook & Instagram: I use these less often, but endeavour to check daily.
• Email:  When I’m in the office this is the best way to enquire.
• Landline phone:  If my office absence is longer than 2 weeks please don’t leave phone messages as Messagebank automatically deletes messages older than 14 days – and they can’t be retrieved.

Notes:

• If you haven’t received a reply within a couple of days of the travel return date specified above, don’t hesitate to send a reminder message.
• If ordering a special-event gift, please order well in advance to ensure timely delivery.
• Apologies for any inconvenience caused by office absences.  Ideally I’d have a bevvy of slaves, but alas not.

Tags: Fiona Lake Photography, Drone training

This entry was posted on Saturday, February 10th, 2024 at 7:10 am and is filed under News - Fiona Lake Photography, Calendar messages, Drone workshops.