Guide
Drone photography for land listings: how to fly a parcel
Fly the boundary, the access and each feature at heights that show how the parcel sits, in low sun, under the FAA's Part 107 rules for commercial flights.
By Jordan Johnson, Founder, Kedron Co.Updated 8 min read
Good land aerials come from a plan: fly the boundary, the access and each feature at heights that show how the parcel sits against roads, water, timber and neighbors, and fly when the sun is low. Every one of those flights is a commercial flight, so the pilot needs an FAA Part 107 certificate, a registered drone with Remote ID, and a flight that stays inside the Part 107 limits.
From the ground a buyer can't see the shape of 80 acres or what's across the fence. From 300 feet they can see both in one frame. This guide covers the rules an agent needs to know, the patterns worth flying and when to fly them. Related guides are under marketing land.
Do you need a license to fly for a listing?
Yes. The FAA names "taking photos to help sell a property" as an example of flying that isn't recreational, and adds that "compensation, or the lack of it, is not what determines if a flight was recreational or not" (FAA, Recreational Flyers). An agent flying their own listing for free is still flying under Part 107.
Part 107 says no one may manipulate the flight controls without a remote pilot certificate, unless they're under the direct supervision of someone who holds one (14 CFR 107.12). Getting the certificate, per the FAA (Become a Drone Pilot):
- Create an IACRA profile to get an FAA Tracking Number.
- Pass the UAG (Unmanned Aircraft General, Small) knowledge test at an FAA-approved testing center. You must be at least 16.
- Apply for the certificate through IACRA and clear the TSA background check.
- Keep it current with online recurrent training every 24 calendar months. The FAA's course (ALC-677) is free.
The drone also has to be registered. Registration costs $5 and lasts three years (FAA, Part 107). The exception for drones of 0.55 pounds or less (under 250 grams) applies only to limited recreational flying, so a small drone flown for a listing still gets registered and labeled with its number (FAA, Register Your Drone). And since Sept. 16, 2023, a drone that requires registration must broadcast Remote ID (FAA). The FAA ended its grace period on March 16, 2024, and warns that operators who don't comply "could face fines and suspension or revocation of their drone pilot certificates" (FAA, March 2024).
Which Part 107 rules matter on a land shoot?
Part 107 is long. On open rural land, these are the limits that come up (14 CFR Part 107, eCFR current as of Sept. 25, 2026):
| Rule | The limit | Where it bites on land |
|---|---|---|
| Altitude (107.51) | 400 feet above ground level, with a limited exception near structures | The wide context shot. Stay at or under 400. |
| Visual line of sight (107.31) | The pilot or a visual observer must see the drone, with unaided eyes, the whole flight | Timber and ridges block sight lines. On a big parcel, move the launch point. |
| Visibility and clouds (107.51) | At least 3 statute miles visibility; 500 feet below and 2,000 feet horizontally from clouds | Fog in a river valley can ground the shoot until it lifts. |
| Night and twilight (107.29) | Anti-collision lighting visible for 3 statute miles; night flying needs training completed after April 6, 2021 | Golden-hour shoots that run into dusk. |
| Controlled airspace (107.41) | Prior authorization from air traffic control near airports in Class B, C, D and surface Class E | Parcels near a town airport. |
| People (107.39) | No flying over people unless they're participating, under a covered structure or in a stationary vehicle, or the flight meets Subpart D | The seller watching, hunters, neighbors in the yard. |
| Speed (107.51) | 87 knots (100 mph) groundspeed | Rarely an issue for listing work. |
For parcels in controlled airspace, the FAA's LAANC system gives authorizations for flights at or below 400 feet "in near-real time" through FAA-approved apps (FAA, LAANC). Check the airspace for every parcel before the shoot day, not at the field approach.
Six flight patterns for large parcels
Most land listings need some version of each of these. Fly them in this order so the footage runs in the order a buyer thinks.
The context shot
High and wide, at or near 400 feet. Show the parcel against the county road, the nearest town, the river, the public land two sections over. This is the shot a buyer uses to decide whether to keep looking.
The access run
Start over the public road and follow the entrance and the field road all the way to the back of the property, at 80 to 150 feet. It answers the first question every land buyer asks: how do I get in, and how far can I drive?
The boundary run
Fly along each line with the camera angled in toward the parcel, so the frame shows what's inside the line and a little of what's outside it. On a quarter section, which is a half mile on each side, you'll likely need more than one launch point to keep the drone in sight, especially with timber in the way.
The orbit
A slow circle around one feature at a steady distance: the pond, the building site, the stand on the point of a ridge. Orbits give a buyer the shape of a place from every side.
The reveal
Start low behind a tree line or a ridge and rise until the field, the creek bottom or the lake comes into view. Use one or two per listing. They're good openers for a film and poor at explaining anything.
The top-down
Camera pointed straight down, high enough to cover the parcel or a section of it. This is the base for a labeled map: boundary, access, stand sites, food plots, water. It's also the start of a 3D model, covered in 3D property models for hunting land.
What altitude works for each shot?
These are starting points, not rules. All of them sit inside the 400-foot limit.
| Shot | Starting altitude | What it shows |
|---|---|---|
| Context | 300–400 ft | The parcel against roads, towns, water and public land |
| Whole-parcel overview | 200–300 ft | Shape, cover types, how the acres split |
| Access and boundary runs | 80–150 ft | The route in, the lines, the fence rows |
| Features and orbits | 50–120 ft | The pond, the building site, a stand, the creek crossing |
| Top-down for mapping | As high as the parcel needs, up to 400 ft | A clean base for boundary and feature labels |
When is the light and season right?
- Low sun. Fly within two hours of sunrise or sunset. Side light shows the roll of the ground. Flat noon light makes a Driftless ridge look like a Red River Valley field.
- Leaf-off. Late fall and early spring show ridges, draws, benches and trails that summer canopy hides.
- Green. Summer shows crops, food plots and cover. If the listing has tillable, a summer set is worth adding later.
- Snow. A fresh snow shows every trail and every field edge. It's a reason to fly again and post again.
- Fog. Morning fog in a valley looks good on camera, but the visibility and cloud-clearance limits still apply.
Drawing boundary lines on aerials
Buyers want to see the lines. Draw them only from a source you can name, and label the photo with it. County parcel data is useful, but it is approximate and it is not a survey. If the lines come from a survey, say so. If they come from county GIS, caption the photo "Boundary lines approximate, from county parcel data." A line drawn in the wrong place on a listing photo becomes a problem at closing.
Flying over hunting land in season
Part 107 has no rule about deer season. State hunting law does. Wisconsin's statute on interference with hunting covers using a drone to do any of the acts it prohibits, which include harassing wild animals and impeding a person engaged in lawful hunting, when done with intent to interfere (Wis. Stat. 29.083, 2025). Minnesota's statute says a person who intends to disrupt someone's hunting "must not disturb or interfere with that person" (Minn. Stat. 97A.037).
The practical rule is simple. Fly before archery opens or after the seller is done hunting, and never over a neighbor's stand. In 2026, Wisconsin archery opened Sept. 12 (WI DNR) and Minnesota archery opened Sept. 19 (MN DNR). Check both pages for the current year's dates before you book a shoot.
Hiring a drone pilot: what to check
- A current Part 107 remote pilot certificate, with recurrent training within the last 24 calendar months.
- The drone's FAA registration, and how it meets Remote ID.
- Whether the parcel is in controlled airspace, and whether they've checked.
- Proof of liability insurance, and what it covers.
- Samples of land work, not just houses. Ask to see a boundary run and a context shot.
- Who owns the footage, and whether you can use it on every site and social channel.
Before the next shoot
Pull up your next listing on a map and plan the six patterns before anyone drives out: where to launch, what's in the way, where the airport is, and which weekends the seller hunts. Then shoot the ground photos the same day, using the land listing shot list. For the one continuous shot from the gate to the stand, see FPV drone tours for land. Kedron's 3-Day Listing Launch System includes the aerials, ground photos, film and a property book (a digital edition and a print-ready file) for a listing. The full launch plan is in how to market hunting land.
