ABOVE: Aeroscape Productions Owner Fritz Hill flies both of his drones he uses for his newly-created drone photography business. Currently he plans to use it for realtor photos, but he said it can be used for other applications such as roofing inspection.

FAIRMONT – A local plant manager is taking a leap into entrepreneurship, forming his own company to provide drone photography.

Fritz Hall was originally born in South Africa and has traveled across the United States, even after moving to Fairmont in 2017. He said Fairmont ended up being the place he could not stay away from. Not being able to stay away also influenced his journey with drones.

“I was big into flight simulation,” Hall said. “I had a big flight simulator sitting here. I decided to do away with that. Work got a little more important. The hobby still nagged on the back of my head. I picked up a drone from a buddy and bought it secondhand, started flying, and then here we are.”

The original experimentation came not from any business idea, but rather from creative pursuits.

“It initially went with me on my bikepacking stuff,” Hall said. “I do a lot of camping, riding bikes and so on with my YouTube channel. It evolved from there. I took the creative aspect of it and plugged right into a business.”

It was a discussion with a Fairmont realtor that first opened his eyes to other possibilities.

“I talked to Kim Kreiss, the realtor, and she put me on to, there’s a hole in this neck of the woods for real estate photography and drones specifically,” Hall said. “That’s what my pushing force was, was Kim saying, ‘Hey, there’s an actual hole in the market here, if you want to fill it.'”

After first considering creating a business in the fall of 2024, Hall he received his professional FAA Part 107 certification for drone flying in the spring of 2025.

Right now, Hall’s main drone is a DJI Air 3s. This is no toy either. Hall said it is very weighty, which is part of why he uses it.

“When you have wind like we have 90 percent of the time here in Fairmont, it seems like having a heavier weight drone means that you have more stability in the air. That was the reason for this one, battery life, obstacle avoidance and all that fun jazz play into it too, so you can stay out of the trees.”

By providing drone photography, Hall said it provides multiple unique benefits.

“It’s good to see the neighborhood around the property you’re trying to buy,” he said. “Having that bird’s eye perspective, I think it’s super cool. Having that, instead of getting somebody to hire a plane, take you up and then take a picture out of there, it’s gonna be a couple $1,000, where I can do it for a couple $100 potentially.”

As he takes this idea into the business world and continues to work a full-time job on top of it, Hall said he is looking to make connections over the next few months.

“I’m hoping to at least get some feelers out there, get some more business,” he said. “I would definitely like to be the go-to person for drones in this area. Get my name out there as much as I can in the first couple months, and then roll with it as we go.”

By taking this risk and filling this gap for the Fairmont area, Hall said it creates a sense of purpose for him.

For more information, visit aeroscapeproductions.com or call 507-848-6869.