Aspirations to be a drone photographer 14-year-old from Bad Godesberg takes spectacular aerial photos of Bonn

Bad Godesberg · Bonn school student Lasse Sauer produces impressive aerial photos of the city with the help of his drone. Even the Bonn Cathedral has already used his services.

 14-year-old Lasse Sauer lets his drone fly in the Rheinaue to film the park from a bird's eye view.

14-year-old Lasse Sauer lets his drone fly in the Rheinaue to film the park from a bird's eye view.

Foto: Jakub Drogowski

“Tis early practice only makes the master.” Although Wilhelm Tell in Schiller's drama of the same name was referring to crossbow shooting skills and not to the art of drone camera flying, the saying equally applies to 14-year-old Lasse Sauer and his lofty plans for the future. Especially in view of the steadily growing drone photography market in Germany.

The drone is controlled via smartphone

"In 2030, there will probably be a hundred drones flying around here," Lasse Sauer observes, looking out over the Rhine park, which is beginning to come to life for spring. The 14-year-old student stands on one of the highest elevations in the park and skillfully circles a drone. His "DJI-Mini 2," which he casually controls with his smartphone, remains fixed in the air despite light gusts of wind. Its camera delivers razor-sharp HD images at a frame rate of 30 FPS (frames per second).

The hobby is to eventually become a profession

In order to stand out from the competition that already exists and is still to come, the Bonn high school student wants to develop his photographic and aerial skills as early and as quickly as possible, and in the process hopefully turn his hobby "into a profession someday." He has already uploaded impressive aerial shots of some of the city's landmarks on his YouTube channel "Drone Shots Bonn”.

Glimpses of the closed Bonn Cathedral

Among them is Bonn Cathedral, which already has over 1,000 views. Despite all its scaffolding and need for renovation, the church seems to rise above the times in his aerial shots. Because the drone camera flies close overhead, Lasse Sauer gives viewers a glimpse of the church building itself, which is currently closed. "I personally edit all the videos on my smartphone using an app that comes with the drone," Sauer explains. "I like to let the images speak for themselves in the process. It's still learning by doing." He bought his drone, just under 600 euros, largely from his own money, which he earned by doing yard work during summer vacations. The rest was contributed by his parents, who fully support him.

City dean likes the drone shots

It’s an effort that is obviously worthwhile. After Sauer's request to the secretary's office at the cathedral, they were "interested from the very beginning," as press spokeswoman Ayla Jacob confirms. "I liked Lasse Sauer's video very much," says city dean Wolfgang Picken. "It gave us the opportunity to admire Bonn Cathedral from above and to view the status of the renovation work from a different perspective." He was also pleased with the student's offer to take more pictures. "We could well imagine that in the future," said the city dean. In the future, Sauer would like to offer his skills to other institutions or even companies for advertising purposes.

"I have always been interested in drones. But just taking pictures for yourself is boring. That's how the idea for the aerial shots of Bonn came about," says the student. In the meantime, his channel has included other videos of the Godesburg and the Stadthaus. He always obtains permission to film in advance from the relevant authorities. This was also the case for the flight over the Stadthaus, as confirmed by the municipal press office. Sauer, who currently attends the eighth grade at the Otto Kühne School in Bad Godesberg, can already fly his DJI Mini 2, which weighs less than 250 grams, without supervision. For heavier calibers, he will have to wait until his 16th birthday.

The 14-year-old plans to build a "drone squadron"

At a stage in life when teenagers are already thinking about getting a moped driver's license, the young man from Godesberg, on the other hand, is planning to build up a small squadron of drones. "When I'm 18, I'll probably be better at piloting drones than driving a car," he laughs, landing his small quadrocopter smoothly on the lawn of the Rheinaue.

(Orig. text: Jakub Drogowski; Translation: ck)
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