Step by Step guide: Operating a drone in Malta

Whether you’re new to drones and aerial photography, or you’ve been flying for a while under the previous self-registration framework - here’s what you need to do to operate a drone legally in Malta

All of the information in this page can be found in more detail on the TM Drones page here: https://www.transport.gov.mt/aviation/drones-4444

This page is not endorsed by TM and in the case of any conflicting advice, please refer to the materials issued by TM-CAD. This guide also only discusses operations in the Open category. Other categories exist for more demanding flights, however these bring additional requirements such as risk assessment

First Steps: Registration on the TM Portal

Step 1. Register on the Transport Malta Drone portal: https://tmcad.idronect.com/ . Registration costs €25 and is paid online, yearly and you will be issued with a UAS Operator Registration Number together with a UAS Operator Certificate.

Step 2: This UAS Operator Registration Number or corresponding QR-code should be printed and affixed to any drones you own/operate. I used a label printer to create a small neat and hard wearing sticker.

Next Step: Insurance

Step 3: You need to get a valid insurance certificate. 3rd-Party is the minimum required by law, however you can opt to also insure your drone. I used https://www.coverdrone.com filled in a couple of online forms and paid €18.70 for 1 year of 3rd party cover. Other operators exist such as Ving insurance brokers.

Step 4: Upload you insurance details to https://tmcad.idronect.com/ . To do this click on the Document Library button and “Add Document”.

Next: Drone Operator Certificates & Examinations

Step 5. Depending on the drone you operate, sit for the A1/A3 operator exam (certificate of competence). To do this you will need to physically go to the TM CAD office in lija, and you will need to book the exam beforehand. In the portal, under the Certificates -> Exams you will be able to see the available exams. Chose a convenient time and book online. This costs €10 and is paid online during booking.

The the EU legislation: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32019R0947 states

As confirmed by Transport Malta, the A1/A3 operator exam certificate is not required for drones under 250g even if they have a camera - so a Mavic Mini pilot will not need this unless there are accessories added that add weight to the drone.

However whilst not required - If i had a Mini i would just get the certificate. It’s pretty simple, takes less than an hour of your time and teaches you what you can and can’t do as a drone operator. Also less possible loopholes for insurance providers

You can find training materials for the A1/A3 exam here: https://www.transport.gov.mt/aviation/drones/training-4446 Make sure you read/study the Powerpoint presentation as well as the video since there will be questions on classes/minimum distances and things you are allowed/not allowed to do as a drone operator. The A1/A3 exam consists of 40 multiple choice question and will change from person to person.

Step 6. If you have a larger drone (> 500g such as the Mavic 2 or Phantom) you will also need to sit for the A2 exam, unless you choose to only fly it in the A3 category (Which brings about additional restrictions such as not being about to fly within 150m of touristic/urban areas/beaches according to the videos on TM’s site) This covers additional topics related to weather conditions and their effect on flight, batteries and flight envelopes. There are many online courses available and I found this PDF from transport sweden quite helpful: https://transportstyrelsen.se/globalassets/global/luftfart/dronare/utbildningsmaterial/drones-a2-education.pdf

There is a (at time of writing this) free online course for the A2 here: https://coptrz.com/shop/cpd-training-courses/a2-certificate-of-competency-a2-cofc/ Thanks to Malcolm debono for finding this

Registration for this exam costs another €10 and can be booked in the same way as the A1/A3 exam.

Both the A1/A3 and A2 exams are valid for 5 years. The exams are multiple choice tests that are done on a computer at the TM CAD office in lija. The process is extremely organised and efficient and you get the results minutes after completion by email

Next: Drone Registration & Flights

Step 7. Register your Drone on the Drones section of the https://tmcad.idronect.com/ . You will need the model and serial number of the drone

You are now ready to fly

Step 8. Before you fly you need to submit your flight within the portal. You will need to provide date, time, altitude and draw a flight plan. If certain conditions are met (during daytime hours, under 60m and in non restricted zones) this flight should be approved automatically by the system

Note: Flight logs are automatically uploaded to DJI’s servers if you are using a DJI drone and are not using “local mode” in the app. If you do not wish to upload the logs to DJI’s servers, you can enable local mode in the app and store the logs yourself. Logs do not need to be uploaded to TM CAD

DJI Mavic Mini: Some edited samples

If you haven’t taken a look at my first impressions of the DJI Mavic mini drone, then check it out here

I’ve had some more time to play around with the drone and i’m really enjoying it. The best way i think it can be describes is: “an easy to use flying camera”, and when you consider the price i think it will make a perfect christmas present for overgrown children such as myself.

In the meantime, here are some edited images from the drone. I find that out of the box, the images lack a bit of punch and contrast so mostly that is what I added (using the Snapseed app for android)

Small note regarding range and controller signal: I was flying the drone from a spot just off the bottom left hand corner of the 2nd photo. I was able to cross the bay and take the overhead shot of the cliffs (the middle peninsula in the same photo), at which point the quality and controls were not at 100%. Keep in mind this was also in force 5/6 winds which affect radio quality

Mavic Mini: First impressions

Full disclosure - I paid for this myself (DJI Mavic Mini Fly More Combo for 499), and am not sponsored by DJI or any other company I mention in these reviews.

Update: Camera Samples

Here are some unedited samples from the drone camera.

The Things I Like about the Mavic Mini

The way the Mavic Mini flies

The weather these last few days has been terrible, in fact, today we went out to try to get some shots of Manoel Island - but dear old mother nature decided we deserved a bath instead. As soon as the rain subsided, I figured it would be the best time to see what today’s Force 4/5 winds would do to the Mavic Mini…

In a nutshell, it’s not a Mavic 2 - but then again neither is it’s price tag. The little drone took the wind like a champ and the footage was pretty solid. It struggled a bit to fly into the wind but it was still making good headway (4 m/s into the wind). When I kept the drone hovering, it was uncannily glued in position. Ascent and Descent speeds are a tiny bit slow (unless I was doing something wrong :D) but not a deal-breaker.

In true Mavic form, this is a very easy drone to fly and I did not experience any dropouts in connection

The Mavic Mini is TINY

It’s literally something you can put in a big pocket. The only annoyance is that the props are very light and feel delicate and they just flop around freely. Invest in a prop holder or some loose rubber band or something DJI… The intelligent battery charger is also quite compact and doubles up as a holder for the batteries during transport.

It also looks like a Mavic so it’s equal parts Killer Robot and cute - I really, REALLY like the way it looks.

It Seems Quiet.*

Of course, this is completely *not scientifically measured and relative to other drones like the Mavic 2 and the Mavic Air (aka swarm of bees) - but I got the impression that the drone is less loud and intrusive. Since I don’t like to stick out, I like the fact that it’s less likely to annoy people. (I will verify this later)

DJI Fly App is easy to use

As it says on the box, the app installed, updated and worked pretty seamlessly on my Huawei P30. The only negative so far (and I haven’t yet dug around properly) is that the app did not save the images I shot on my phone automatically

The Price

At 499 (and let’s face it 399 if you lose/crash the thing) it’s very reasonably priced for a drone and reduces the financial risk of something bad happening.

The things I don’t like about the Mavic Mini

The rear door does not cover the SD and USB connections.

I’m sure some bright spark will invent an aftermarket accessory to cover them however that will put you above the 250g take-off weight limit for some countries. That sliver of plastic could have easily been removed from somewhere else.

The Fly More Combo case is not ideal

It’s a perfect case when space isn’t an issue (for storage or for taking pictures on instagram of the package..) but there is way too much waste of space, and having to play with the props to fit in the Mavic is just a pain in the butt. A much smaller case could have been provided to carry this around.

The controller does not like big mobile phone cases

To be fair, I had the same issue with the Mavic 2 - big phones will ultimately fit, but you need to really stretch it open and hold the phone at a bit of an angle. Works, just annoys me.

No Fancy shooting modes

As it says on the tin, so far there are very simple point and click shooting options for stills - it’s possible to set the EV (Exposure compensation) but not much else. You cannot stitch panoramas yet (or at least I havent found it) and also cannot shoot RAW.

*UPDATE: I’ve discovered that it is in fact possible to manually select ISO and shutter speed. Remember however that this drone does not have aperture control so pack some ND filters (if? when?) they become available

If you want to buy the Mavic Mini locally check out the store at Dickens in sliema or online here since they actually have in stock.

Amazon are actually selling at pretty good pricing (387 eur at time of writing) - given the current situation in China it might be easier.

If you don’t live in Malta, or want to use/save DJI credit hit this link to buy direct from DJI

Elevate - An editorial with Rosemarie Abela & a drone

Lets’s start with the good stuff, and put the text at the bottom this time.

Check out some drone footage in this behind-the-scenes video. All drone footage was shot at Bahar ic caghaq, Malta using a Dji Mavic 2 Pro

And now here are some shots using the ‘traditional’ camera in your hands method :) - A Canon 5D Mk4 if anyone is keeping track

Random Ramblings

One of the first hard decisions DJI forced me to make when buying the drone was - do I get the Mavic 2 Zoom? which would allow all sorts of interesting shots when shooting fashion, or do i go for the larger sensor of the Mavic 2 Pro.

As should be obvious by now, i went for the pro since 1” sensors are pretty much the baseline of what i consider to be acceptable in terms of photo quality (Turns out there might be an issue in video for the Mavic 2 pro but hey lets’s not get into that - the photos are pretty great)

The first thing that you face when using a drone for this kind of thing is that composition becomes much harder - purely because 1. you are fixed at 24 mm, 2. elevated shots are naturally shortening which doesn’t play well with fashion and 3. It’s not a scenario you’re used to and it takes time to adjust

Having said that, the possibilities it opens up are impressive - This was just a little dive to see what is possible and it's going to really open up some locations which would have been impossible to photograph ahem “on foot”

Another BigThing (tm) was the mix of photo and video. Once you’re flying the drone, it becomes a crime not to take some shots (as Andrew Randon once told me - motion = emotion, not sure if they are his words or not but they are definitely true) - and this brings about a new set of skills, a new workflow.. the list goes on.

I don’t feel I am ready to truly explore video yet - i’ll stick with Fashion & Portrait photography for now, but it’s nice to see where the road leads. Hope you like it! If anything crosses your mind please leave a comment below

Credits:

Designer: Rosemarie Abela

Model: Justina Vai

Photography: Kurt Paris

Makeup: Rodianne Caruana

Hair: Dominic Bartolo @ Dreaaaaaaaaaaaaaads

Fabric (1st Dress): Ivory & co

A day around Malta by drone

If you’re Maltese you can probably skip this section :) If you’re not from Malta there’s a slim chance you’ve never heard of our little country. Malta is a small independent nation that looks like a little fish on the map, just below Sicily

This little fishy is richer in history than many countries much larger in size and we are lucky that some parts of it boast a natural beauty that you only find in the mediterranean. Yes, I must admit that I am biased :) I am both Maltese and a photographer and since i bought my first drone - a DJI Mavic 2 Pro, i am taking the time to visit all the beautiful places we have that we take for granted. It’s funny that around the world, people will cross the globe to see something in your own country - that you might not have even seen yourself.

Even though i specialise in fashion photography, i find the coastline fascinating (so much so that i have already release a series of coastal drone prints) and here is a tour around Malta - mostly our coastline. Hop on the drone, we’ll be visiting a tiny bit of Gozo, Valletta, Fort Manoel, St Agatha's Tower (the red tower), Xwejni Salt pans, Bahar ic Caghaq, Mellieha, Xaqqa Cliffs, Dingli and Zonqor point

Hope you enjoy it, and if you are interested in drones - check out DJI’s Products here - they are really easy to use and enjoy

My sunset is better than your sunset.

Ok maybe the title is a little bit click-baity. Please forgive me. This all started because of a particularly amazing sunset a few days/weeks ago. Add a drone and some epic music beats and taddaaaaa here’s a small video that i’m still working on :)

It’s interesting to see how different videography is from photography. First of all from a workflow perspective, the software available is vastly different. So far i’ve tried Premiere Elements, iMovie, Filmora and i might also try some more. I know i’m also taking some shortcuts - the raw shots that make up this video are shot with the default H.264 setting withing the drone. It also supports 10bit HLog on H.265 for a more cinematic experience, however that is still on my “to-do” list since i’m still learning the different shots, edits, transitions, etc that turn raw footage into the semblance of a cohesive experience.

Looking back, the drone has taught me that we are truly blessed in Malta - the amount of natural beauty we take for granted, and the amazing architecture (Valletta anyone?) we live in goes largely unnoticed.

So far i must admit that drone photography is still my first love (Check out this series of prints i made at the water’s edge) but video is REALLY growing on me.

New prints series - Terra & Poseidon's Marriage

I’m very happy to announce a new series of limited edition prints celebrating one of the jewels of the Maltese Islands: our shoreline. Created by the relentless waves, the details in these few meters of land below and above the waterline hold a story: The marriage of Terra & Poseidon

Check out the teaser gallery here.

A DJI Mavic 2 Pro in Malta - Still Camera Quality

Even though video and photo are such similar media, the way you tell a story with either of them is completely different. There is also a completely new set of skills that one has to master. The DJI Mavic 2 Pro even when handled very basically (ie find a nice open space, go up, point the camera downwards - frame your shot, done) gives a very different point of view to what we are used to.

One of the key things in photography (in my humble opinion) is to constantly be different and push boundaries - because only by creating novel, new and fresh content are users surprised and delighted.

Malta is a truly beautiful place, and in the last week i've been trying to find different locations to fly to train on how to use the craft and also how to take good aerial photos (all whilst not breaking the law, and not crashing the thing at the same time)

So here are some sample shots - these are RAW shots from the Mavic 2 and processed in Lighroom. Off the bat, the RAW files of the Mavic 2 Pro are not as forgiving as something out of a professional camera like the 5D mark 4. However overall the RAW files do have some wiggle room (mainly in the shadows, less in the highlights) to play with.

Some observations so far:

• Long exposures (even up to 8 seconds) have come out quite fine
• Underexposing shots slightly to preserve highlights is preferable to me than losing highlights
• Make sure the drone LEDs switch off during long exposures, otherwise you will get a crappy pink hue at the top and bottom of the image
• Don't touch the sticks during a shot - the drone WILL move and blur everything :D

By far the most eye-opening experience has been that at face value, a drone feels like a toy that can be used at whim - but just like driving a car or boat, flying a drone requires a great deal of maturity and responsibility (and skill which i am still working on..). The technology today is (so far) quite easy, even for people new to the scene - but there is a lack of information and resources. Luckily there is a very healthy community who are very quick to help (Big shout out to Andrew Schembri from Dickens)

From a more photographic point of view, the same "don't annoy people" rules apply. Invasion of privacy is very easy and it's important that one is aware of where they are flying so as not to harass people, and more importantly what images they choose to publish. The Mavic 2 is a very silent drone so that helps keep people happy, also advising any bystanders nears takeoff/landing of my filming intentions has avoided any grumpyness

Dji Mavic 2 Pro Unboxing & Raw Footage

Excuse the quick nature of this video but i was (am) a bit excited to get started!

Available from: https://click.dji.com/AMBbabAbz0r0u7RxUWwxxw?pm=link

Here is also some raw footage of Ghar Lapsi (Malta) at sunrise. Yes my piloting skills need more work :)