Earlier this month, our Java Post Aerial Photography crew headed up to the lovely resort town of Waskesiu, Saskatchewan, which is located on the edge of Waskesiu Lake, inside the vast area of Prince Albert National Park.

Our flight crew was there for two days to assist a team of engineers from WSP Canada in an aerial survey of the town's marina area. We had previously worked with WSP Canada on a project in the city of Regina, back in June. You can read about that previous project HERE.

Prince Albert National Park is actually a "no-drone zone," but this is the second time that Java Post Aerial Photography has received special clearance to conduct flight operations within the park.

Here's a the concrete breakwater that protects the marina area. Although, on a mirror-calm day like this, there's certainly no water that needs breaking.

Our UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) technician, camera operator, and second pilot, Trevor Bennett, does some preflight checks on our customized DJI S900 hexacopter.  This is one of three primary UAVs flown by Java Post Aerial Photography. Each one of our drones has different advantages, depending on the specific project requirements.

You know, when it comes to spending a day "at the office," this is not a bad "office." Right at the moment, we're pretty sure Trevor is not missing those -40C aerial shooting days. That's -40F for our US friends. Celsius or Fahrenheit, that's just darned cold.

Joining us for the first day of the aerial survey was Brian Korchinski of WSP Canada. Brian was able to bring his son, Paul, to watch the flights. Brian is the tall one in the WSP hardhat, by the way. Paul is wearing his new official Java Post Aerial Photography mission cap, a gift from our flight crew.

And since our UAV pilot, Jack Tunnicliffe, already had his phone out, he figured a selfie was in order. This is the smiling face of a man who gets to spend the day outside in the sun, rather than inside a dark visual effects suite. Plus he gets to fly his UAV. Bonus!

Here's one for the Korchinski family Christmas letter. It's Brian and Paul, posing next to our customized DJI S900 hexacopter, with the concrete breakwater in the background. But maybe we shouldn't show Brian having too much fun. This is supposed to be a work day and his WSP Canada colleagues might get jealous.

After our official aerial surveying was completed for the day, our crew took a few minutes on their own to grab some scenic shots of the Waskesiu marina area. The fall foliage and calm, mirror-like water made for a gorgeous image. No wonder this is such a popular tourist destination.

For the end of September/beginning of October, the weather during our two-day shoot was exceptional, with solid blue skies, bright sunshine, and almost no wind. Perfect flying weather for our UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle). And perfect weather for just hanging out at a gorgeous national park, come to think of it. Oh yes, our aerial crew has a tough job, but somebody has to do it.

As the first day of our aerial survey shoot with WSP Canada comes to a close, our pilot Jack (right) brings our UAV in for a landing while camera operator Trevor (middle) takes a "dronie" of our group.

Day two is coming up next. To see some examples of the work done by Java Post Aerial Photography, CLICK HERE.