Tyler Hadikin is a local videographer who has done work for a variety of clients, from X Games athletes and real estate agents to East and West Kootenay businesses and all manner of events. He’s created some of our favourite short films about Castlegar over the years and we’ve shared some of them below. He says he’s been experimenting with video cameras since attending high school here and has since travelled to such far-flung places as Hong Kong to film. His favourite type of shoot requires a drone as he likes the technical aspect of the work but he’s also just as happy lying down in the dirt trying to capture the perfect shot with a hand-held camera.
We caught up with Tyler as part of our monthly series that celebrates and showcases local artists to discover how he got into art and where he draws her inspiration from.
Hey Tyler. You live in Castlegar now. Is this where you grew up?
Yeah, I grew up in Castlegar and am happy to have ended up setting my own routes down back here.
What’s your professional background? Have you always been doing videography?
I have always been into creating videos. I remember back in high school making a video for my final project one year. Although it was terrible [laughs] it got me a 99%. I’m pretty sure that grade was based on the film’s creativity, not how good it was. I ran equipment for a few years and then decided that although it was a pretty good job it wasn’t what I loved. That is when I started taking video and photo work more seriously and studied until I knew everything there was to know about how to properly use my equipment.
Your drone footage is awesome. How’d you get into that field of work?
Honestly I love techy things and the remote control and drone stuff were just other cool toys I wanted to try because they were pretty new at the time. Through connections, some pretty cool people found out about it and we ended up filming a world record UTV (Utility Terrain Vehicle) jump. I still can’t believe we did that considering we were so new but we went all in and made it happen, which is what it takes sometimes to learn.
Are there special considerations people need to know to fly drones in Castlegar?
Pretty much all of Castlegar is in controlled airspace. The misconception I see a lot is people thinking you can’t fly here at all which is totally not true. As long as you have the proper licence, permissions, etc, it is absolutely possible to safely and legally fly drones pretty much anywhere. I actually did a cool project for the Castlegar airport where we covered the entire site, which helped them narrow down the most efficient vendor for maintenance. If you are concerned though, the right way is to simply wait until the operator has finished the flight and landed, then you ask questions.
What do you do when you’re not behind the lens?
We are pretty busy at home working on the property at the moment but when we have the time, we’ll take the dirt bikes out in the summer and sleds in the winter.
What do you love most about living in Castlegar?
I am fortunate enough to have an amazing cluster of people that I work with on a continuous basis. These are people who are like minded and who I can really feed off of and understand to create a better product every time. I think people here are more willing to work together and create long-lasting relationships and I love that we can operate like that.
What’s the funniest moment you’ve had while photographing in the area?
One time I was doing some drone work up the valley and I had this man approach me angry and upset. Maybe he had something to hide? He eventually left in a huff and I finished up. About a year later I went to go shoot another real estate listing up the valley and guess who comes out to greet me? The same guy who was complaining to me about using the drone! We had a good laugh when I kindly reminded him about our last meet up and all was well.
What’s some advice you have for kids interested in getting into drone photography?
The best tool for photography and video work is having an eye for what needs to be covered. It’s great to take a whole day to get one shot or whatever but when it comes down to real-world work situations, you need to be quick in order to be successful and make a living at it. View what the situation has to offer and get the shots needed, then move on. But there’s a catch: the shots have to be good. This comes with time and practice and knowing your camera.
Where can people find more information about your work?
The best way to contact me is by email at tyler@stackedfilms.com but I also have a website at www.stackedfilms.com.