Damien McFadden, from the Rushmere area of the town, started the project over the summer because he finds it ‘relaxing’.
The 51 year old has so far snapped pictures of iconic sites such as the Carlsberg factory, the fire station, the canals, rugby clubs, churches and more – where he upload them to his Instagram page called ‘Northampton_Altitude’.
Speaking to Chronicle and Echo, he said: “There’s all sorts of different things I’ve done. I just like Northampton. I moved away for a few years, but now I’m back and I thought I’d do a little bit of interesting pieces… just look at it from a different angle.
“I’m a single dad with two teenage daughters. I find it relaxing going out and doing this, you know.”
He says the drone gives him a way to see the town from a different perspective. He said: “You look at something you’ve seen a thousand times and suddenly it’s different. From up there you notice patterns, lines, shadows… things you just don’t see on the ground.
"Half the time you don’t realise how good something’s going to look until you get up there. Then you see it properly.”
Commenting on his pictures so far, he said: “The cafe at Far Cotton, the old Super Sausage got a lot of reaction from people. They said it looked a bit like a movie set, which was sort of like New York. And I thought, when I saw that, the sun was shining and it did look great.
“The most popular picture is of the Old Scouts Rugby Club. That’s purely because the rugby club themselves shared it, and they’ve got a lot of followers.
"My favourite place is Abington Park. But one of my favourite pictures would probably be Rushmere Tennis Club. I did a picture of the tennis courts from above at dusk and it turned out really nice.”
On the art of taking the perfect picture, Damien revealed a few secrets. He said: “Light is everything. If it’s a dull old grey day, it’s almost pointless.
“I’d say one in three work well. And then you think something’s going to look great and it doesn’t. The thing is, with a drone, you can’t just take it and hope for the best.
“You’ve got to understand what angles come from. Going higher doesn’t necessarily make a picture better. I try and keep things symmetrical, but that’s just a personal preference.”
He added: “When I went to the church at Weston Favell – Sacred Heart – I had to go back three times because the light didn’t look right. All Saints, I ended up having to do it from the back. I didn’t realise the sun comes up from behind, so it always looked better from the back.
“With this project, it’s not a money-making thing. I can mess about with it. I can edit how I like. I can tweak the sky or make it more vibrant, just make it into a picture rather than just a plain photograph.”
Damien plans on continuing to add to his gallery.
Click through our gallery to see all of Damien’s photos so far.
17. Northampton landmarks from above
Professional photographer and father of two Damien McFadden has started a project taking striking aerial pictures of different sites in the town. His Instagram is Northampton_Altitude. Pictured here is Abington Park. Photo: Damien McFadden