Windsurfing, Whales, and Unspoiled Nature: Kirill Umrikhin on Drone Photography

Sandisk: You seem to have a penchant for the epic: intense action sports in extreme conditions and expeditions to the great unknown. Why is that?

Kirill Umrikhin: It's hard to say. When I'm in the mountains, snowboarding is as much a tool as my camera is. Extremes aren't necessarily what I seek, but it's part of the game.

Sandisk: What does it mean that extremes are part of the game?

KU: Every sport I capture, I also do. You cannot capture snowboarding, surfing, or climbing without knowing how to do them. With action sports, humans have to stay close to nature. There's a connection between humans and nature. When I shoot, I try to balance the surfer with the wave, human with nature. In every photo, I'm trying to see how close we can get to nature.

Sandisk: Were drones a way for you to get closer to nature? Is that why you got started with drones? To get closer to nature?

KU: Yes, I see drones as a game-changer in the same way that small action cameras were a game-changer. It just opens so many options. Before I started with drones, I was booking helicopters to do fly-by shoots. But now, I have a helicopter in my hand. Just that shift helps me get closer to what I want to capture.

Sandisk: What kind of projects have drones helped make possible?

KU: All kinds! I spent three weeks in the Pacific Ocean once photographing these giant galleons, these old sailing ships. There are only two seafaring vessels like this left in the world, and it takes about 300 people to get them to full sail. I sent my drone up, got this bird's-eye view, and realized we were making history. No one had ever seen this spectacle from this angle before. That's what drones make possible.

Sandisk: Do you get that feeling often when working with drones?

KU: Not often, but when I do, it feels incredible. For example, I was in Antarctica about two years ago when a bunch of whales surfaced. I launched my drone and saw the whales spiraling underwater, blowing bubbles toward the surface. I didn't know at the time, but they were doing something called bubble-net feeding, which is incredibly rare to see. From the water, it doesn't look that special, but from above, it's just incredible. The whale's silhouette under the water, the bubbles. You could only see that from above, only with a drone.

No matter how much you prepare for it, nothing can prepare you for how different things look up there. No matter how familiar you are with drones or the environment, there's always something new.

Sandisk: Does that perspective force you to think about your shoots differently?

KU: Definitely. It turns out most things look better from above! No matter how much you prepare for it, nothing can prepare you for how different things look up there. No matter how familiar you are with drones or the environment, there's always something new. You feel like a bird, up there.

Sandisk: In terms of logistics, how does a drone change your workflow?

KU: Well, it makes my backpack heavier, for one thing. Hahaha.

KU: Working with a drone usually means more gadgets, more chargers, more batteries, more memory cards. At max, I might have four batteries and four SANDISK Extreme PRO® microSDXC™ UHS-I cards to swap into the drone. But another big thing I worry about is the weather. Most drones can handle tough conditions, but you have to be aware of them. You don't have any photos or video from a drone until you've landed it and downloaded everything from the card.

I honestly attribute 50% of my success to Sandisk. Without these cards and drives, I can't do my job.

Sandisk: Does all of your gear have to meet such rigorous standards?

KU: My rule is that if I can survive the conditions, my gear has to, too. Below zero, super-hot, underwater, with a Sandisk card inside. I honestly attribute 50% of my success to Sandisk. Without these cards and drives, I can't do my job. If they can't keep up with the drone's camera, if they fail because the drone crashed, if the data's lost in transfer, that's an entire expedition wasted...

KU: People don't really get how vital they are because the card is always inside the device; because drives are in a corner of my home. But Sandisk's support is really important to my work.

Sandisk: Final question: If you could work on any project with a drone, what would you do? No budget, no limits. Anything is possible.

KU: Anything? Well, I'd go and shoot the moon! Then again, maybe you don't need a drone there because you can just jump…

KU: Besides that, I'd love to shoot the US national parks from above. Yosemite or Yellowstone would be the dream. I totally understand why they're so protective of those spaces, but can you imagine seeing them from above? It seems important to capture the parks today, not just to me as an artist, but also for future generations. Art helps to talk about the problem. It helps us talk about how fragile nature is, and how we can help the planet.