This high-flying photographer is making a stir on Instagram. And no wonder.
Hugo Healy, 26, from Brighton but currently based in Dubai, has garnered greater than 22,000 followers on the photo-sharing platform due to his breathtaking drone photography.
His images provide you with a bird’s eye view of a few of the world’s most beautiful places, his shots capturing every part from an ancient castle in Scotland to the intense lights of Brighton Pier and from the domed cathedral in Florence at sunrise to a few of Saudi Arabia’s most otherworldly landscapes.
While he makes the art of drone photography look easy, Healy tells MailOnline Travel that it takes plenty of research and planning to get the correct shots. He says: ‘For every trip I create a map of all of the locations so I can plan a route and see where each site is in relation to every part else within the country. I find reference photos so as to add onto the pins in order that I can remember what they give the impression of being like.’
While on the job, Healy – who works within the film industry as an expert drone pilot – has had a few scary encounters. He recalls that while in Iceland a wheel fell off his four-by-four leaving him stranded, and on the identical trip he needed to battle ‘torrential rains’, ‘gale force winds’, ‘blinding fog’ and uneven terrain to get the right shot of an oozing volcano.
Swoop right down to take a flight across the planet, due to Healy’s magical photography skills…
Describing this shot, which was taken over Lima, the Pacific Ocean-facing capital of Peru, Healy says: ‘Living life on the sting… the residents living on the cliffs of Lima appear to be. I feel it’s essential to live a lifetime of taking risks, pushing yourself outside your comfort zone. That’s where we grow and learn so far more. Do the belongings you don’t need to do, things that make you scared. Activities that make you are feeling or your heart race. Turn into alive. I ponder how these guys feel living on the side of a crumbling cliff’
LEFT: This mesmerising shot was taken over the Newlands Valley within the Lake District, Cumbria. Healy describes the Lakes as ‘probably the most beautiful place in England’ and muses: ‘I mean take a look at the home down there… could you imagine living there and having this as your back garden?’ RIGHT: This photograph shows the amazing Castle Stalker, situated on a tidal island on the west coast of Scotland, 25 miles north of Oban. The 14th-century fortress, described by Healy as ‘one in every of Scotland’s many gems’, was used because the filming location for the ultimate scene in Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Within the Instagram post dedicated to this photo of Brighton Palace Pier, Healy says the image made him yearn to return to his hometown to go to family and friends
LEFT: A hypnotic shot of Mill Lane within the hamlet of Halnaker, just north of Chichester in West Sussex, within the South Downs National Park. ‘It has been amazing exploring and capturing some places closer to home,’ Healy says of the attractive autumn shot. RIGHT: Healy tells MailOnline Travel that he’ll ‘at all times wait for the correct light’ before taking a shot. This image shows the sun bathing the ruins of Machu Picchu, situated northwest of Cuzco, Peru. The very best point of the Incan wreck, thought up to now back to 1450, is 2,430m (7,970ft) above sea level
Each of those stunning pictures show the incredible rock formations of Gharameel, an area that is around 100km (62 miles) north of town of AlUla in Saudi Arabia. The world is ‘famous for stargazing’, Healy notes
This pink-hued shot was taken within the deserts of Tabuk Province of northwestern Saudi Arabia, near the borders with Jordan and Egypt, in an element of the region that’s being developed right into a $500billion city-state called ‘Neom’, covering 10,000 square miles. Neom will consist of three manmade cities and a ski resort, all freed from cars and roads and powered by 100 per cent clean energy. Residents are expected to maneuver in as early as 2024
LEFT: A view of the Martian-like landscape across the a part of northwestern Saudi Arabia that’s being developed into Neom. Healy describes the realm as ‘probably the most fascinating regions I even have ever been in’. RIGHT: Saudi Arabia was again the setting for this powerful shot, with Healy turning his lens on the Tomb of Lihyan Son of Kuza, the most important tomb within the archaeological site of Hegra, northwest of Medina. The historical landmark, also referred to as ‘The Lonely Castle’, measures 22m (72ft) in height and is believed up to now back to the first century CE
This spellbinding photo captures Landmannalaugar, a geothermal area of the Fjallabak Nature Reserve within the Highlands of Iceland – a 40,000-sq-km (15,445-sq-m) region that covers much of the country’s interior. Healy says of the shot: ‘One of the crucial beautiful areas within the Highlands! Landmannalaugar offers incredible scenery, unique mountaineering trails, vast lava fields, vibrant canyons, natural hot springs and a few epic camping’
LEFT: An aerial shot in Iceland, which Healy says is one in every of his favourite countries to shoot in for the ‘sheer great thing about the landscapes’. RIGHT: These volcanic crater lakes in Iceland, as captured by Healy, look they belong to a different planet
LEFT: This shot shows Iceland’s Affall River, which runs east of the town of Hvolsvollur, about 120km (74 miles) from the capital of Reykjavik. The yellow color of the water, seen here cutting through a black-sand beach, is picked up from the sulfur-rich sediment of the volcanic areas nearby. RIGHT: Healy’s incredible shot of Hengifoss waterfall, a part of the river Hengifossa in East Iceland. The 128m- (420ft-) high natural wonder is the third highest waterfall within the country. The photographer says that it’s one in every of his favourite waterfalls in Iceland because its horizontal strips of red clay between the rock make it seem like a ‘lava sandwich’. He adds: ‘Quite extraordinary right? Ancient volcanic geology that could be a must-see’
‘Wow! Breathtaking,’ one in every of Healy’s fans said of this photo, which shows a dramatic lava flow at Frostastaoavatn lake within the southern a part of the Highlands of Iceland
LEFT: A spectacular shot of Eystrahorn mountain in east Iceland, which Healy took while road-tripping across the country. The mountain, which measures 756m (2,480ft) in height, is a component of the Krossasnesfjall mountain range, and the ‘Ring Road’ that sweeps past it goes towards the fishing town of Hofn to the south, and towards the town of Egilsstaoir to the north. RIGHT: This powerful shot shows the 122m- (400ft) high Haifoss waterfall in southern Iceland. Reflecting on his visit to the waterfall, which is a component of the Fossa river, the photographer says: ‘It’s at all times an incredible feeling standing in front of such power and sweetness’
LEFT: An otherworldly shot of Lanzarote’s Charco de los Clicos, or the ‘green lagoon’. The lagoon is situated by a black-sand beach just south of the village of El Golfo contained in the ocean-eroded semi-circular stays of a volcanic cone that is connected to the Atlantic via subterranean passageways, so the water is continually topped up. Shedding light on his photography style, the photographer says that he loves using drones as they ‘open up the chance to just about capture any angle you’ll be able to dream of and in a comparatively short period of time’. RIGHT: One other image taken in Lanzarote, which Healy says was the primary one he took after landing on the island
This picture shows the Salinas de Janubio salt flats within the south west of Lanzarote. Avid traveller Healy says of the image: ‘I’ve at all times loved the aerial perspective of salt flats. They create unique textures, patterns and hues. This beautiful evening was quite overcast, then quarter-hour before the sun was set to vanish, it burst out of the thick layer of cloud filling the sky with color and created some awesome reflections within the flats below’
LEFT: A robust picture of Lanzarote’s volcanic landscape. Shedding light on how he finds angles for his shots, the photographer says: ‘Sometimes I even have ideas about what angles I need but more often than not I just send it [the drone] up and find the compositions within the air! All the pieces at all times looks so different from the sky and that’s what I really like!’ RIGHT: Plumes of smoke drifting over volcanic cones on Lanzarote
LEFT: This magical aerial shot captures La Graciosa, a volcanic isle within the Canary Islands that is a 25-minute ferry ride from Lanzarote. Its highest peak, Agujas Grandes, pictured within the background of the shot, measures 266m (873ft) in height. All the roads on the island are unpaved, the usage of cars is restricted, and there are only two settlements – Caleta del Sebo, the primary inhabited area, and Casas de Pedro Barba, a cluster of summer houses. RIGHT: Healy shot this golden picture within the Val d’Orcia region of Tuscany. He says he loved the scenery with its ‘beautiful winding roads and trees’. He adds: ‘Italy has so many delights’
It was an early start for Healy when he ventured out to capture the sun rising over the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence for this awe-inspiring shot. The Gothic cathedral – one in every of the most important on the planet – dates back to the top of the thirteenth century
LEFT: This clever shot is Healy’s unique capture of the exclusive resort and residential complex The Palm in Dubai. RIGHT: The enduring Burj Al Arab hotel in Dubai, captured through Healy’s lens
Hugo Healy, pictured, is currently based in Dubai. Next on his travel bucket list? ‘Greenland! Also Mongolia, Kyrgyzstan, China and Japan during spring,’ he reveals
To see more of Healy’s work, visit his Instagram page.
