Latest / The Scene Projects / Paul Slaathaug on Videography, Drone Photography, and North Dakota's Wrestling Scene

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Paul Slaathaug on Videography, Drone Photography, and North Dakota's Wrestling Scene · The Scene Projects

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  This program is part of the Scene Projects podcast network.
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  Scene Project features interviews with independent musicians, comedians, and artists
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  from across the Midwest.
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  Become part of our community and support local art wherever you are.
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  Welcome in to another exciting episode of the scene.
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  I'm your host, Bubba Starts.
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  And with me today is videographer and drone pilot, Paul Slothaug.
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  Welcome to the show, Paul.
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  Oh, thanks for having me.
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  Oh, this would be great.
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  Always nice to have another Dakotan on the program.
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  Tell us a little bit about your backstory.
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  I know you're relatively new to the drone flying and and videography scene.
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  So give us a little backstory and then we'll talk about kinda how you got into what you're
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  doing now and what the future looks like.
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  Sure.
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  So, basically, I'm a long time IT guy, lived and breathed computers for over twenty five
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  years.
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  I my previous most recent job, I worked for Microsoft for fifteen years and recently got
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  laid off from them.
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  I started this business as because I kinda knew that that was gonna be in the cards for me
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  eventually.
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  So I started this business just messing around with drones, doing some real estate here and
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  there, and then I really fell in love with the video aspect of it and the editing of video and
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  things like that.
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  So now I've been doing it for about two years, and it's it's been fun, and I really enjoy it.
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  Work working in IT, you obviously saw AI coming a lot sooner than the rest of the world did.
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  I'm sure that has, greatly affected a lot of guys that were in your position and pushed a
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  lot of people into new beginnings in the last couple of years.
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  Yeah.
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  For sure.
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  AI is a huge game changer, especially in the IT industry.
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  They're, you know, making it easier for, you know, to deal with customers and and not deal
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  with customers, but to work with customers in that aspect.
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  You know, you get that initial information gathering technique out of there.
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  You still can't really rely on AI yet for everything.
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  There's a lot of things out there that AI still doesn't know or can't figure out yet because we
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  don't give it access to that stuff yet.
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  So, you know, maybe once that happens, things will get really scary, but we'll see.
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  Well, we'll be talking about Skynet and all sorts of fun stuff.
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  Exactly.
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  Yeah.
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  That's the scary stuff for sure.
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  Oh, Paul.
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  Well, I'm glad that, you know, having left that industry that you found art.
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  You know?
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  And I know a lot of people wouldn't look at it to it look at it that way just getting into
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  something like drone photography and videography, but it is.
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  And it's an art form not just to capture the video, but to be flying the drone.
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  And that's something that I don't have a lot of experience in, so I'm really interested to know
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  kind of how, you know, did you have an interest in flying any sort of other vehicles before
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  this, or was it, you know, that that job was ending and it just seemed like something that,
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  could put some food on the table?
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  I've always been interested in aviation.
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  I was a member of the civil air patrol back in the late nineties.
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  So I've I've always been interested in airplanes and aircraft.
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  I wanted to get my pilot's license originally before I went into IT.
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  Found out that I didn't really wanna have a $150,000 in student debt, so IT was the the
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  better choice for me at the time.
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  And so anything that flies, I've always kind of flown RC airplanes.
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  I've I've flown real planes too.
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  I just I don't have a license for that yet.
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  So that might be something I'm working towards.
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  But as as far as the drones go, I got a drone because I started a YouTube channel just to
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  capture family memories and and things like that.
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  And I was like, oh, what's something cool I could do with this channel?
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  And I was like, let's let's do some drone stuff.
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  So I bought a cheap drone, started messing around with that.
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  And that is a dangerous rabbit hole to get into because once you get one, then you kinda wanna
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  get more and you get into that gear collection phase.
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  And I don't know if I'll ever grow out of that, unfortunately, but hopefully, the pocketbook
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  won't kill me too much.
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  Yeah.
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  You have to keep making more money and finding other ways to use it because you wanna be able
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  to fly the best and to use the new tech, and it just continues to evolve.
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  Right?
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  Especially in the drone field as things get smaller and it becomes more and more capable,
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  it also gets more and more expensive.
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  So I feel for you there.
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  I'm a musician, Paul.
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  I I've been dealing with the gear gear envy and the endless purchasing for a long time.
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  Thank goodness I picked up podcasting, and that's kinda taken a back seat now.
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  But I I feel you on that level.
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  Yeah.
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  But even with podcasting too, there's all kinds of microphones, all kinds of cameras.
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  They can get an expensive quick too.
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  I settled in where I was like, you know what?
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  I got the stuff that works right now.
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  I do have an expensive microphone being a songwriter.
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  I needed something there.
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  But my really, my journey started because I already had all the equipment.
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  That was kinda sitting here collecting dust when I wasn't recording music.
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  And I wasn't someone who's prolific like some of these people who are recording, you know,
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  you know, dozens of songs every year.
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  I've only done dozens of songs in my life.
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  So it's, it was collecting dust, and I'm glad that we can put it to good use now.
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  So you mentioned off camera a little bit that a lot of what you're doing for work now is mainly
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  around using the drones and real estate photography and doing some of that kind of
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  stuff.
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  Can you elaborate on that a little bit for us?
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  Yeah.
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  So, basically, we use the drones to get the aerial footage for the houses.
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  I I I learned rather quickly that the drone isn't just enough to get gigs.
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  You need to have a full package service.
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  So I do also the photography and I do walk through videos as well, with those.
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  But, yeah, the the the drone is is is probably my favorite thing to do.
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  It's fun.
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  You know, it's it's kinda taboo in some areas too.
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  You'll get the people that walk up and say, what are you doing?
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  And and things like that or, you know, some people call them Karens or whatever, but, you
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  know, they're they're more worried about their privacy than other people's privacy.
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  So
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  Yeah.
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  Not thinking that, you know, the US government and plenty of other agencies are are watching
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  you through your camera every second of every day.
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  Oh, you mean one of these?
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  Yeah.
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  Right?
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  People worried about privacy.
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  Get out of here.
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  Yep.
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  Good luck.
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  So, Paul, what, what else do you use the drone for?
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  Are you doing any kind of, like, the videography?
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  Are you working with any kind of artists?
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  I know you're a little bit around the music business.
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  You have some friends in radio and and amateur podcasting, if you will.
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  Are you using these talents that you've got to kind of seek work in other arenas?
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  Yeah.
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  So, in June, I was picked up by b z w wrestling, and I'm doing their their video
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  production currently.
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  So I do their editing and video production, and that's been really fun.
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  I'm trying to incorporate more drone into that.
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  It's tough because some of the venues are, of course, covered roof.
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  Open air ones are fun because then I can, you know, fly the drone a little bit and get some
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  shots that way.
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  But it's it's it's been fun.
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  It's been a challenge, and I look forward to continuing to do that.
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  And more events like that, I found that working those live events is is fun.
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  It's it's it's a challenge, but it's really fun.
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  Well, speaking of those events, I had the opportunity to catch up with BZW wrestling
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  while they were out in Sturgis for the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally at the Iron Horse Saloon.
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  They put on a killer event.
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  Big shout out to Nick Stokey for that one friend of the show.
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  Man, it was a great time out there.
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  Now you had your drones out there.
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  Correct?
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  Yep.
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  I did.
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  I wasn't able to fly mine there, just because of you're not supposed to fly over people, and
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  that was such a crowded area.
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  I didn't wanna risk it.
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  And then there were a lot of police around and I'd seen a couple other people flying their
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  drones and having them having the police have a nice conversation with them.
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  So I was like, I've got too much other stuff going on just trying to film the show myself.
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  So I ended up not being able to fly the drone there, which was unfortunate.
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  But still plenty of footage, I'm sure, from the event.
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  I know we got plenty there with our camera.
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  A great time there.
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  Can you talk a little bit about that?
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  Because I haven't had the chance to talk to Nick yet post show.
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  Can you talk about the experience from an outsider?
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  I grew up in Deadwood.
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  I'm very aware of what the rally is.
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  I've been in the thick of it for many years as a musician this year as a content creator out
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  at the Sturgis Buffalo Chip.
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  Shout out to them for having us out there.
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  But, can you talk about it, you know, kinda traveling down with the crew from North Dakota
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  and and really being the center and the star of the show at least for a few hours?
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  Yeah.
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  I mean, it was overall an amazing experience.
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  Getting down there, travel was great.
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  There was hardly any hiccups there at all, so that was perfect.
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  I had never been to Sturgis before during rally.
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  I'd been there several times before, you know, just on vacation with family or whatever, but
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  not during the rally.
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  And that was a pretty eye opening experience.
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  I I'm pulling into Sturgis, and I'm stuck between 50 bikes in the back, another maybe 100
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  bikes in the front.
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  I'm in this long, you know, convoy of motorcycles, and we get up to this stop sign,
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  and the cops are up there.
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  They got people pulled over.
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  It took us, like, half an hour to get a quarter mile.
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  Like, it was insane how busy it was and the traffic and just the noise.
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  You can feel it in the air, just the rumble of all the Harleys and motorcycles.
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  It's it's it's pretty crazy.
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  And we're about a month removed from it now, and I miss it.
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  I love that time of year.
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  As someone who grew up there, it's an opportunity, not just economically for everyone
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  in the area, but you get to see your friends that you haven't seen all year that you know
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  are gonna be coming up for Sturgis.
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  And I really feel a lot more attached to it now not living in the area.
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  Right?
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  When you live there, it has a much different thing.
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  It kinda takes over your life and and clogs everything up.
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  A trip that took you ten minutes before is now taking you over an hour.
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  And so there's a lot of things that coming from the outside now traveling with everyone else.
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  Right?
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  Traveling five hours to get to the show has just been very eye opening to what actually is
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  what it is to be at the rally.
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  It's about family, and it's about community.
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  And I was just so thrilled to get a chance to know Nick through, you know, my connections to
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  Matt Creed who has the Allied International Wrestling Federations.
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  You know, that that kind of overarches so many different independent promotions.
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  But to now be a part of that community a little bit and to feel like I can contribute to what
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  they're doing as well, can you talk about what it is to I mean, you're an independent, you
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  know, business owner, obviously.
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  But can you talk about kinda being part of that crew up there in North Dakota that kinda has a
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  lot of stuff going on right now?
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  I know Nick was just the TNA over in the Twin Cities as well and and the growth that it's
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  experiencing right now for the professional wrestling.
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  Yeah.
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  I mean, Nick Nick, first off, is an amazing person.
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  His wife, Teresa, as well.
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  They have their work cut out for them.
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  I mean, they he's got his own primary business he runs, and b z w is kind of like a side gig.
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  So it's it's quite crazy.
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  He's got an awesome crew.
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  They all work really well together.
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  I I feel like I fit in pretty well with them, and hopefully, we can keep going with that.
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  But yeah.
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  Overall, Sturgis was amazing again.
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  And one story I have about that is I was setting up my gear.
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  I was running a static cam.
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  I was on the VIP section on the backside.
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  And one of the owners came out and they were shooting, know, t shirt cannon, essentially.
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  Right?
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  Well, they put burritos in there from Sweeto Burrito and we're shooting one pound burritos
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  into the crowd.
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  One missed my camera by less than a foot, and the guy next to me caught it or tried to catch
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  it.
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  And when he caught it, it exploded and it shot burrito shrapnel all over my gear.
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  So and this is, like, five minutes before the show, and I'm sitting there scrambling trying
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  to get everything cleaned up.
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  And, oh, it was it was chaos, but it was super fun.
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  You're gonna be digging salsa out of that camera for years.
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  Right?
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  Oh, it's not Sturgis without some wild stuff happening.
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  Most of the stuff I saw, I can't even share on our program.
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  I get that.
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  Well, Paul, I I know we kind of, connected through through the crew and everything.
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  I'm really happy to, have you on the program and let you share a little bit about, you know,
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  your story and your company.
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  Why don't you go ahead and tell everyone where they can find you and where they can hire you
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  if they if they need some videography done?
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  Sure.
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  So I was known as elevated dronography LLC.
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  I still have that website up currently.
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  I'm going through a rebrand right now.
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  I'm renaming the company to eagleeyemedia.llc and I've got logos and stuff with that.
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  I'm just working on getting the website finalized and that one is eagleeyemediallc.com
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  and you can find my information there.
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  Although, will be changing here as I get the site updated and and ready to be, you know,
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  fully published.
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  But but, yeah, that's where you can find my information and reach out to me.
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  Fantastic, Paul.
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  Well, thank you so much for the work you're doing inside of our community and with other
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  friends of the show, thank you for being part of the scene.
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  Yeah.
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  No problem at all.
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  Thanks for having me.