Today we’d like to introduce you to Nada Khalaf-Jones.
Hi Nada, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
My life of adventure began in London, working for the family optical business, illustrating children’s books, riding motorbikes for a living and freelance journalism.
Biggest dream was travel to space but I made to with worldwide adventuring. Spent years in Egypt and the United Arab Emirates were I taught scuba and free diving – also met my husband – his Tom Cruise Top Gun cool guy personality convinced me I’d have a different kind of adventure in the USA so off to NAS Miramar, San Diego I went. We moved to the Florida Keys in 1999.
The drones turned up in 2016 and the journalism continued but I also learned to tell the story more powerfully with videos. I learned on Final Cut Pro and Adobe Premiere Pro – paired with professional event, wedding and real estate photography – making digital content became my new adventure travel companion! It became my new passion.
Although SPACE travel is still the dream!!
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It was a joy and challenge to start and run FLORIDA KEYS DRONE PROS – 2016 when the first recreational drones took off…it has been a wild hair raising ride!!
DJI has a great replacement plan!! I’ve lost a couple of drones – but never ever quit – despite the main struggle – finding a market place to sell my skills and then the patience while the world figured out what ‘legal, safe’ freedom we have to fly drones within manned aviation airspace.
THE EARLY DAYS OF DRONE
Specifically when no one knew what the heck ‘a drone’ was there were no insurance companies covering them, the FAA didn’t even know how to mitigate this new air space hazard. And even my Naval Aviator husband told me I was ‘fearless’ after he handed me back the controller!!!!
STRESS? What stress. Being able to stand up – everyone watches you – and do that high stress filming, photography droning job – usually during a highly important event that requires good visual content at the end!!
Oh it is raining? Or windy, there are tree tops, power lines, people below, dogs leashes trailing round your tripod legs, beautiful native birds you don’t wanna disturb, getting the shot, the battery life, fly away drone?! Smashed camera..?
And you’re being paid to deliver the shots! Fast!?
So achieving the creative shots. But you feel great when they love the results! Which they always do because you don’t just learn to put a camera on a tripod or in the air.
You learn to compose and light it up and edit.
FAMILY OBSTACLE? Juggling four children, one of them Down Syndrome, with the work and contracts that invited me to film festivals in England or Dubai – saying no..! It makes you want to cry.
BIGGEST HURDLES
Feeding the need to CREATE. Telling the story – journalism, film making, photography I need a constant purpose and outlet!
So I keep hustling, looking for and always finding – mostly paid – ways to WORK!
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’m the owner of Nada Khalaf-Jones Photo Film Drone LLC and Florida Keys Drone Pros.
Most people know me locally as a model – I work in a fashion boutique and do some creative modeling there. I’m known as a drone photographer and a film maker for weddings, events, real estate, businesses.
I can be found on Zola.com and WeddingChicks.com on Vimeo.com/nadajonesvideo on Instagram.com/nadajonesphotography and @nadajonesweddingstoday also through TikTok.com/@nadajonesvideo
My Google searches take people to five star reviewed pages, and through the amazing GoDaddy Photo Network – that company have precise and very high expectations – I’ve had to really sharpen my skills for those contracts!
HOW AM I A DIFFERENT KIND OF HUMAN?
Refugee parents. Rags to riches story. All that. But I’m the one that threw it away to make it all by myself.
And. Since I’ve lived in spots most people wouldn’t think to go I know what true poverty and despair looks like and also war.
Not many people know and it makes you resilient and thicker skinned.
So I’m overjoyed to be able to tell a WHAT WE ARE DOING RIGHT story and not be in a war. But Florida’s hurricanes are bad enough!!
Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
LOVE OF LEARNING
Success for the Nada Khalaf-Jones Photo Film Drone LLC is from doing it for love!! And staying IN love with learning. Allowing this creative mind to lead and sustain an even deeper fascination and love for tech and science.
‘Experts are made by struggling late at night to learn new skills and make them their own’
These seem to be the top drivers to staying popular and successful in the content creation business – whenever I get out the other side of a deep dive into something IS A BIG WIN! Always.
Pricing:
- $325 per hour raw video
- $695 per hour raw video and editing
- $325 real estate photo shoot
- $425 per hour photography portrait session
- $475 per hour wedding photography
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.nadakhalafjones.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/nadajonesphotography
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@nadajonesvideo
- Other: https://vimeo.com/nadajonesvideo
Image Credits
Nada Khalaf-Jones Photo Film Drone LLC
