A Bird’s Eye View of Cornwall

From the wild Atlantic Ocean to the remote expanse of Bodmin Moor, drone photographer Matt Warren captures Cornwall’s natural beauty from above. We caught up with him to find out more about his unique perspective on our dramatic coastal landscape.

A lot of my childhood was spent exploring and playing on the local beaches. Growing up I had friends in Rock, Padstow and the surrounding areas. As kids we spent hours exploring the sand dunes at Rock beach. My mum and dad used to take me and my brothers to the beach a lot as well, it was a cheap day out for them, but I was in my element swimming in the sea at Harlyn and exploring the rock pools at Constantine Bay. It’s fair to say that my connection and love for the Cornish coast started from a young age, and I have my parents to thank for that.

The Cornish coast can change dramatically through the seasons, from the still, vibrant seas of the summer to the chaotic storms we have in the winter. Cornwall is very versatile and has a lot to offer a photographer but ultimately, I enjoy taking pictures of Cornwall as it’s my beautiful home and I’m proud of that.

I’ve always been a creative person, before I got into drone photography I used to write a lot of music. It was fun writing music, but I often found myself spending too much time indoors on my computer. My nephew introduced me to drones, he came over one day and asked if I wanted to go for a fly with him and see his new drone. Honestly, it was pretty amazing watching the drone take off and fly for the first time. Once I saw the kind of pictures and perspectives you can get from a drone, my imagination ran wild and I knew I had to get one. It wasn’t long after that day that I bought my first drone and ‘Kernow From Above’ was born.

My nephew no longer flies drones, he has gained other interests, but if it wasn’t for him, I may never have started drone photography!

I honestly believe I live right next to the best place to be in Cornwall, although I maybe slightly biased. The River Camel between Padstow and Rock beach offers the most amazing textures to be captured by a drone, there’s nowhere else in Cornwall like it. At low tide when the water retreats, huge sand bars reveal themselves in the estuary. The ongoing tides leave incredible shapes, textures and tidal pools over the sandbars, a sight definitely best viewed from above – perfect for the drone.

There are a lot of nice places to photograph in Cornwall though – St Ives, Mevagissey and Perranporth just to name a few.

It really depends. A lot of factors influence where I will be heading and what kind of photos I’ll be taking. When there’s plenty of swell and big waves, I’ll normally head to a nice surf break and get some pictures of surfers. Other times I may just want to take general landscape pictures of the coastal areas around Cornwall. The tide plays an important part, some places I prefer to shoot at low tide or vice versa.  

I like blue skies, evening sunshine and light winds, the stuff that reminds of being a kid in the summer holidays. I still head out in the winter and in moodier conditions, but if I had to choose, I’d prefer Cornwall when it’s looking like the Mediterranean. Those are the pictures I enjoy taking and editing the most. 

You can find more of Matt’s captivating work on his website, Kernow from Above.