Our founder’s drone pictures capture the chang- ing seasons at her Bedford home.

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From M A RTH A

TE AC H AN D IN S PIRE

In winter, boxwoods wrapped in burlap flank the stables and paddocks at Martha’s Bedford home.

A YEAR AT THE FARM

An early and enthusiastic adopter of drone photography, Martha loves to head out and capture sweeping aerial shots of her property. From season to season, she documents the evolution of life and takes in the natural beauty of the changing landscape.

FRO M A R

T H E A E R I A L A R T I ST

My current drone is a DJI multirotor Mavic Pro (dji.com). It maneuvers well and has a high-per formance camera that takes excellent photos. I H AV E A LWAYS B E E N I N T E R E S T E D in landscape archite ure and design, and when traveling I love to v i sit p e acu la r places, l i ke the g reat château x i n Fra nce a nd t he stately homes of England. I’m endlessly fascinated by the vat ness of these mat erpieces, and how the designers could comprehend their visions when they had no aerial photographs of the land they were asked to transform into the parks and gardens we enjoy today.

This is the beauty of drones. They make capturing a bird’s-eye view simple—there’s no need for hot-air balloons, helicopters, or planes. I received my firt one about five years ago, as a birthday present from a friend who knows how much I adore trying out new technolog y. It was a single-rotor model (meaning it had only one set of blades). While cutting-edge at the time, it was challenging to navigate, easy to lose while flying, and even easier to crash, because it had none of the bells and whit les that today’s models offer.

Now drones are more accessible and affordable, and they come equipped with multirotors for smoother flying, GPS syt ems, sophit icated cameras, and features like “return to home” and “hover.” Plus, they hook up to a phone app for quick and seamless t eering. There are rules to keep in mind, though: Check with the Federal Aviation Adminit ration and your local officials before taking flight. In my neighborhood, the ma xi mu m a ltit ude is 400 feet, a nd it is required that you keep your drone in sight at all times.

I’ve gotten comfortable flying mine over my property, and I find the results both breathtaking and useful when I’m planning new features, such as fencing, gardens, and t ru ures. I also like to think about great landscape designers and archite s throughout hit ory, like Louis Le Vau, André le Nôtre, Capability Brown, a nd Hu mph r y Repton, a nd what they wou ld have been able to achieve with this technolog y.

This coming year, I look forward to seeing how the orcha rd by my pool wi l l look as it g rows, how the trees will color up next fall, and how peaceful everything will be covered in a blanket of snow.

S P R I N G

Here, the farm is waking up, marked by the vibrant light- green grass and foliage, and the new orchard I planted near the pool is budding into a grid of tiny dots.

FA L L

Sometimes I hover low to capture details; other times I go high to see the lay of the land, like in this picture. It shows a kaleido scope of autumn trees at the farm and beyond, and a glimpse of the nearby reser voir.

S U M M E R

Far left: In late July, the pergola border bursts into vivid oranges when the tiger lilies open. Left: I love how this shot shows the geometr y of the terrace parterre outside my house. It even captured a group enjoying lunch. Smile for the camera!

W I N T E R

A nor’easter storm brought about a foot of heav y, wet snow last year. But once it was over, the farm was wonderfully quiet. Three of my Friesian horses were enjoying the fresh covering.