IMMORTALIZING THE AGRICULTURAL WEST

The world of videography, photography and social media is rapidly changing. The founder behind One World Drone has some ideas on how we can all keep up.

By Jenn Webster

When Jason McKay graduated post secondary, he returned home to the Foothills, Alberta area and got a job with the local Municipal District. Already armed with his pilot’s license, McKay began a side-gig shooting aerial photos. It was something he was truly passionate about –focusing on local acreages and ranches and using his plane or a remote control helicopter to capture the images. However, the aerial photography wasn’t enough to provide him with full-time employment.

pursue the idea of live-streaming rodeo for productions.

“That’s when it really clicked for me,” McKay tells. “Knowing cameras and everything that goes into video production and editing. It was a great opportunity and I saw it as an chance to scale up for corporate value. Producing content, in real time. You didn’t need 20 people to put a production together because there’s YouTube and tech has come so far.”

Maintaining his MD position, McKay then purchased himself a drone.

From there, McKay got into ground cameras – investing in the highest quality Sony mirrorless camera he could afford. As luck would have it, McKay was able to accompany his wife, Candice, to the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas and got a rare view of the behind-the-scenes action of the event. In fact, the McKays were in attendance when fellow Albertan, Lindsay Sears and her super mare “Martha” won one of their Barrel Racing World Championships. Next, McKay had the chance to attend the Canadian Finals Rodeo and Road to the American. It gave him a unique opportunity and the good fortune to rub elbows with the likes of Trevor Brazile and other rodeo legends.

“Looking back, I wish I had the camera equipment I do now… There was so much culture there and it would have been really cool to capture it. What I loved about the people we met and the rodeo folks was how down to earth they were,” he says.

Fast-forward to 2015. Along with his wife, McKay began to

Unfortunately, the live-stream business model didn’t take off as he had hoped, but McKay still had his cameras and a knack for capturing the western lifestyle. He started picking up corporate clients and producing training videos. He began working with 2W Livestock Equipment in Nanton, AB, and created a video to help clients learn how to use the company’s cattle squeezes. He also got underway working with Lori Loree of Shotgun Weddings and executed the videography for corporate clients, while Loree produced the photos. These days, Jason and Candice have a seven-year-old daughter named Stella and they live on an acreage near Cayley, AB. It’s enough space to give Jason the room he needs for his aircraft and the western lifestyle his wife and daughter crave.

“Stella is a die-hard horse fanatic,” McKay laughs. “Dogs and horses. That’s where it’s at for her.”

With the wheels of his own enterprise now in motion, McKay has the equipment and the savvy to propel agriculture and the horse industry into the future. Here’s how he’s doing it.

SCROLLIN’, SCROLLIN’, SCROLLIN’…

Having been in the business for a decade ,there are several pieces of equipment that McKay relies on to brings his clients’ projects to life. Currently, he uses the Inspire 1 Pro aerial drone and the Mavic 2 Pro. His ground footage equipment includes a Sony A7iii, SonyA7ii and the DJI RS 2 Gimbal, as well as the Duzi 4 Slider – plus all the audio equipment required to compliment a great production. As he lives in a rural area, McKay says that Starlink internet has been a game changer for him, helping to increase the speed and reliability at which he can complete projects for clients.

With his background as a pilot, becoming a drone operator was a natural transition for McKay and gives his business another distinctive feature. McKay possesses his Advanced Operator License, which allows him to fly the machines almost anywhere. To get the license, he had to pass a practical onsite exam in front of a Transport Canada inspector.

“I can operate downtown Calgary, or next to an airport because essentially, I am a professional drone operator too.”

He uses the drones as a tool for weddings and rodeos, but doesn’t solely focus on them as his main tangents of business.

“They are an extension of my operation, for sure, but I’m really focused on capturing agriculture in many different ways,” he explains. “So whether that be through video, or photos or images captured by drones – I love shooting it all.”

As if that weren’t enough, One World Drone also has the ability to do custom-framing, canvases or metal wall-art for clients who want an added touch.

Then, there’s the social media aspect of his business – recently, One World Drone hit the stratosphere in terms of impressions and engagement metrics. With over 26.5K followers and some of his individual reels reaching over one million views, McKay is clearly doing something right.

“I uploaded this video in the summer [of 2022] and the response was amazing. It was at a local branding and one of the cowgirls was dragging a calf in. There’s this point in the video where she looked over, directly at the camera. She was all business… That Instagram reel has garnered over one million views…” McKay says.

Part of One World Drone’s success comes from McKay’s ability to recognize and isolate fantastic moments in time and choose appropriate music to support the video clip. So how does he choose the music he uses?

“Depends on what the day brings!” he chuckles.

“Sometimes a saddle bronc goes with a beat, so I use it. It also depends on the animals I’m shooting.”

With all his outings to western lifestyle events and the close proximity of his acreage to other southern Alberta ranches, McKay has gathered tens of thousands of photos. He uses a hybrid camera that allows him to swap back and forth between stills and video shots. And while he still posts the odd photo to Instagram, he says reels are the hot trend of the moment.

“I used to post photos, but I realized they were only getting 30-40 likes. Now that I’ve had some reels hit the half-million mark and more, that’s where I’m focusing my energy. It was a big wake up call to me,” he explains.

“Of course that’s likely to change again too but right now, people are just scrolling through their phones – looking for the most interesting content. And just when you think you understand the algorithm, things change again and it humbles you…”

Two years ago, Lori Loree reached out to McKay to see if he would like to join the Calgary Stampede Agricultural and Western Events Media Committee. For most of the ten-day July event, he videos numerous rodeo and agriculture events for the Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth, including everything from heavy horses to saddle broncs and tractor pulls. His knowledge of the western lifestyle, combined with his social media presence and talents serves the event well.

Later in the year, One World Drone got the call to video the Canadian Country Music Awards, held at the Saddledome in Calgary, AB. Hosted by Tenille Townes and Blanco Brown, the event honoured 2022 achievements in Canadian country music. Again, McKay got a unique glance behind the scenes and the chance to interview some amazing country artists.