He’s electric: the sparky shooting Shetland from the sky

Shetland’s breathtaking scenery, from the rugged splendour of its clifftops to the ever-changing kaleidoscope of colours in the sky and seas surrounding the islands, is being captured with greater regularity in the digital media age than ever before.

And modern technology means that, as well as big budget film crews, a growing band of highly skilled amateur hobbyists are increasingly able to get in on the act.

One of them is 46 year old electrician and Up Helly Aa enthusiast Andrew Simpson, aka Shetland_By_Drone, who has been capturing and documenting the dramatic beauty of his home islands from the sky for a rapidly growing audience for the past few years. His vivid capture of Clickimin Broch on a frosty day was picked to grace local newspaper The Shetland Times’ annual calendar in 2022.

Save for an 18-month stint at Sullom Voe Oil Terminal, Andrew has worked for electrical shop George Robertson Ltd. since his teens. He became a director when the long-running company, which has operated from its premises on Lerwick’s Hillhead for some 75 years, changed hands in 2006.

Getting out and about all around the islands while conducting home visits is what first piqued his interest in photography, and he began to recognise the potential in flying drones around seven or eight years ago.

“With my job I’m quite lucky,” Andrew says. “I travel all over Shetland working so you see a lot of places the average Shetlander probably doesn’t see.”

After acquiring a drone in 2015, he soon became more confident operating the device – he now uses one of the latest models from DJI – and began “taking more chances, flying out over the water, over the sea, getting that view which folk don’t normally see. Getting shots from the seaside looking in through the cliffs – that generated quite a bit of interest because there wasn’t really anybody doing that kind of thing.”

Having initially shared the end results through his personal social media accounts, such was the response that he eventually set up his dedicated Instagram account. Shetland_By_Drone now has 8,500 followers drawn from all around the globe, and he has provided footage and images to some prestigious production companies.

Off the back of the Shetland crime drama TV series and the success of events such as Shetland Wool Week, Andrew remarks on how Instagram has now become “a massive platform for anyone doing that kind of thing”, whether it’s fellow drone photographers or those running small craft businesses.

“Folk just have that much more access to Shetland now as what they’ve ever done before, and the TV series has probably helped boost that, maybe more than folk realise.”

The main hindrance tends to be the winter weather: “You’re not so prolific, you just don’t have the weather to do it, whereas in the summer months you can fly most days.”

Andrew has countless favourite spots for getting great photos in Shetland, and here are five of the best (all photos by Andrew Simpson / Shetland_By_Drone):

1. Fitful Head/the Wick of Shunnie

This picturesque part of the south Shetland mainland holds fond childhood memories for Andrew, the area where half his family hails from and where his uncle used to own Quendale Farm.

“Probably my favourite spot, partly from growing up when, from a young age, I spent time around the cliffs at the Ness and I enjoyed climbing in about the banks, getting views that a lot of folk don’t see. The landscape there is beautiful, it’s quiet, and it’s one of my go-to places.”

2. The Lang Ayre (Northmavine)

Northmavine's beauty spots stretch from the spectacular cliffs at Eshaness (a designated site of special scientific interest) all the way to its northernmost tip at Fethaland.

“There’s so many beautiful spots in Northmavine – Fethaland, Uyea, Eshaness – and they’re all a peerie bit different. The Lang Ayre would be my favourite. It’s an hour and a half trek, and it is quite a trek over the top of Ronas Hill. The biggest part is the trek back, from sea level and then up over the top. Because it’s out of the way and not easy to get to, when you do go you appreciate it more. It’s the visual aspect, the red sand, the cliffs, the solitude of it – you’re basically guaranteed to have the place to yourself.”

3. The Knab/The Ness of Sound (Lerwick)

You can enjoy spectacular hills and cliffside walks without even venturing outside of Shetland's main town of Lerwick. Andrew lives a stone's throw from the Knab, home to a popular cliffside path and an informal 9-hole golf course, and he often launches his drone to fly above the 'Horse's Head' at its southernmost tip. Across the bay walkers can tackle the rougher terrain and equally spectacular views of the Ness of Sound.

“I love the contrast between the ruggedness of a town just being built on the cliffside, really, and there’s so much boat traffic, you can get lots of different shots of different things. You can go out and take a photo today, and the same one tomorrow could look completely different because of the sea and the sky, going from one extreme to the other.”

4. Minn Beach (Burra)

Burra, an island connected to the Shetland mainland by two causeways, is just a few miles' drive from Lerwick. At the south end of West Burra lies Minn beach, on the west side of a sceptacular tombolo. The beach is a short walk from the main road and leads on to the wild headland of Kettla Ness with seals and colonies of skuas and terns.

“It’s just a boannie visual area to look at from the sky – the aspect of it, the horseshoe-shaped beach, Clift Sound in the far distance. There are so many different colours with the landscape, the beach, the turquoise of the sea.”

5. Papa Stour

Accessible by a 45-minute ferry from West Burrafirth on the Shetland mainland, Papa Stour is an island now inhabited by fewer than a dozen people, and offers a rich playground for kayaking around its labyrinth of magnificent sea caves, as well as diving and walking. Its western cliffs have been carved by the Atlantic waves into beautiful arches, stacks and caves - the most famous of which is the Kirstan Hol.

“I went in there to do a job a couple of years ago. It’s a lonely, secluded place but so beautiful – the coastline around there is stunning and in the day we were there we probably only covered half of it.”

• Andrew's Shetland_By_Drone account on Instagram is regularly updated with new footage and photography. Check it out here.