Meet James Hale | Owner, Spectral Feather Drone Services and Photography, LLC

We had the good fortune of connecting with James Hale and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi James, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
As I retired from the Marine Corps after twenty years of service, I knew I needed time to decompress and focus on family, friends, and take the time to adjust to being a civilian. After moving to Hereford, AZ and reconnecting with friends in the local area, I would fly in the local area as a private pilot and see the absolute beauty of Cochise County. I was taken back to being a child and sharing a hobby of radio controlled airplanes with my brother and Dad. Interestingly, I ended up being heavily involved in the training, development, and operations of drone capabilities in the Marine Corps during my career. Given a trace that actually goes back to my childhood, I realized that I could use my experience as a military drone pilot and mission commander and skills as an FAA commercial drone pilot to fill a gap in the community in terms of providing safe, affordable, high quality, and professional drone services for Cochise County. My journey began to build the company and focus on real estate aerial photography, but quickly grew into realizing that many other services such as roofing inspections, power line inspections, commercial safety inspections, and many other drone applications were well within my reach to provide locally. I decided to name my business, Spectral Feather, as it combines light, colors, wings and feathers as aviation related and photography related themes. Our mascot and brand is the owl…a wise and noble winged creature with stunning vision and a quiet nature. The spectral or multi colored feather calls to color, awe, things that fly and images captured in flight.

What should our readers know about your business?
I decided to build Spectral Feather Drone Services and Photography, LLC in September of 2022, about a six months after I retired from the Marine Corps. I had taken the time to transition and get settled into my new home in Hereford, AZ and to get connected with other veterans and veteran owned businesses. Specifically, the Warrior Healing Center and Sunset Water Gardens, LLC, have been enormously supportive and helpful. I entered the Marine Corps in Dec of 2001, right after 9/11. I retired several months after US Forces withdrew from Afghanistan in Kabul in August of 2021. I deployed to Iraq twice and Afghanistan once, and spent plenty of time in Korea. Each rank, position, deployment, and team taught me so much about myself and others. I learned the true cost of freedom in those we lost and it gave me appreciation for so much. To say that my career was challenging would be an understatement. But it was the team that built me and my family and close friends that supported me, that got me through. I had plenty of mentorship and lessons learned from those I had the honor of leading and working for. I apply those lessons everyday. I believe what sets my business apart from others like mine, is a quick turn around time, coupled with a professional and quality product that tells a unique visual story and perspective. Real Estate aerial photography and video is fun, but challenging work, that requires FAA certification, safety mindset, detailed planning, and the ability to tell a story and sell a house with a set of powerful pictures or a well presented video. I’m just getting started, but my feedback thus far has been extremely positive! I hope that the example I set can inspire younger generations to build upon what I’m creating, and make it better!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Ha! This is easy and hard at the same time; the choices for entertainment are sightseeing are tremendous! When friends or family visit, one of the first things I do is take them flying in a sporty little plane called a CTLS, that I rent from Copper City Aviation in Bisbee, AZ. We fly over the Lavender Pit mine, cruise the mountains and canyons, tour the San Pedro River, fly over Tombstone, and depending on the time of year, it all looks so beautiful and different! It’s also great to show them my portfolio of drone and ground photography that I’ve taken of the natural beauty in Cochise County, and then visit the places they are drawn to. Hiking Miller Canyon and birdwatching at Ramsey Canyon Preserve or Ash Canyon Bird Sanctuary are definitely favorites! As far a food is concerned, Screaming Banshees Pizza in Bisbee is great, La Sierra Grill Steakhouse in Hereford is wonderful, and Gunny’s BBQ or BAM BAM BBQ in Sierra Vista are so mouth-watering. Gogi BBQ House is also an amazing Korean BBQ establishment; having spent lots of time in Seoul, Korea, I can honestly say, this was as good…or better.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Hands down, my parents! My Dad for teaching me about flying and sharing an aviation related hobby with me as I grew up. He was patient and taught me to be confident in my ability to build, plan, fly, and always consider safety and responsibility. My Mom for her love and always encouraging me to fly, not only as a drone pilot, but as a private pilot and beyond. My younger brother Joshua, who is still in the Air Force, and loves aviation as much as I do…it’s been wonderful to share all the joys of aviation with him. The Marine Corps certainly gave me many opportunities to learn, grow, teach, and build a wonderful community to serve our Nation with drone capabilities. Last, and perhaps most importantly, is my wife Jane, an Air Force veteran who loves, supports, and encourages me endlessly. She gets credit for always telling me to “just do it!”. My dogs Archer and Lana, get credit for simply being awesome and reminding me that life is short and to get outside and enjoy the beauty around us.

Website: https://spectralfeatherdroneservices.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spectralfeatherdroneservices/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100089204209276

Image Credits
Johnny Tackitt