Flying at the @crousehealth clock tower is one of the toughest flights I take on. The tower sits just steps from the Upstate University Hospital helipad which means every lift off begins long before I ever press the fly button.

To fly here you need more than FAA authorization. You also need clear and constant communication with the New York State University Police team to make sure no medivac or LifeFlight is on approach. Their work saves lives so my job is to stay out of their way. Every flight becomes a blend of patience coordination and precision.

When everything lines up and the sky is ours for a moment the reward is huge. The split screen you see in this reel shows my actual controller view next to the final shot after post production. It is a reminder of how much goes into each frame and why our clients hire us. Safety is the first story we tell long before the camera rolls.

#CrouseHealth #SyracuseNY #DroneLife #AidenMedia #CentralNewYork #DroneSafety #AirspaceAwareness #UpstateNY #FAAApproved #DronePilot #DronePhotography #SyracuseHospitals #BehindTheScenes #CreatorLife #SafetyFirst

Green Lakes after a heavy snowfall feels almost unreal. The world gets quiet. The colors soften. And that impossible turquoise glow breaks through the white like it’s alive. Standing here you realize this isn’t just another state park. It is one of Upstate New York’s natural wonders and one of the few meromictic lakes left on the planet. No mixing of its layers. No disturbance. Just time and nature doing what they do best.

It is the kind of place that stays with you even when you are far from Upstate. The kind of place you visit once and then dream about in between the next time you return. Winter makes it feel even more sacred. The run up to the holidays brings a different kind of magic and seeing a spot we usually only explore in good weather through the lens of my drone reminds me how lucky we are to have this beauty in our backyard.

The snow doesn’t just cover Green Lakes. It transforms it. And sharing that view from above never stops feeling special.

#GreenLakesStatePark #GreenLakes #MeromicticLake #UpstateNY #CNY #VisitCNY #SyracuseNY #DronePhotography #WinterMagic #NatureLovers #FingerLakes #TravelNY #IgersSyracuse #SnowDay #NewYorkStateParks #dronevideo

Syracuse feels like a snow globe right now. Big quiet flakes drifting through the air and settling on everything. In spots like Clinton Square the snow fills the whole sky until the world turns soft and still. You look around and realize you’re standing in the heart of a beautiful Christmas season and it feels a little bit magical.

#Syracuse #UpstateNY #CNY #SyracuseSnow #WinterMagic #ClintonSquare #ChristmasSeason

There is a moment in every winter when the season truly arrives. Not on the calendar. Not with the first flurries. It arrives in the stillness. The kind of stillness that settles over Upstate New York during a snowstorm and makes the whole world feel like it is slowly exhaling.

I remember capturing this scene in slow motion and feeling the kind of quiet that goes deeper than silence. No traffic. No footsteps. Just snow drifting under the streetlights and time seeming to ease into a gentler rhythm.

Winter is settling in again soon and this memory is a reminder of the calm it brings. A reminder to pause. To breathe. To take in the quiet beauty of another season returning.

#UpstateNY #CNY #SyracuseNY #WinterInNY #Snowstorm #WinterNights #SlowMotionMoments #AidenMedia #UpstateLiving #NewYorkWinter #SnowfallMagic #CentralNewYork #SnowSeason

The first real snowfall in Syracuse has a way of stirring things inside you. The moment the flakes start drifting down it feels like the city is whispering old memories back to life. Suddenly you can see your younger self bundled up and running through fresh powder. You can hear the crunch of boots on early morning sidewalks. You can feel that familiar mix of cold air on your face and warmth waiting at home.

Every winter here tells its own story yet somehow it always brings you home to the same feeling. A Syracuse snowfall slows the noise of the world and reminds you why this place stays in your heart. Neighbors look out for each other. The city glows under the streetlights. Even the stillness feels alive. It is a reminder that beauty shows up even in the toughest seasons and that the people who choose to stay understand that better than anyone.

Folks often ask why we love it here. Why we stay through the long winters and the lake effect surprises. The truth is rooted in moments like this. Snow settling over the Salt City reconnects you to your past and makes you grateful for your present. It is a quiet kind of magic that belongs uniquely to this place and to the people who know how to appreciate it.

Shoutout to @thebritishblacksmith for the epic snowy voiceover

#SyracuseNY #UpstateNY #CNYLiving #SaltCity #SyracuseSnow #CentralNewYork #ILoveNY #WinterMagic #SnowDayFeels #CuseCulture

Downtown Syracuse has a way of catching you off guard. One moment it is a bright beautiful day in Clinton Square. The next it is a glowing winter night wrapped around the Christmas tree that brings this whole place to life.

There is something about that tree. Something bigger than decorations and lights. It is a symbol that means something different to every one of us, yet somehow brings us all together. No matter your background or your affiliation, it reminds us of joy, community, and the season that never sticks around as long as we wish it would.

This is your reminder to soak it in. Get outside. Look up. Notice the little things that make this city so beautiful. Syracuse shines in its own way, and moments like this make you feel it.

#Syracuse #ClintonSquare #SyracuseNY #UpstateNY #CNY #VisitSyracuse #SyracuseChristmas #ChristmasTree #HolidaySeason #WinterInSyracuse #DowntownSyracuse #SyracusePride #AidenMedia #DronePhotography #OurCityOurStory

There’s nothing quite like the moment the Clinton Square Christmas tree flickers to life.

Downtown glows a little warmer, the crowds lean in a little closer, and for a few seconds the whole city feels wrapped in the same shared breath of wonder.

The tree lighting has always been one of my favorite Syracuse traditions. It’s the signal that the season of warmth, nostalgia, and togetherness has officially begun. The lights, the rink, the cold air, the excitement… it all feels like home this time of year.

There’s just something special about Christmas in Syracuse. This moment captures it every time.

(And yes, this footage is from a previous year, but the feeling never changes.)

#Syracuse #SyracuseNY #DowntownSyracuse #ClintonSquare #ClintonSquareChristmasTree #ChristmasInSyracuse #SyracuseHolidays #UpstateNY #UpstateNewYork #ILoveNY #CNYLife #CNYLiving #SyracuseWinter #HolidaySeason #MerryAndBright #ChristmasMagic #SyracuseEvents #WinterVibes #NYCreators

Tonight is the night. The busiest night of the year. The night when old friends fly home, classmates roll back into town, and Downtown Syracuse feels like one big reunion you didn’t even know you needed.

There’s something about the night before Thanksgiving that carries its own vibe. You show up and suddenly you’re young again, laughing with the same people who helped shape your story. Every corner downtown feels familiar. Every laugh feels louder. Every hug lands a little deeper because these are the people who knew you then and still welcome you now.

And sure, we’re all here to catch up over a drink… but the real magic is getting to reconnect not just with each other, but with the place so many of us still call home. Syracuse has this way of drawing you back in, reminding you where you came from and who you’ve become.

So tonight, make memories. Reminisce. Celebrate being home.
And please…be safe, find a ride, look out for each other, and have a very happy Thanksgiving.

#Syracuse #DowntownSyracuse #ThanksgivingEve #HomeForTheHolidays #SyracuseNightlife #SaltCity #CNYLove #SyracuseVibes #AidenMedia #dronevídeo

Picture this. It is ONE day before Thanksgiving in Upstate New York. The weather app whispers winter storm watch and suddenly every single one of us loses all sense of logic. We could have a fridge full of food. We could have stocked up yesterday. We could have stocked up last week. But no. The second that little blue snowflake icon pops up we look to the sky and say one thing. Welp it is time for Wegmans.

Cut to me twenty minutes later in a parking lot that looks like the State Fair. People are speed walking with carts like they are in an Olympic event. Someone just grabbed the last rotisserie chicken like it was a bouquet at a wedding. A toddler in a snowsuit is holding a baguette like a sword. A woman ahead of me has three gallons of milk even though she definitely lives alone. No one knows why she needs them. She does not know why she needs them. It is simply what we do.

I walk in telling myself I only need one thing. I walk out with enough supplies to feed a small village and two kinds of cranberry sauce for reasons unknown. The storm might only bring two inches of snow but I am apparently preparing for a three week expedition across Antarctica.

There is absolutely no explanation for it. None. But if we are being honest you and I both know that when the storm watch hits we are all going to end up at Wegmans. It is tradition. It is instinct. It is science at this point.

See you in aisle five.

#Syracuse #UpstateNY #CentralNewYork #Wegmans #WinterStormWatch #ThanksgivingPrep #CNYLife #UpstateLiving #SnowSeason #OnlyInUpstateNY

Picture this. It is two days before Thanksgiving in Upstate New York. The weather app whispers winter storm watch and suddenly every single one of us loses all sense of logic. We could have a fridge full of food. We could have stocked up yesterday. We could have stocked up last week. But no. The second that little blue snowflake icon pops up we look to the sky and say one thing. Welp it is time for Wegmans.

Cut to me twenty minutes later in a parking lot that looks like the State Fair. People are speed walking with carts like they are in an Olympic event. Someone just grabbed the last rotisserie chicken like it was a bouquet at a wedding. A toddler in a snowsuit is holding a baguette like a sword. A woman ahead of me has three gallons of milk even though she definitely lives alone. No one knows why she needs them. She does not know why she needs them. It is simply what we do.

I walk in telling myself I only need one thing. I walk out with enough supplies to feed a small village and two kinds of cranberry sauce for reasons unknown. The storm might only bring two inches of snow but I am apparently preparing for a three week expedition across Antarctica.

There is absolutely no explanation for it. None. But if we are being honest you and I both know that when the storm watch hits we are all going to end up at Wegmans. It is tradition. It is instinct. It is science at this point.

See you in aisle five.

#Syracuse #UpstateNY #CentralNewYork #Wegmans #WinterStormWatch #ThanksgivingPrep #CNYLife #UpstateLiving #SnowSeason #OnlyInUpstateNY

Syracuse is changing in real time. Over the past few weeks I’ve had the chance to document the early progress at the East Adams site and seeing this transformation from above has been powerful.

Seventy five public housing townhomes have been cleared to make way for nearly 300 units of mixed income housing along with a new park and a health and wellness community center.

The East Adams Transformation is officially underway and this is only the beginning!

It has been an honor to capture these first milestones with my drone and to meet the partners working to build something meaningful for this community. Grateful to play a small role in sharing this story as a new chapter starts to rise.

#SyracuseNY #EastAdams #UrbanRevitalization #CNY #dronevideo #SyracuseDrone #DronePhotography #AidenMedia #CityOfSyracuse #CommunityDevelopment #ProgressInMotion