Project Type: Site Documentation & Stakeholder Media Capture
Client: Arup
Services: Drone & Aerial Photography · Ground Photography · Aerial Videography · Raw Asset Delivery
Location: Bowen Boat Harbour · Bowen · Queensland · Australia
Project Overview
TDM was engaged by Arup to produce a comprehensive site documentation and media capture package for the Bowen Harbour Master Plan — a major planning and design engagement focused on the future of Bowen Boat Harbour and its connection to the wider town and surrounding infrastructure.
The brief was not a marketing shoot. The media needed to serve designers, planners, and community stakeholders — providing accurate, high-quality visual documentation of existing site conditions, spatial relationships, and the human experience of the harbour precinct. Every image and video clip was captured with design communication and stakeholder engagement in mind.
About the Client
Arup is one of the world’s most respected independent firms of designers, planners, engineers, and technical specialists. Founded in 1946, Arup has been shaping the built environment for over 75 years — their first Australian project was the structural design of the Sydney Opera House in 1963. Today, Arup operates from ten offices across Australia with over 2,500 staff, delivering projects across cities, transport, water, energy, maritime, and community infrastructure at every scale.
Production Scope
TDM developed a detailed site capture plan in advance of the shoot, mapping 14 priority points of interest across the harbour precinct — from the creek connection at the road crossing through to the breakwater extension zone, yacht club, active moorings, and the full harbour-to-town overview. Each position was documented at multiple altitudes (eye level, 30m, 70m, and 120m) to give Arup’s team a layered visual record suited to different stages of design and communication work.
- Drone and aerial photography across 14 planned positions at altitudes from eye level to 120m
- Ground-level and eye-height photography at priority locations — creek connection, waterline walk, palm connection point, harbour entry, and public pontoon
- Drone video capture including reveal pull-backs, orbit sequences, tracking along the waterline and breakwater, and 120m wide establish shots
- Alternating morning and afternoon light capture sessions — with hero imagery timed to sunset for maximum visual impact
- Tidal planning integrated into the shoot schedule to ensure moorings and waterline assets were captured at optimal water levels
- All photo assets delivered with only minor retouching, preserving maximum flexibility for Arup’s internal design and communication team
- Raw video footage delivered — no post-production edit, giving Arup full editorial control
Capture Strategy
A project like this demands more planning than execution time. TDM approached the Bowen Harbour shoot with a pre-production capture plan built around the specific needs of a master planning engagement: priority points of interest were mapped by purpose — infrastructure condition, spatial relationship, human-experience narrative, and stakeholder orientation — with altitude and movement notes for each position.
Timing was a critical variable. Morning and afternoon sessions were scheduled to capture the site across different light conditions, with hero imagery timed to the late afternoon and sunset window — when the harbour, water, and surrounding landscape read at their best. Tidal cycles were factored into the schedule to ensure mooring fields and waterfront infrastructure appeared at the right water level for each shot.
Site Photography
Outcome
Arup received a comprehensive, planning-ready media library — drone and ground imagery across every key zone of the harbour precinct, captured at multiple altitudes and times of day, with raw video footage ready for integration into stakeholder presentations, community engagement materials, and design documentation.
The minimal-retouching approach on photography and raw video handover gave Arup’s team full flexibility to use the assets across the full span of the master planning process — from early-stage community engagement through to detailed design communication.
For TDM, this project demonstrates our capability in technically complex, planning-context media capture: structured pre-production, multi-position drone operations, and a deliverable format built around what a design team actually needs — not a finished product, but a versatile, high-quality asset library.
🔗 Explore more: