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When local aerial photographer Scott Clark started flying drones to capture picturesque scenes in and around the Shenandoah Valley, he never once imagined his pictures would be featured in a local history book, used to announce the completion of a community walking path or shared thousands of times on social media by the world’s leading multi-platform sports entertainment brand — but it’s each of these unexpected successes that gives Clark reason to believe he’s found the right hobby.

Unlike most artist origin stories, however, Clark’s past had nothing to do with taking pictures at all.

Clark has lived in the Shenandoah Valley his entire life. Having been raised in Dayton, he graduated from Turner Ashby High School in 1992 and attended Bluefield College where he played baseball and majored in criminal justice. For the last fifteen years, he has worked full-time for the federal government.

After college, he and a group of friends spent years playing flag football and other games where muscles tend to get strained and bones tend to get broken. After several injuries and a major surgery, Clark was in desperate need of a safer, slower-paced hobby, he admitted.

“Social media must have been reading my mind,” Clark said.

Post after post of aerial photographs being taken with drone technology appeared in Clark’s feed until he couldn’t take it any longer and he had to try it for himself. Clark bought his first drone in 2022 and didn’t waste any time in getting certified to fly a drone commercially by the FAA and opening his own business ClarkOps.

One of the first photographs he ever captured was of the Silver Lake Mill in Dayton. After posting the photos on social media, Clark was contacted by Cheryl Lyon — owner of the mill and author of “Silver Lake: 200 Years of a Shenandoah Valley Mill and Community” — who wanted to use his images in her book.

“That really sparked my interest and desire in aerial photography,” Clark recalled, “and I began to think it was something I’m good at.”

This fall, Clark was asked to photograph and video the completion of Crist Farm Walking Trails at Bridgewater Retirement Community which filled Clark with pride, but what Clark considers the highlight of his budding career came about just a few weeks ago when he decided to get in on some of the College Gameday action on the campus of James Madison University.

According to Clark, photographing ESPN’s College Gameday hadn’t been in his plans for the day, but the gnaw of capturing a once in a lifetime event pulled him to the crowds. Clark flew his drone up, took six pictures and landed again. He went straight home, edited and posted half of the images tagged with JMU sports and ESPN — and not more than an hour later, received a notification that ESPN wanted to share his shots on their page. Between accounts, Clark’s Gameday photographs were shared 3,000 times and liked more than 300,000 times.

“The timing couldn’t have been more perfect,” Clark observed.

ClarkOps also shoots for real estate listings, before and after projects, weddings and other special events and even has a thermal imaging drone he can use to help hunters locate a wounded or missing deer.

“This first year-and-a-half has been very rewarding,” Clark said. “I’ve learned that everything out there is an opportunity.”

To see Clark’s drone work in action, follow ClarkOps on Facebook or find him online at clarkopsva.com.

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