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New Part 107 and Remote ID drone rules take effect starting today

Published

4 years ago

April 22, 2021

sarosh

New Part 107 and Remote ID drone rules take effect starting today

Today marks the “effective date” that some pertinent Part 107 and Remote ID rules become active. Notably, this includes the Operations Over People rule. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) first published their Notice for Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) for the Remote Identification of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (Remote ID) on December 29, 2020.

Simply put, Remote ID is the concept that every drone should have a ‘digital license plate.’ This creates a uniform system for authorities to track who is operating a specific unmanned aerial vehicle, through a serial number, at any given time. The objective is to increase transparency and improve the public’s opinion of drones. Most importantly, the FAA want to ease certain restrictions and make more complex operations possible for remote pilots.

Government agencies aren’t known for rolling out new policies in a timely manner. The finalization of Remote ID took significantly longer than expected and the recurrent test, a free online exam that allows current Part 107 pilots to renew their certification, and operate at night, was delayed two times before finally becoming available on April 6th.

There is a lot of information about current changes, and what’s to come in the next few years, in online forums and on aviation blogs. It can be a lot to process. DPReview aims to make sense of the changes that become effective today and what to expect for the future.

Recurrent training

After two separate delays, the FAA free released Online Recurrent Training on April 6th. If you’ve taken it and passed already, privileges for Night Operations become effective today. For Part 107-certified pilots, this also means there is no longer any need to take an in-person recurrent exam at a testing center.

This new system will save remote pilots anywhere from $99 to $150 per renewal fee. There are 45 multiple choice questions based on information presented from each section of the training. It’s self-graded and you won’t pass until you’ve answered 100% of the questions correctly.

For Part 107-certified pilots…there is no longer any need to take an in-person recurrent exam at a testing center.

Once you’ve passed, you’ll be presented with a printable certificate and card. The card must be carried with you whenever you fly. If you lose or misplace either, you can log back in, locate “Print Course Certificates,” and reprint them. This is much more convenient than requesting a replacement card from the FAA and waiting a few weeks for it to arrive in the mail. It’s important to note that you’ll want to enroll in the ALC-677 training for Non-61 Pilots. It’s only available through the FAA’s website.

One of the benefits of passing the recurrent exam is that you’ll be able to fly at night without obtaining a 107.29 Daylight Waiver. The training covers best practices for flying in the dark and covers which strobe lights help give you three statute miles of visibility. If you already have the waiver and have passed your recurrent exam in the past 24 months, you can hold off on the online training. You can also take it for free anytime you’d like.

As of today, anyone who has passed the Online Recurrent Training can take advantage of flying at night without a 107.29 waiver.

The recurrent training must be renewed every 24 calendar months. For example, if you took your exam and passed today, you have until the end of April, 2023 to retake and pass it to remain current. If you aren’t Part 107-certifed yet, you’ll still need to seek out study guides and take an initial exam in person. Mentioned above, as of today, anyone who has passed the Online Recurrent Training can take advantage of flying at night without a 107.29 waiver.

The FAA will effectively terminate all 107.29 waivers by May 17, 2021. If you have a 107.41 Airspace Authorization, which allows you to fly at night in controlled airspace, it will no longer be valid. The FAA hasn’t yet announced how they will address the issue, as of this writing.

More new rules that go into effect today

Today, regardless if you’ve taken and passed the new Online Recurrent Training or not, any certified remote pilot can take part in Operations Over People (OOP), and Operations Over Moving Vehicles (OMV) without a 107.39 OOP or 107.145 OMV waiver. You can still apply for the latter two waivers if you want to fly outside the guidelines imposed by the new rules.

In order to fly OOP or OMV without a waiver, you have to operate a Category 1 drone. This is defined as a drone under .55lbs (250g) that ‘does not contain any exposed rotating parts that would lacerate human skin upon impact with a human being.’ The last part is imperative. If the drone isn’t equipped with a propeller cage or guards, the pilot will be in violation of the law. Another point to remember with OMV is that you can fly sideways over moving cars, not with them in the same general direction they’re traveling.

While the DJI Mavic Mini and Mini 2 seem like the obvious models to carry out these operations, placing a propeller cage or guards on them will push the overall takeoff weight over the 250g requirement. DJI’s Tello drone is one option. Another could be FIMI’s X8 Mini drone which weighs 245g with a ‘Pro’ battery installed. Undoubtedly, there will be individuals and manufacturers working one new iterations of drones that meet these new requirements.

DJI’s Tello, XIMI’s X8 Mini, and Cinewhoop drones are possible candidates for drones that can fly OOP and OMV without Remote ID built in.

What to expect in the next few years

Many of DPReview’s readers have posted questions about what new Remote ID rules will mean for upgrading their drones when the time comes. In an official post on the manufacturer’s site, Brendan Schulman, their VP of Policy and Legal Affairs, acknowledges that new Remote ID requirements will be implemented over the next three years and ‘complying with them will likely be as simple as updating your drone software with a free upgrade.’

Drones will not be required to transmit a Remote ID signal until October, 2023. Any current and future models released before that month will need a simple upgrade. He also states that new drones built after October, 2022, will have Remote ID requirements built in. The FAA also allows and add-on module to satisfy their requirements and those should be available for models long out of production.

DJI has currently installed ADS-B technology in their newer drones that weigh over 250g. This alerts the remote pilot when a manned aircraft is nearby so they can yield the right of way. One more expected release in the first quarter of 2023 is larger drones that fall into Categories 2-4 and can operate OOP or OMV. It’s too far off to speculate what they’ll look like but they will have to comply with the FAA’s requirements.

Wrapping it up

Hopefully these new rules and regulations makessense, as confusing as it may seem initially. We will continue to update you as the FAA releases more information over the coming weeks, months, and years.

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The Sony World Photography Awards 2025 capture everything from cultural celebrations to polar bears

Published

18 hours ago

March 11, 2025

sarosh

The Sony World Photography Awards 2025 capture everything from cultural celebrations to polar bears

Sony World Photography Awards 2025 category winners

The World Photography Organisation has announced the category winners and shortlisted photographers for the Sony World Photography Awards 2025 Open competition. The Open competition of the World Photography Awards is in its 18th year and aims to celebrate photographers’ ability to “distill a singular moment and to evoke a broader narrative.” Entrants submitted their strongest images from 2024 across 10 categories, including landscape, portraiture, street photography, wildlife and more.

This year, the free-to-enter competition received over 419,000 submissions from 200 countries and territories. All of the shortlisted photographs can be seen at worldphoto.org.

In addition to the category winners, the Open Photographer of the Year will be announced at an awards ceremony in London on April 16. Select winning and shortlisted images will be displayed in the World Photography Awards exhibition at Somerset House in London from April 17 to May 5 and then travel to other locations.

Architecture

Photographer: Xuecheng Liu

Image title: Center of the Cosmos

Selected for the photograph Center of the Cosmos, which shows New York’s iconic Times Square from above, using a very wide angle to highlight the expanse of the city.

Copyright: © Xuecheng Liu, China Mainland, Winner, Open Competition, Architecture, Sony World Photography Awards 2025

Creative

Photographer: Jonell Francisco, Philippines, Winner, Open Competition, Creative, Sony World Photography Awards 2025

Image title: Kem the Unstoppable

Selected for Kem the Unstoppable, an elegantly photographed collage portrait, alluding to Renaissance traditions of portraiture.

Copyright: © Jonell Francisco, Philippines, Winner, Open Competition, Creative, Sony World Photography Awards 2025

Landscape

Photographer: Ng Guang Ze

Image title: None

Selected for his mesmerising black-and-white shot of a stream meandering through grasslands into a lake in the distance, taken in Wenhai, Lijiang.

Copyright: © Ng Guang Ze, Singapore, Winner, Open Competition, Landscape, Sony World Photography Awards 2025

Lifestyle

Photographer: Hajime Hirano

Image title: None

Selected for his meticulously composed image of a street vendor selling electronic parts in Akihabara, once Japan’s largest electronics town following a period of rapid economic growth in the late 1950s.

Copyright: © Hajime Hirano, Japan, Winner, Open Competition, Lifestyle, Sony World Photography Awards 2025

Motion

Photographer: Olivier Unia

Image title: Tbourida La Chute

Selected for Tbourida La Chute, in which the photographer captures the danger and excitement of the moment a rider is thrown from their mount during a ‘tbourida,’ a traditional Moroccan equestrian performance.

Copyright: © Olivier Unia, France, Winner, Open Competition, Motion, Sony World Photography Awards 2025

Natural World & Wildlife

Photographer: Estebane Rezkallah

Image title: The Whale Raft

Selected for The Whale Raft, depicting a group of polar bears feasting on the carcass of a whale in east Greenland.

Copyright: © Estebane Rezkallah, France, Winner, Open Competition, Natural World & Wildlife, Sony World Photography Awards 2025

Object

Photographer: Sussi Charlotte Alminde

Image title: Octopuses in the Sky

Selected for Octopuses in the Sky, showcasing elaborate handmade kites at the Fanø International Kite Fliers Meeting, one of the world’s largest kite flying events.

Copyright: © Sussi Charlotte Alminde, Denmark, Winner, Open Competition, Object, Sony World Photography Awards 2025

Portraiture

Photographer: Yeintze Boutamba

Image title: Encounter

Selected for Encounter, a tender portrait of two people shot in the intimacy of a bedroom. The photographer wanted to immortalise this moment for the sitters.

Copyright: © Yeintze Boutamba, Gabon, Winner, Open Competition, Portraiture, Sony World Photography Awards 2025

Street Photography

Photographer: Khairizal Maris

Image title: Celebrating Football Club Victories

Selected for Celebrating Football Club Victories, which pictures the elation of fans celebrating a win by their local football club by lighting flares in Bandung, West Java.

Copyright: © Khairizal Maris, Indonesia, Winner, Open Competition, Street Photography, Sony World Photography Awards 2025

Travel

Photographer: Matjaž Šimic, Slovenia

Image title: Ask a Shaman

Selected for Ask a Shaman, depicting a group of shamans in La Paz, Bolivia, where they play a major role in Native Bolivian traditional culture, shot against the brightly painted local architecture.

Copyright: © Matjaž Šimic, Slovenia, Winner, Open Competition, Travel, Sony World Photography Awards 2025

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Diverse perspectives: Celebrating the Leica Women Foto Project 2025 winners

Published

1 day ago

March 10, 2025

sarosh

Diverse perspectives: Celebrating the Leica Women Foto Project 2025 winners

Leica Women Foto Project winners

Photos: Priya Suresh Kambli, Jennifer Osborne, Koral Carballo and Anna Neubauer / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025

Leica paid homage to International Women’s Day on Saturday by announcing the winners of the Leica Women Foto Project. Now in its sixth year, the project aims to “spotlight the way we diversify our communities through visual stories and emphasize female empowerment by its creators.” This year’s call for work centered on “Unity Through Diversity,” seeking photo essays emphasizing the importance of connection as expressed through a feminine perspective.

The award is open to images created using any camera make or model and not limited to Leica-captured imagery. A panel of 12 judges, which included award-winning photojournalists, curators and editors, selected this year’s four awardees. The winners each received a Leica SL3 camera, a Vario-Elmarit-SL 24-70mm f/2.8 ASPH lens and a $10,000 USD cash prize.

Priya Suresh Kambli: Archive as Companion

Credit: Priya Suresh Kambli / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025

Priya Suresh Kambli’s work is deeply personal and rooted in the context of the migrant experience. Inspired by an exhibition of vernacular hand-painted Indian studio portraits from The Alkazi Foundation, she began intervening with her family archive to explore themes of identity, memory, and belonging. Over the course of her twenty-year practice, Priya has revisited, reimagined, and recontextualized family portraits and heirlooms, building an archive that connects her to both her ancestral roots and her adopted land. Through her work, she reflects on absence and loss, navigating family dynamics to document their lives with a thoughtful and composed narrative.

About Priya Suresh Kambli: Priya Suresh Kambli received her BFA at the University of Louisiana in Lafayette and an MFA from the University of Houston. She is a Professor of Art at Truman State University in Kirksville, Missouri. Kambli has always strived to explore and understand the resulting fragmentation of family, identity, and culture. Her artwork has been exhibited, published, collected and reviewed in the national and international photographic community.

Priya Suresh Kambli: Archive as Companion

Credit: Priya Suresh Kambli / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025

The story behind the pictures: At age 18, I moved from India to the United States. Before I emigrated, my sister and I split our photographic inheritance along with other family heirlooms arbitrarily and irreparably in half – one part to remain in India with her and the other to be displaced with me, here in America. For the past two decades this accidental archive of family photographs and artifacts has been my main source material in creating bodies of work which explore the issues of gender, identity, representation, migrant narratives, and the renegotiation of power via the medium of photography.

Priya Suresh Kambli: Archive as Companion

Credit: Priya Suresh Kambli / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025

The story behind the pictures: In my work I re-photograph and re-contextualize my inherited family photographs, documents and objects carried by me to America, to my home in the Midwest. In my images, my archive constrains what can be said of the past. It is full of gaps, fragmented long before it was split in two by my sister and me. One of the people sealed within is my father, the original archivist and documentarian. He was the author of the majority of the images in the archive. And the other significant presence is of my mother. My father the photographer is physically absent, while I and other members of my family are fixed within the archive. His photographs are documents – ostensibly of some happy occasion, or milestone in our lives.

Priya Suresh Kambli: Archive as Companion

Credit: Priya Suresh Kambli / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025

The story behind the pictures: These mundane family photographs are complicated by my mother’s mark making. She cut holes in certain photographs to completely obliterate her own face while not harming the image of my sister and myself beside her and then slid them back into the family album. I am interested in both narratives – my father’s carefully composed efforts to document our lives and my mother’s violent but precise excisions. This set of fives images selected from my submission to the 2025 Leica Women Foto Project Award showcase these family dynamics. These family narratives form the foundation on which my artistic work rests, guiding its form as well as its vocabulary.

Priya Suresh Kambli: Archive as Companion

Credit: Priya Suresh Kambli / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025

The story behind the pictures: This work stems from my own migration, and it grapples with the challenges of cross-cultural understanding, and from my growing sense that my practice – born from private and personal motivations – constitutes an increasingly urgent political and public action. In this work I seek and offer solidarity. The proposed work continues to examine the link between public and private and will provide a lens through which my artmaking becomes a kind of performance or ritual activity; revisiting the past in ways that bear witness to, re-enact, and communicate with past and future selves.

Priya Suresh Kambli: Archive as Companion

Credit: Priya Suresh Kambli / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025

The story behind the pictures: My contribution to the field extends beyond the personal narrative, bringing attention to the experiences of migrants and women of color: lives that are rich, nuanced, and worthy of notice. The impact of this work lies in its simple existence; bodies of work resulting from processes of play – grounded in the concrete reality of the things I had carried with me and the place where I strive to make a home.

Priya Suresh Kambli: Archive as Companion

Credit: Priya Suresh Kambli / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025

Priya Suresh Kambli: Archive as Companion

Credit: Priya Suresh Kambli / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025

Priya Suresh Kambli: Archive as Companion

Credit: Priya Suresh Kambli / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025

Priya Suresh Kambli: Archive as Companion

Credit: Priya Suresh Kambli / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025

Koral Carballo: Blood Summons

Credit: Koral Carballo / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025

Koral Carballo’s photographic essays blend photography and oral history to explore the search for identity among Afro-descendant and mestizo communities in Veracruz, Mexico. Through powerful imagery, she uncovers the roots of complex family trauma, inviting viewers to reflect on their own connections to the past. Her project Blood Summons (or La Sangre Llama), a popular Mexican saying referring to the call to search for one’s ancestors, represents both her personal journey and a broader exploration of historical injustices. With this work, Carballo calls for reparation, aiming to foster connection rather than division, and inviting viewers to engage with these stories and their own histories.

About Koral Carballo: Koral Carballo is a photojournalist, documentary photographer, and visual artist based in Mexico. She studied journalism at the Universidad Popular Aútonoma del Estado de Puebla, and the Contemporary Photography Seminar by the Centro de las Artes de San Agustín (CaSA) and the Centro de la Imagen. Carballo has exhibited her work in Argentina, Bolivia, Canada, Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, The United States, and Uruguay. She collaborates with Ruda Colectiva, a Latino-American women photographers collective, and is an Artist from the National System in Mexico.

Koral Carballo: Blood Summons

Credit: Koral Carballo / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025

The story behind the pictures: “Telling this story is a door to the past that opens to understand the emotional wounds of the present. My mother has been a crucial figure for the beginning of this project and an ally in the process of starting to create.”

Koral Carballo: Blood Summons

Credit: Koral Carballo / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025

The story behind the pictures: “Mom slapped me several times. She kept questioning me as to why I wanted to marry a black man.” Mom

Koral Carballo: Blood Summons

Credit: Koral Carballo / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025

The story behind the pictures: “I don’t know what we are carrying. But I saw it in therapy. I saw someone they were beating . He was asking me to release him.” Bro.

Koral Carballo: Blood Summons

Credit: Koral Carballo / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025

The story behind the pictures: “Black rain. In December when the sugar cane harvest season begins, the black rain begins in Veracruz since colonial times. The burning of the cane fields is an important step for the production season. There are still 18 sugar mills in Veracruz where Afro-descendants and mestizos (people of mixed race) still work.”

Koral Carballo: Blood Summons

Credit: Koral Carballo / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025

The story behind the pictures: “My sister’s melancholy.”

Koral Carballo: Blood Summons

Credit: Koral Carballo / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025

Koral Carballo: Blood Summons

Credit: Koral Carballo / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025

Koral Carballo: Blood Summons

Credit: Koral Carballo / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025

Anna Neubauer: Ashes from Stone

Credit: Anna Neubauer / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025

Anna Neubauer’s ongoing documentary project, Ashes from Stone, is a powerful photo essay that portrays individuals who defy societal norms of beauty, strength, and identity. Through striking portraits, Neubauer showcases people from diverse cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds in empowered settings, amplifying marginalized voices and encouraging audiences to rethink traditional views of femininity and strength. The project challenges stereotypes, redefines beauty, and embraces narratives around family, relationships, and motherhood. Each photograph is accompanied by a personal narrative, deepening the connection with and humanizing the subjects, fostering empathy, and promoting a greater understanding of diversity.

About Anna Neubauer: Anna Neubauer is an Austrian photographer based in London, United Kingdom. She began her journey capturing what truly matters to her: stories of self-love, acceptance, and resilience. In 2021, Anna was named Adobe Rising Star of Photography. She has worked with clients like Barbie, Condé Nast, Leica, Canon, Yoto, Abercrombie & Fitch, Adobe, Harper’s Bazaar and 500px/Getty Images, and her work has been featured in international publications.

Anna Neubauer: Ashes from Stone

Credit: Anna Neubauer / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025

The story behind the pictures: Hannah was born with Hay-Wells syndrome, a kind of ectodermal dysplasia, a very rare genetic disorder that can cause abnormalities affecting a person’s skin, hair, nails, and teeth. Along with other health problems, people with this condition may also be more prone to specific skin or eye conditions. Growing up, Hannah was often burdened with feelings of isolation and despair because society’s beauty standards and misconceptions about physical differences often lead to bullying. Since the media frequently ignores or misrepresents people with unusual conditions, Hannah now aims to educate others; she fights for her rights and strives to end societal ableism. I have been photographing Hannah the past years, documenting her journey of self-acceptance and advocacy in order to challenge beauty standards, preconceived notions about disability, and foster empathy and understanding about rare genetic disorders. This image in my series not only shows her uniquely beautiful appearance but also her courage and resilience.

Anna Neubauer: Ashes from Stone

Credit: Anna Neubauer / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025

The story behind the pictures: When I met Hannah, I met a confident woman and a proud disability advocate who speaks openly about living with Hay-Wells syndrome. I have always loved listening to stories, but for me, there is something particularly beautiful about Hannah’s. Through her advocacy and quiet moments like this, she continues to challenge norms, encouraging others to see beyond appearances and understand the resilience and humanity of those with rare conditions. I want to show the part of her journey where self-acceptance meets the pressures of a society that often doesn’t understand visible differences. Outside, Hannah wears her wig and sunglasses as a way to blend in and feel comfortable, but here, within the walls of her family home, she allows herself to be seen as she truly is. This image in my series, Hannah standing in the quiet light of her bedroom corridor, reveals a mix of strength and vulnerability. Her wig gives her comfort in a world still learning to embrace diversity.

Anna Neubauer: Ashes from Stone

Credit: Anna Neubauer / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025

The story behind the pictures: Crystal is a passionate actress and advocate for facial diversity and representation in the acting industry. I photographed her in her living room just as the UK started to ease Covid-19 restrictions. For Crystal, the pandemic brought an unexpected reprieve. The masks that shielded others from a virus also shielded her from relentless stares. For a while, she found relief in the anonymity, moving through public spaces without the weight of constant scrutiny or unsolicited judgment. In a world that often doesn’t know how to look beyond the surface, the anonymity felt like breathing room—both liberating and fragile.

Anna Neubauer: Ashes from Stone

Credit: Anna Neubauer / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025

The story behind the pictures: Az and Izzy were dating for a year when I photographed them. The beach isn’t just a place they visit—it’s their sanctuary, where the world fades away, and they can simply exist in each other’s presence. Here, with the salty breeze in their hair and the rhythmic hum of the waves, they find a rare kind of freedom—one where love feels effortless and unguarded. Documenting this intimate moment felt like stepping into something sacred. The way they look at each other, the unspoken understanding between them, the laughter that comes so easily—it all radiates warmth and authenticity. Their connection isn’t just seen; it’s felt. A quiet, beautiful force that reminds us of the kind of love that makes us feel truly at home.

Anna Neubauer: Ashes from Stone

Credit: Anna Neubauer / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025

The story behind the pictures: Maya is a passionate actress, dancer and model whose energy is as captivating as her talent. When we first met at a photoshoot in 2021, she was a performing arts student at Chickenshed Youth Theatre in London, radiating the kind of determination that makes dreams feel within reach. Since then, she has worked with major brands like Nike, EE and CBBC. Maya’s success not only speaks to her incredible talent but to her relentless spirit and dedication. This image in my series shows Maya in one of her favourite dresses, a piece that feels like an extension of her—a symbol of self-expression, confidence and her deep love for performing. For me, there’s something magical about photographing her, the way she moves so effortlessly, how she transforms in front of the lens yet always remains true to herself. Over the years, our friendship has grown into something truly beautiful, and every time I photograph her, it feels like a celebration of that bond.

Anna Neubauer: Ashes from Stone

Credit: Anna Neubauer / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025

Anna Neubauer: Ashes from Stone

Credit: Anna Neubauer / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025

Anna Neubauer: Ashes from Stone

Credit: Anna Neubauer / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025

Anna Neubauer: Ashes from Stone