Drone photography and custom furniture business has Charles City native reaching new heights

By Kelly Terpstra, kterpstra@charlescitypress.com

Custom created works of art are Kris Wegner’s forte.

When he finds the time, the expressive creations are a passion he truly relishes.

It’s a skill he’s pretty confident others will enjoy as well.

Wegner, an ag commercial lender at his full-time job at First Security Bank in Charles City, has undertaken two side ventures that have proved profitable.

His customer base seems to agree with the looks of the finished products.

“I’ve always been kind of entrepreneurial and like to do new and exciting things and stay busy,” said Wegner.

Wegner began a photography business with his arsenal of drones roughly five years ago called Custom Aerials. Recently he’s delved into the custom-made furniture arena with his second developing enterprise, RealWood Furniture.

“I love custom stuff. I hate cookie-cutter stuff,” said Wegner. “So that kind of goes hand-in-hand with the aerials.”

The 2006 Charles City High School graduate attended an outdoor concert in 2014 when a drone whizzed by his campsite. He became inquisitive and asked the owner of the drone more about the flying robotic vessels that can snap photos or video from as high as 400 feet up in the sky.

“I just kind of had the “ah-ha” moment of this would be perfect for taking acreage pictures where you could really customize them,” said Wegner.

So Custom Aerials was born. One of his works features a breathtaking panoramic view of Charles City’s suspension bridge during the fall.

The photos are then printed on to metal plates, ranging anywhere from 8-by-10s all the way up to 38 by 58 inches.

Wegner also produced a wide-ranging shot from high above the baseball diamond at Sportsmen’s Park. He’s sold numerous copies of those metals prints and plans on donating more than $1,000 generated from the sale of those photos to the recently approved new high school ballfields in Charles City when that project break ground.

“Usually I’m in the 100-$150 range for digital copies,” said Wegner.

Wegner’s finished work has taken him to many farms around the area to produce views of tile lines to determine where those are located on plots of land. He said his drones can produce better quality photos than those taken while sitting in the cockpit of an airplane.

“You can really capture the picture how they want instead of just showing up at their door and try and sell them a picture you took a month ago,” said Wegner.

Wegner also said an added bonus with his drones is that a picture can be taken at exactly the angle the customer wants, instead of being taken from a plane that is moving fast and is limited in its vantage point. Plus Wegner said he can also get closer to the object or landscape he is shooting.

“In an airplane, you’re moving and flying by and getting that perfect shot is difficult. I think a drone really allows you to get that piece done a lot better,” he said.

Wegner said his customer base is usually within a 50-mile radius of Charles City, but he is open to listen to any customer’s requests.

“It’s like anything, if the right person wants to pay me to come somewhere and do some photos, I’m flexible in that regard. I get down to the Waterloo/Cedar Falls area a lot,” he said.

While his photography business has been primarily driven by word of mouth, his furniture business has also taken off the ground once people have noticed his handiwork. He has Facebook pages for each endeavor and has recently focused more on the big pieces of wood that he transforms into furniture

His rustic-looking craftsmanship has produced a sofa-back bar table and a wooden clock carved into the geographic shape of Iowa.

“We make stuff out of real big slabs of wood. We go for that kind of faux, distressed rustic look — mixed with a little industrial. We do the pipe legs or the metal legs,” said Wegner.

Chests, cabinets, coffee tables, bed frames and headboards are just part of his woodworking repertoire. He even made a custom urn in remembrance of a customer’s loved one.

“He just kind of let me run with that. They put that trust in your hands and that means a lot when somebody comes to you and they put that faith in you — especially something as special as an urn box. That’s a keepsake for generations,” said Wegner.

He said he enjoys the work he’s been able to accomplish and the satisfaction that his customers receive when they see the finished product. Whether that’s with a photo taken from high in the sky or a relaxing piece produced by Wegner that may sit in somebody’s living room or kitchen.  

“I like connecting people with their ideas — their visions,” said Wegner. “The more I’ve built, the more people have enjoyed it and asked me more questions about it.”