Seneca One DEEP DIVE: Drew St. Laurent + Capturing Beauty

Welcome to the Seneca One Deep Dive! The team at Seneca One identifies exciting up and coming people, projects, and companies to dive into and share with our audiences. This week we’re raising our sails with Drew St. Laurent, Owner, and Operator of High Peaks Aerial Imagery. St. Laurent is helping Seneca One, the city of Buffalo and the WNY community push forward one still frame at a time.

BUFFALO, NY: Drew St. Laurent knows beauty when he sees it.

The young entrepreneur has a passion for photography, and a knack for capturing breathtaking moments of the city of Buffalo, one frame at a time.

St. Laurent is the owner and operator of High Peaks Aerial Imagery, an aerial drone photography, and marketing company, that specializes in digital imagery and video for small businesses. The company combines immersive, custom drone technology with an innovative approach to online and social media marketing for its customers.

His stunning ads and photographs have gained traction within the community and have helped those from all over enjoy this city just as much as he does.

“I’m able to do something that I love, with no restrictions to my creativity. I’ve found a professional trade that allows me to use my vision to inspire my customers, where I feel like I’m not even working most of the time,” St. Laurent said. “Growing this business out of Seneca One has been amazing. It’s a community of established businesses and start-ups working together to support each other. Working at Seneca One is liking working inside of a lightning rod of progress in the city.”

A drone shot high above the waterfront in downtown Buffalo, NY. (High Peaks Aerial Imagery/Drew St. Laurent)

The company was born during the pandemic when St. Laurent was working on starting a hard cider company. When that didn’t work out and the pandemic hit, he was forced to adapt.

The former soldier of the 1st Battalion, 377th Field Artillery Regiment, already had an appreciation for all things dealing with aviation. As a kid,  St. Laurent traveled with his family to visit WNY to see the Naval Museum at the Naval Park. He always had a hunger for learning about Naval ships because his grandfather served in the Navy during World War II.

It was one of his favorite childhood memories and one that comes full circle when he sees the ships stationed in the harbor.

“Having a grandfather who served in the Navy during World War II, I have a real appreciation for those ships [at the harbor],” Laurent said.  “Although [High Peaks Aeria Imagery] is still filming monthly, the first time we stood on the top of the USS Littlerock Missle housing and flee down the corridors of the ship, that had to be my absolute favorite recent memory. There was a crowd of people gathered at Liberty Hound watching. I realized the crowd was standing there because of my team. It was surreal.”

Since arriving at Serendipity labs in March of 2021, St. Laurent has wasted no time taking advantage of his elite and prime location. You can feel the electric atmosphere and the hustle and bustle of downtown with each and every photo, video, or advertisement he creates for his customers of the greater WNY area.

“That’s the crazy thing about being a digital creator. What’s next is really up to your imagination,” St. Laurent said. “It actually may be one of the most enjoyable things in my day-to-day. Working with our customers to create their vision is always what’s next! Well, also I would say watch for our new YouTube series launching next week. There are a lot of amazing WNY views and behind-the-scenes fun will be on display.”

We are excited to see what else St. Laurent can capture as the city of Buffalo transforms.

To see more of his work you can go to his Instagram, or stop on out to Seneca One Thursday’s from 4-7PM for our Open Air Market. St. Laurent would be happy to speak with you.