Mr Mills demonstrated this to the Times-Age with a mission over the Henley Lake island on Friday, producing aerial images that front-paged Saturday's paper.
From the ground, Mr Mills operates a remote control device familiar enough to any youngster with a radio-controlled car, but the comparison ends when he opens up the case containing his laptop and extra computer screen.
The entire suite cost about $10,000 to put together, he said.
As the drone buzzes the island, he switches between watching the moving image from the drone's GoPro camera, and the drone itself.
"A year ago, the technology that drives this just took off," he said.
"They got to the point of lifting a decent camera, then the quality went through the roof."
Mr Mills says he now gets plenty of work, which includes real estate and agricultural contracts.
Journalism is another aspect taking off overseas but some countries are touchy about drones, and how they fit with conventional civil aviation rules.
"It's always been questionable about how legal it is," he said.
"But New Zealand is one of the most unregulated environments. A lot of other countries are really scared of drones but here they're really embracing them."
The basic rule is not to exceed 120 metres, he said.
His device has numerous failsafes. If he dropped the remote into the lake, the drone, using its on-board GPS receiver, would automatically fly itself back to its starting point.
It has eight propellers.
If two motors failed, it would keep flying, although its battery life is limited to 10 minutes.
It can handle a light rain shower and winds up to 40km/h, although wind will affect quality of video.
His work, mainly in Wairarapa and Manawatu, has included aerial images of Wairarapa's Stonehenge, shelter belt trimming progress and wineries.
With vineyards, he uses multi-spectrum viewing, using ultra-violet filters, to determine where crops need spraying and the right time to pick the grapes.
He can programme a course using GPS, rather than flying it manually.
"It's nice to fly around and take pretty pictures, but we can save the agricultural industry millions of dollars," he said.
It is possible to buy good drones, rather than build them, but he said they were very easy to get into trouble.
"Most people who walk into a shop and buy one will end up stonking it into the ground pretty quick.
"You would want some experience before you jumped on and started zipping it around the place.
"It's very easy to wrap one around a tree."
He says the possibilities are limitless and he is happy to see where the technology goes for the future.
"Who knows?
"You've got to try these things, see what comes of them."
