But researchers hopeto simplify the process– with drones.

The team involved programmedtheirflying robots to produce an effect called rim lighting, which illuminates oneedge of a subject to make it stand out for artistic effect. Photographers set the width of lighting they want, and the drone produces it by repositioning itself in the air. The dronecan also make adjustmentsif the subject shifts.

The co-designers for the system are Manohar Srikanth, who worked on the project while completing his graduate work at MIT, along with MIT professor Fredo Durand and Kavita Balla of Cornell, who formerly completed a PhD at the Boston school.

In the future, the system could be expanded touse several drones working in tandem to make photo shoots as we know them today a thing of the past. The current prototype will be demonstrated at theInternational Symposium on Computational Aestheticsin Graphics, Visualization, and Imaging in Vancouver, from Aug. 8-10.

Ayoung and rapidly growing joint venture between a small California robotics company and the worlds largest oilfield services provider is quietly working to showthe largest and most capable energy companies how theycan useocean-going robots tomake their operations safer, more efficient, and far less costly.

Houston-based Liquid Robotics Oil & Gas, or LROG, is a 50-50 joint-venture between Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Liquid Robotics, a maker of wave- and solar-powered maritime robots and Schlumberger SLB , which provides various oilfield services to energy companies large and small all over the world. LROG is just 18 months old, but it’salready doubling the volume of its work year-over-year, to the point where it is actually turning away inquiries from potential customers as it struggles to keep up with demand for its technology. That technology can be somewhat complex, but the service LROG provides is simple enough: Its ocean-traversing robots take jobs conventionally undertaken by crewed surface vessels and does them autonomously and on a larger scale, all at a far, far lower cost.

The whole industry is historically pretty cost-conservative, and so theyre generally pretty excited about exploring technologies can up the quality of their work while minimizing their costs and potential liabilities, says Maryanna Saenko, a research analyst on autonomous systems for Lux Research. And often thats the space where robotics fits in.

As the energy industry moves into deeper and deeper offshore waters in search of new hydrocarbon reservoirs, those potential liabilities are magnified. The 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster, in which a blown wellhead at the BP-owned Macondo Prospect scatteredhundreds of millions of gallons of crude into the Gulf of Mexico, served as a stark and very visible reminder of the consequences when bad luck and bad decision-making converge. The more data a company can gather, the better decisions it can make. But gathering that data is a process that is both risky and expensive:Every ship, aircraft, and human a company inserts into the offshore environment is a potential liability.

With Schlumberger’s help, Liquid Robotics is changing the economics of good decision-making in the offshore oil patch. The companydidnt start out with an eye on the energy industry; in 2003, the predecessor to the companys Wave Glider robot was cobbled together from a kayak and various household items as a means to record the songs of humpback whales nearthe island of Hawaii. From that original idea came the realization that a self-sustaining, long-endurance maritime robot could find work in a number of otherapplications, from oceanographic and meteorological research to maritime security and environmental studies.

The company competes directly and indirectly with several others across the globe. Massachusetts-based Bluefin Robotics, owned by Battelle, was called upon to search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 in March 2014; Pittsburgh-based Platypus also makes robotic watercraft. LROG appears to be the first joint venture with an energy company. All are vying for a piece of an autonomous underwater vehicle market estimated to be worth $300 millionthat has growing relevancein an offshore oil and gas operations market worth tens of billions of dollars, Saenko says.

Liquid Robotics has since developed several versionsof the Wave Glider. Roughly as long and wide as a large surfboard, Wave Gliders collect all the power they need (for propulsion and its onboard electronic systems and sensors) from the rolling motion of ocean waves and the sun’s rays, courtesy of solar panels on their topside. The robots can remain at sea for monthspotentially even yearsat a time without requiring service, piloting themselves autonomously andbeaming various data back to shore.

Liquid Robotics has roughly 250 Wave Gliders in service around the globe collecting a variety of data. The company sells that data to all kinds of customers, from federal agencies to research institutions to commercial interests. The company is growing at roughly 60 percent year-over-year, says former Liquid Robotics CEO Bill Vass. (Vass was the company’s chief executivewhen he spoke to Fortune for this story, but he has since moved to an advisory role.) Wave Gliders now ply all five major oceans, the Great Lakes, and various other bodies of water. They monitor weather, collect data for oceanographic studies, and assist in maritime construction of bridges and tunnels.The variety of things we get involved in is just staggering, Vass says. The company’s growth continues as the energy industry pushes into deeper waters.

The idea of using roboticsnot just offshore like a Wave Glider, but robotics in generalis a theme Schlumberger is interested in, LROGs Nelson says. Were constantly looking for ways to do the traditional business lines with fewer people, especially when you get to be offshore. What robots really bring is the ability to do something unmanned, for a really long time, more cheaply. The alternative is to put a ship out there, and thats a much more expensive proposition.

And less effective. Putting a single crewed vessel in the water to extract data from undersea sensors or gather information on ocean conditions and chemistry can cost tens of thousands of dollars per day, often making it cost prohibitive to put more than one ship in the water in a given area at time. A team of networkedrobotscanshare data and gather a more comprehensive picture of the area around a drilling operation or well site.

LROG wouldn’tdiscuss the priceof its services but insists that they costfar less than conventional methods. It’s a recurring theme: neither the company nor its clients would offer much detail abouttheir Wave Glider operations in the name of competition.“Everyone is being a bit cagey about their interest, because if theyre finding a really excellent technology thats going to lower their costs and up their production while saving them money in a liability sense, theyre probably not announcing it, Saenko says.

Here’s what we do know:nearly all of the major international oil and gas companies are experimenting with robotictechnology, and most are using LROG to do so. Royal Dutch Shell RDS.A has used Wave Gliders to collect data from submerged sensors via acoustic modem. Frances Total SA TOT has used them to characterize ocean currents off the coast of South America prior to deploying seismic surveying equipment there. And before installing a seafloor pipeline off the coast of Australia, Chevron CVX deployed the robots to collect data on water chemistry so it could monitor the impact of its dredging operations.

In all, about a dozenlargeenergy companies are customers of LROG, says Rod Nelson, the firm’s general manager, andeach has different ideas on how the technology should be deployed.Some want better current, weather, and wave condition forecasting; others seekto continually monitor ocean chemistry for the telltale signs of hydrocarbons, either for exploration purposes or to detect any potential leaks in their undersea infrastructure. Some even want to use Wave Gliders in the role for which they were originally designed, listening for acoustic signals from equipment on the seafloor andfor whales and other wildlife to help mitigate the ecological impacts of their exploration and drilling activities.

Just 18 monthsinto existence, LROGhas 50 robots in the water and plans to add50 more inthe coming yearto keep up with currentdemand. Were growing at a pretty fast clip, Nelson says. We started a year and a half ago from pretty much zero, and the pace of the activity is doubling or tripling each year. This year has more than doubled the pace of last year, and next year we expect to double again.

It’s still early days, and theres still plenty of room for manned vessels, manned submersibles, and manned aircraft in oilfield services. But the benefits are already apparent, and both LROG and its energy industry customersare working to push the limits.

I would certainly say theyre coming back, Nelson says of his clients. Everybodys come back.

The online retail giant sent a letter Wednesday asking the Federal Aviation Administration to ease itsrestrictions on drone-testing in the U.S. in order to allow Amazon to experiment with its unmanned aircraft outdoors near the company’s Seattle headquarters instead of one of the six FAA-approved sites elsewhere in the country.

Amazon’s developmental efforts are part of its plan to one day launch a drone delivery program, called Amazon Prime Air, to carry packages as heavy as five pounds to customers’ homes with drones that can fly as fast as 50 miles per hour. The company’s announcement of the idea gained quite a bit of attention last year, despite an uncertain timeframe for implementation.

The FAA has maintained that unmanned aerial vehicles are only to be used for recreational purposes, and not for commercial reasons, until it is able to come up with rules by which it can regulate the industry. Theagency also said last year that it will sanction six outdoor drone-testing sites in the U.S., located in Alaska, Nevada, New York, North Dakota, Texas and Virginia.

But, Amazon AMZN wants to move its testing out of its indoor facilities in order to accelerate the development of its aerial fleet and the company is trying to sellthe FAA on the idea that its research would ultimately benefit consumers by offering “enormous consumer benefits by delivering packages to customers in 30 minutes or less.”

“One day, seeing Amazon Prime Air will be as normal as seeing mail trucks on the road today, resulting in enormous benefits for consumers across the nation,” the company says in its letter. “We respectfully submit this petition for exemption so that Prime Air can be ready to launch commercial operations as soon as eventually permitted by subsequent FAA action.”

WATCH: Amazon drones might soon be in Seattle’s skies

Technology and media moguls have unpacked their bags at the Idaho resort and are ready for the 31st annual Allen & Co. conference, the source of some of the most famous (and infamous) media and tech deals in recent years.

Security guards patrol the Sun Valley grounds and are charged with keeping the big-name attendees safe from intruders. No press or uninvited outsiders are allowed past the exclusive velvet ropes.Any information or photographs of attendees that leak past the phalanx of guards are precious commodities fornews agencies around the world.

As drone technology becomes cheaper and more advanced thanks in part to investments by some of the Sun Valley attendees’ companies security guards are remaining vigilant tothe new safety and privacy threat, Bloomberg News reports.

Last year, media outlets hailed the appearance of “paparazzi drones” after a photographer inSouth Africa launcheda small drone near the hospital where Nelson Mandela was seeking care. Official’s detained the photographer and confiscated the small aircraft because of security regulations.

A DJI Phantom 2 Vision+ Quadcopter, which sports an high-definition video camera and 25 minutes of flight time, retails on Amazon.com for $1,300. That price point puts the burgeoning technology in the hands of everyday users or media outlets big and small.

Users should be aware, however, that the commercial use of drones is banned in U.S. airspace, according to regulations by the Federal Aviation Administration, although some exceptionsexist for licensed pilots.

That could change pending the administration’s first drone-focusedrules that areexpected to come out this year. They would relaxrestrictions on drones that weigh less than 55 pounds, which could mean Sun Valley’s guards have an even tougher task ahead of them next year.

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration said Tuesday it has given approval for British energy giant BP to use unmanned aircraftsystems (UAS) produced byAeroVironment over land.

This is the first time the FAA has authorized the use of drones for commercial purposes.

BP plans to use the AeroVironment Puma AE — a drone that measures about 4 1/2 feet long and has a wingspan of 9 feet — to survey pipelines, roads and equipment at its facilities in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, located in thelargest oilfieldin the United States.

AeroVironment, which has inked a five-year deal with BP, flew a Puma AE drone on its first commercial flight on Sunday.

Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx was optimistic about the implications for drone usein an FAAstatement.These surveys on Alaskas North Slope are another important step toward broader commercial use of unmanned aircraft, he said.The technology is quickly changing, and the opportunities are growing.

The FAA’s announcement comes amid increasing calls for drone use in environments that are hazardous to humans,as well as to bolster efficiency.

Meanwhile, a study by Duke University shows 61% of Americans supportdrone use for commercial purposes, as described in a recent Fortune.com story. Earlierthis month, seven film production companies asked to use dronesto produce movies.

In the past,the FAA hadonly approved use of drones for public safety purposes, including use by firefighters and police, on a case-by-case basis, according to a USA Today report. They have also been used commercially without the FAA’s authorization, such as in the making of The Wolf of Wall Street.

BP was not immediately available for comment.

The Federal Aviation Administration said Monday that seven film production companies have asked for permission to use drones in film-making. The agency currently prohibits using unmanned aircraft for commercial purposes, but it reconsidering the rules and may loosen them as early as next year.

The Motion Picture Association of America endorses the idea of drone-based cameras, citing better cinematography and added safety from keeping human camera operators on the ground. “This new tool for storytellers will allow for creative and exciting aerial shots and is the latest in a myriad of new technologies being used by our industry to further enhance the viewer experience,” the association said in astatement.

This comes in light of other companies vying for the chance to use drones to enhance efficiency, including Amazon.com. The online retail giant said delivery speed could be greatly increased with the technology.

According to an FAA statement, the companies that have requested exemptions to usedrones are: Aerial MOB LLC, Astraeus Aerial, Flying-Cam Inc., HeliVideo Productions LLC, Pictorvision Inc., Vortex Aerial, and Snaproll Media LLC.

The unveiling of the so-called RQ-180 also provided an interesting detail on a recent major USAF procurement program: This new piece of stealthy, unmanned military hardware was developed by Northrop Grumman NOC , the same contractor that notched a major milestone this summer by landing its unmanned and autonomous X-47B combat jet on the deck of an aircraft carrier. Following a design competition that reportedly included aeronautics rivals Boeing BA and Lockheed Martin LMT , we now know that Northrop Grumman walked away with yet another contract to build a next-generation unmanned aerial system for the Department of Defense — something thats becoming old hat for the Falls Creek, Va.,-based defense contractor.

Theyre extremely strong, theyve got the strongest position in the market, says Phil Finnegan, director of corporate analysis at Fairfax, Va.,-based aerospace and defense consultancy Teal Group. They have a broad array of programs ranging from stealthy UAVs to those that dominate the high-altitude, long-endurance market. So they have strength both in terms of technology and in terms of sales. That said, in spite of that strength it does remain a competitive market.

Its an interesting time to be in the UAS industry, particularly where military UAS are concerned. Despite all the high-profile media attention paid to the CIAs controversial drone strikes in places like Pakistan and Yemen and the fundamentally new kind of warfare they enable, those in the industry believe that unmanned systems — and in particular unmanned aerial systems — have only just begun to transform the aerospace and defense sectors. The military UAS industry remains in its infancy, and everyone from aerospace powerhouses like Boeing and Lockheed Martin to lesser-known names like General Atomics — maker of the now-iconic Predator and Reaper drones currently deployed around the globe — is vying for position.

Its against this backdrop that Northrop Grumman is quietly carving out a niche as the industry standard-bearer for technologically sophisticated, often autonomous, and increasingly stealthy unmanned aerial systems. While the DoDs current fleet of Predator and Reaper drones are extremely effective in permissive environments like Iraq and Afghanistan where no established militarized air force is actively trying to shoot them down, they have virtually no ability to defend themselves from even rudimentary modern air defenses. For future conflicts the Pentagon wants drones that can operate in contested or denied airspace, and that means stealth — the right combination of speed, low-observable shape, electronic jamming equipment, and other classified tools that frustrate enemy air defenses.

Northrop Grummans RQ-180 is that drone. Paid for via the Air Forces classified budget, it will offer the military something it hasnt had since the retirement of the high-flying Lockheed-built SR-71 Blackbird in 1998: The ability to penetrate and overfly well-defended airspace to conduct intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) missions with impunity. Financial disclosures by Northrop Grumman indicate that the Air Force paid it $2 billion for that privilege back in 2008 when the contract was initiated, and the AvWeek expos notes that further financial reports filed this year suggest the program has entered low-rate production- – an indicator that low-volume deliveries are already underway in preparation for the full-scale production that will commence once testing is finished.

The RQ-180 joins several DoD drone development programs already underway via Northrop Grumman. Northrop Grumman makes the RQ-4 Global Hawk, a massive high-altitude, long-endurance ISR drone also operated by the Air Force. The Navys new Fire Scout unmanned helicopter comes from Northrop Grumman as well, as does the MQ-4C Triton, an updated and maritime-optimized version of the Global Hawk that can stay aloft for 24 hours straight while observing 2 million square miles of ocean with its state-of-the-art sensor package (the Navy is in the process of procuring nearly 70 Triton aircraft from Northrop Grumman).

Then theres the much more famous X-47B, the carrier-capable unmanned fighter jet that Northrop Grumman built for the Navy, beating out Boeing for the privilege (as well as a contract totaling nearly $1 billion). Only two X-47B aircraft exist; it was designed as a demonstrator to prove out technologies necessary for integrating UAS into existing aircraft carrier operations. Yet another major contract — under the Navys Unmanned Carrier Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike program (UCLASS) — will be up for grabs starting in 2015, this time for the development of an actual unmanned fleet aircraft for the Navy (neither the requirements for that aircraft nor the total number the Navy eventually wants has been released yet). Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and General Atomics are all expected to compete for that program, but given its work on the X-47B Northrop is well-positioned to win that contract.

That doesnt mean Northrop Grumman has a lock in the military UAS industry. Rather, by leading the industry in a number of areas it is helping to define a field that is as-yet undefined. Northrop has emerged as a leader at the high end of the technological spectrum, proving that it can deliver fast and stealthy unmanned aircraft with a variety of bells and whistles attractive to military brass. But as the Pentagons airborne priorities shift that ability could prove both help and hindrance — especially as aircraft requirements are increasingly dictated by cost. Consider the UCLASS program, for which the Navy has yet to release a set of definitive specifications or aircraft requirements.

Lockheed Martin and Boeing have a lot to bring to the market, and if you look at UCLASS, thats going to be a tight competition, Finnegan says. Depending on where the requirements fall, if its at the low end that favors General Atomics. If its at the high-end — the most technologically advanced aircraft that can provide the highest degree of stealth — Northrop would be there as well as Lockheed Martin. Boeing is somewhere in the middle, not because they have less experience but because they have a design thats based more on affordability rather than being the most technologically demanding.

Moreover, if the Air Forces new RQ-180 is as stealthy and effective as Northrop Grumman is capable of making it, some have speculated that it could hurt the companys chances of winning the UCLASS contract. After all, if the Air Force already has a stealthy ISR aircraft capable of penetrating contested airspace — one of the original broad mission requirements for the UCLASS aircraft — the Navy might decide to trim some cost from its own program by reducing the stealth requirements for UCLASS, robbing Northrop Grumman of its edge.

The collective needs of an increasingly thrifty Pentagon will ultimately decide the winners and losers in the military drone market going forward, regardless of which company can produce the sexiest piece of hardware. But as long as the DoD remains fixated on stepping up the stealthiness and technological sophistication of its drone fleet, Northrop Grumman is well-positioned to further extend its winning streak.

They are facing tough competition, Finnegan says of Northrop Grumman. But clearly theyve pulled out in front.

In a video posted today on its YouTube channel, GroupOn GRPN chided its e-commerce rival by facetiouslypromising to look forward by looking back.“We’re talking about about principles of package delivery that have been around since the time of King Arthur,” says someone GroupOn identifies as its senior VP of innovations.“Look, that guy knew something about keeping precious cargo safe.”

Here is your quick chuckle: