Our Home Base: A Creative Studio in McHenry, IL

McHenry is where Identity Start works every day. Our studio is at 806 S Lily Lake Rd, and Ashton Clow runs it. Studio visits are by appointment, so book ahead and we will have your footage, drafts or brand boards ready to review in person.

We also film for the town itself. Through 2026 we have been shooting event B-roll for the McHenry Area Chamber of Commerce, raw footage their in-house team edits for the Chamber's website and social media. A year of filming around town gives us a close read on how McHenry sells: its downtown follows the Fox River and the Riverwalk, its busiest months track the boating season, and its waterfront streets are under construction. That shapes how we plan web design and video for businesses a few minutes from our door.

Selling a river town in a short peak season

The city's nickname is the "Heart of the Fox River," and the river and the Chain O'Lakes drive boating and waterfront dining. Summer is the peak for riverfront businesses. McHenry Fiesta Days ran 11 days in July 2026, with a Music Fest weekend at Petersen Park and a parade through downtown. If your menu, hours and photos are stale by June, you lose the months that count, so we schedule photography and short social cuts in spring.

Riverside Drive and Route 31 construction

Riverside Drive is being rebuilt from Weber's Park south through Route 120 to Venice Avenue, with completion targeted for the end of 2027. IDOT then plans to widen Route 31 between Routes 176 and 120, with road work expected to start in 2028 and last about two years. Customers will check Google before they drive. Keeping your Business Profile, website and parking notes current is basic SEO work, and it can decide whether a detour costs you the sale.

First storefronts at the Riverwalk Shoppes

The Chamber and the City run the Riverwalk Shoppes, a May-to-December incubator of tiny shops near Miller Point Park. Each season brings owners into their first brick-and-mortar space, and they tend to need the basics all at once:

• a logo and a simple brand kit
• a small website or online store
• product photos that work on Instagram and on the site

Not sure what you are missing? Start with our free brand audit.

The first thing we map on a McHenry flight is the Northwestern Medicine Hospital McHenry heliport (FAA ID 5IS8), about 1.5 nautical miles from the city center. Medical helicopters use it, so we plan routes away from its approach paths and always give way to manned aircraft.

Otherwise, the picture over downtown and the Riverwalk is simple. FAA data show Class G airspace from the surface to 700 ft AGL and no LAANC grid over the city, so our Part 107 drone video flights at or below 400 ft need no LAANC authorization. The O'Hare Class B shelf in the area begins at 3,600 ft MSL, far above us. The nearest public airports, Galt Field and Lake in the Hills, have no control towers.

Before every flight we recheck the FAA B4UFLY app, LAANC and any TFRs. This describes how we plan shoots; it is not legal advice.

The City of McHenry has no published film or photo permit, so we confirm with Parks & Recreation (815-363-2160) before a shoot in a city park. Some options are spelled out. The dance studio at the McHenry Recreation Center, 3636 Municipal Drive, rents for film and photo shoots at $50 an hour for residents and $65 for non-residents. The Veterans Memorial Park gazebo on Pearl Street can be reserved by the day, and park shelter special uses need a permit with four weeks' notice. McHenry County Conservation District land requires a permit for commercial or portrait photography: a $25 application fee plus $150 per site per day. Our go-to spots are the Riverwalk, Miller Point Park and Petersen Park.

Our McHenry work is for the McHenry Area Chamber of Commerce. This year we have filmed wide, close-up and drone B-roll of Fiesta Days (the car show, Beach Bash, Art & Street Fair, parade and Cask & Barrel), the Riverwalk Shoppes, Never Eat Alone at the VFW, Petersen Park, Knox Park, Fort McHenry Park, Stratton Lock and Dam, Moraine Hills State Park and downtown from the air. Foxtober and the Chamber's fall events are next. We deliver raw clips and the Chamber's own team edits them, so there is no finished case study to link. For finished projects, see Northwest Rescue, an ambulance service based in Rockford, and Custom Scapes & Designs in Cortland. Rates are on our pricing packages page. Neighboring pages: Crystal Lake, Woodstock and Fox Lake.

Can I visit the Identity Start studio in McHenry?

Yes, by appointment. The studio is at 806 S Lily Lake Rd. Book a time and we will set up whatever you need to see, whether that is a site draft on a big screen, a rough cut of your video or printed logo options. Appointments keep the time focused on your project instead of a sales pitch.

Can you get aerial shots of the Riverwalk and the Fox River?

From an airspace standpoint, yes. Downtown McHenry is Class G up to 700 ft AGL with no LAANC grid, so a Part 107 flight at or below 400 ft needs no LAANC authorization. We route around the hospital heliport about 1.5 nautical miles away, follow the Part 107 rules for flying over people, and check for flight restrictions that day.

When should a riverfront business in McHenry update its website?

Before summer. Boating season and Fiesta Days in July bring the biggest crowds of the year. With Riverside Drive under reconstruction through 2027 and Route 31 work expected in 2028, your site and Google listing should also explain current access and parking, and we update those as the construction moves.