Tips for Drone Photography

Aerial photography has always inspired us. Until recently, only a few pros ventured into this field. Now, the drones have shifted this game. Drone photography has made aerial photography so much easier and brought it within the reach of so many photographers. However, just like any other type of photography, there are a few things that you need to learn when getting into it. Learn the following tips for drone photography to get better images.

Learn the Ropes

When you get into drone photography, the first thing that you need to do is to learn the controls of your drone. This advice might seem pretty basic but it holds more importance than you realize. Understand it like this, most drones pair with your smartphone so the live feed is displayed on your phone. The moment you get confident enough to not check in the sky for your drone and just navigate it using the screen, that is when you will have mastered the controls.

Visualize the Image - Tips for Drone Photography

One of the most practical tips for drone photography is to visualize the image even before you fly the drone. The reason behind this is that most drones have a battery limit of around thirty minutes. You would not want to spend all of these thirty minutes aimlessly flying your drone here and there. This skill will take time to develop but you need to have a rough idea of what you want before you launch the drone. 

Tips of drone photography of a beach

Be Aware of the Weather and Flying Limits

The one thing that most people forget while learning how to do drone photography is the flying limits of the drone. Although these tiny aircraft are capable to cover very long distances you should be aware of the limit, otherwise, you may not be able to connect to them. Try to always keep it in your sight. Moreover, most drones are weather-resistant, however, it does not mean that they can withstand any of the harshest weathers.

Shoot RAW and Learn Metering

This is also one of those tips for drone photography that should be applied before the drone is launched. Firstly, try to shoot in RAW as it allows more flexibility during the post-processing. Secondly, learning when to shift from focus to metering will dramatically enhance your photos. For starters, you may use the auto functions but try to learn these features as well for improving your drone photography.

Change Your Point of View

Now that you have learned the basics, let us see how to do drone photography like pros. The very first thing that you need to understand is that it is going to take some time to adjust to the perspective of the drone. But the sooner you adjust to it, the sooner you will be taking great images. Generally, the overhead photos are associated with drone photography. Although they look amazing you should try some other perspectives as well. For instance, the first change should be flipping the point of view. You could make it look like you are jumping huge distances just by laying on the ground. The second one that you can try is an angled shot. It will probably not scream drone photography, but it does look good. It can be achieved by either bringing the drone camera parallel to the horizon or at some angle to it.
Drone landscape - tips for drone photography

Photo edited in Lightroom.

Look for Shapes and Symmetry - Tips for Drone Photography

The one thing that you find out after learning how to do drone photography is that it never gets boring. You find new shapes and designs in each flight. Now, a fact is that sometimes these shapes are not that clear, so you will have to do some work in determining them. First, try to look for symmetry or patterns in the landscape, or if it’s a cityscape, you can look for similar buildings. Second, you can look for dividing lines. These lines mean that some road or stream or any other thing like that could divide the frame in two. Lastly, you can look for repetition. It is easier to find in cities and towns.

Abstracts and Contrasting Landscapes

Basically the best thing about these tips for drone photography is that there are always fewer. Therefore, here’s one that will cover most of the techniques. Be abstract about drone photography. There are no rules, except of course any legal rules that might apply at your location. Otherwise, you have full creative freedom to create an abstract photograph that you might like. Also, contrasting landscape makes for some good images. Try to find a place where the colors of the landscape or even nature conflict and produce a vibrant image.

Conclusion - Tips for Drone Photography

Drone photography is as much fun as photography gets. Instead of being too uptight about it, try to enjoy the learning process as well. And yes, one of the most important tips for drone photography is to always have extra batteries with you. Never stop learning. 

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Have a nice photoshoot! 

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