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Top 3 Drone Photography Tips

Published by WPC Official Account on Aug'03,2021

0 | 891


Top 3 Drone Photography Tips

WPC Official Account
0 | 891 | Oct 01, 2023

Drone photography is a thrilling yet pretty challenging type of photography. With the help of drones, you show the first-person view of things to the audience from places where no photographer can physically be present. You need to take care of a thousand things apart from clicking the shutter. In this article, some important points related to drone photography are discussed. 

 

Here are the top drone photography tips for you:- 

 

Preparation

 

 

  

Drone photography requires exhaustive preparation before shooting. As a beginner, you must learn how to fly your drone effectively first, which requires lots of practice. Only after you gain expertise in flying a drone, can you focus on clicking excellent photos, with proper camera settings, lighting, and good composition. It is always advisable to practice with a comparatively cheaper trainer drone first, and only to buy a pricier one once you are much experienced with the flying part. If you buy a DJI drone, you can learn it with their virtual flight simulators. Make sure you are flying your drone following the legal restrictions of that area. For example, you can be dragged to court for flying a drone near military training camps. Check for safety too. As a beginner, follow renowned aerial photographers on Instagram and take note of their work patterns. Find an interesting yet easy location to shoot. Make Google Map your best friend. Encircle the subject with automated flying mode and see which position looks best. Don't forget to check the weather updates before stepping out with your drone. 

 

 Camera settings 

 

  

Try to keep the ISO low, because drone cameras don't function well at higher ISO, as the sensors are smaller. Photos clicked at 100 or higher ISO settings are usually noisy and grainy, which is not at all desirable. You always get a very good lighting situation in drone photography, so you won't require the ISO high. If you are shooting on a cloudy day, use a wide aperture ( f/1.4 to f/2.8) so that more light can enter the lens. It will also lead to a shallow depth of field, creating a dreamy bokeh. Drone cameras generally enable you to click in 16:9 and 4:3 aspect ratio formats which give you much more scope for editing than the 3:2 aspect ratio format of digital cameras. You can gain a good idea about which aspect suits best in which scene, by shooting the same scene with both aspect ratio formats. Always shoot in RAW format because it provides you with more opportunities to edit the photo, during post-processing. Most drones have onboard cameras nowadays which support the RAW format. If you are using a modular drone where you have to place the camera, change the quality settings from JPEG to RAW.


  

Lighting and composition

 

 

Even if you are a beginner, you must have heard about the 'golden hour' of photography. It refers to the one hour later sunrise and one-hour prior sunset. You will get the ideal soft, yellowish light across the sky at these periods. The next good natural lighting option you get during the blue hours, i.e. an hour before sunrise and an hour after sunset when the sky is filled with lively blue tints.  To have a great composition, by focusing on patterns, lines, geometrical shapes, and symmetry. Use different perspectives to enhance the dramatic view. Generally, you can get a crisp and well-composed image from within the range of 10-100 ft height (from the sea level). 

 

If you follow these tips carefully, you will surely be able to master drone photography.

 

 

Written by Sanga Basu, Content Writer, WPC. 


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Drone photography is a thrilling yet pretty challenging type of photography. With the help of drones, you show the first-person view of things to the audience from places where no photographer can physically be present. You need to take care of a thousand things apart from clicking the shutter. In this article, some important points related to drone photography are discussed. 

 

Here are the top drone photography tips for you:- 

 

Preparation

 

 

  

Drone photography requires exhaustive preparation before shooting. As a beginner, you must learn how to fly your drone effectively first, which requires lots of practice. Only after you gain expertise in flying a drone, can you focus on clicking excellent photos, with proper camera settings, lighting, and good composition. It is always advisable to practice with a comparatively cheaper trainer drone first, and only to buy a pricier one once you are much experienced with the flying part. If you buy a DJI drone, you can learn it with their virtual flight simulators. Make sure you are flying your drone following the legal restrictions of that area. For example, you can be dragged to court for flying a drone near military training camps. Check for safety too. As a beginner, follow renowned aerial photographers on Instagram and take note of their work patterns. Find an interesting yet easy location to shoot. Make Google Map your best friend. Encircle the subject with automated flying mode and see which position looks best. Don't forget to check the weather updates before stepping out with your drone. 

 

 Camera settings 

 

  

Try to keep the ISO low, because drone cameras don't function well at higher ISO, as the sensors are smaller. Photos clicked at 100 or higher ISO settings are usually noisy and grainy, which is not at all desirable. You always get a very good lighting situation in drone photography, so you won't require the ISO high. If you are shooting on a cloudy day, use a wide aperture ( f/1.4 to f/2.8) so that more light can enter the lens. It will also lead to a shallow depth of field, creating a dreamy bokeh. Drone cameras generally enable you to click in 16:9 and 4:3 aspect ratio formats which give you much more scope for editing than the 3:2 aspect ratio format of digital cameras. You can gain a good idea about which aspect suits best in which scene, by shooting the same scene with both aspect ratio formats. Always shoot in RAW format because it provides you with more opportunities to edit the photo, during post-processing. Most drones have onboard cameras nowadays which support the RAW format. If you are using a modular drone where you have to place the camera, change the quality settings from JPEG to RAW.


  

Lighting and composition

 

 

Even if you are a beginner, you must have heard about the 'golden hour' of photography. It refers to the one hour later sunrise and one-hour prior sunset. You will get the ideal soft, yellowish light across the sky at these periods. The next good natural lighting option you get during the blue hours, i.e. an hour before sunrise and an hour after sunset when the sky is filled with lively blue tints.  To have a great composition, by focusing on patterns, lines, geometrical shapes, and symmetry. Use different perspectives to enhance the dramatic view. Generally, you can get a crisp and well-composed image from within the range of 10-100 ft height (from the sea level). 

 

If you follow these tips carefully, you will surely be able to master drone photography.

 

 

Written by Sanga Basu, Content Writer, WPC.