A quick guide to drone photography
Have you ever wondered how photographers and filmmakers get those beautiful bird’s-eye view shots? Back then, they used jimmy jibs and helicopters or climbed up high to capture aerial photos. Nowadays, anyone with a budget and a decent camera can take high-quality, professional images from above with a drone.
Drone photography has seen a boom in popularity in recent years thanks to the emergence of affordable drones in the market. While it’s possible for many people like you to purchase one, it will take a lot more effort to capture fantastic pictures with it.
If you finally have your own drone and want to start your photography journey with it, keep reading for some helpful essential tips.
- Choose The Right Drone For The Job
With so many drones at different prices available for anyone interested, you may be overwhelmed with the choices. As a quick guide, common drones for photography come in two types: one with a built-in camera and another with a dock for your own separate camera. You may pick the most viable option depending on your style and preference.
Whichever you choose, you must study its instruction manual and understand how it works. You may also watch video tutorials online or hire a drone photography company like Horizon Imaging for a small project to see how it’s done.
Additionally, it pays to practice manipulating your drone’s controls, whether by phone or a controller. The last thing you want to happen to a new drone is to let it crash unceremoniously.
- Shoot Photos In RAW
Most specialists in drone photography advise newbies to shoot their photos in the JPG+RAW format. There are two reasons for this.
First, the JPG format produces images with small file sizes. Thus, pictures in this format don’t take up a lot of space in your SD card. Second, an image file taken in the RAW format contains uncompressed data, which is perfect for when you need to enhance and edit it.
If you know image file formats, you may already know that RAW files are considerably lower in quality than their JPG counterparts. So, why do you also need photos in this format? The answer is simple. RAW files are easier to edit and process in post-production. You’ll learn more about this reason later on in this article.
- Adjust Camera Settings Appropriately
One thing many novice photographers forget is that their camera settings can spell the difference between decent and terrible photos. Therefore, before you launch your drone in the air, take a moment to adjust them. They are fundamental elements in mastering any type of photography. If you require a refresher on the basics, here’s a brief list of settings you need to check:
- Aperture
- ISO
- Shutter speed
- Focus mode and area
- Color space
- White balance
- HDR/DRO
- Noise reduction
It’s essential to take note of the time of day every time you take your drone out to capture photos. For example, the morning when the sun is high and visible is ideal for outdoor photography. You must adjust your camera accordingly so that it doesn’t take extra bright photos. If you plan to do night photography, you need to make adjustments again so that your camera captures as much light as possible.
You should be able to change the settings on any camera you use to take aerial photos. As long as you do so, you can work any level of lighting in photography to your advantage.
- Keep In Mind Your Local Drone Regulations
Similar to taking photos on foot, not every area allows drone photography. If they do, they may impose strict regulations on what you can or can’t shoot. Thus, before you start taking photos with your drone, check your state or local government’s laws on drone usage. You might need to register your drone as you would a car before launching it.
In addition, keep your eyes open for other flying objects in the area. As a general rule and safety precaution, don’t fly your drone near and around airports. Some locations may also look free to film or take photos of. But upon further observation, there might be signs nearby banning drone photography. You could pay a significant fine for using your drone in these places.
- Process Your Photos
No matter how good your unedited photos turn out, it never hurts to tweak them to make them look even better. Drone photography isn’t perfect, and it’s understandable. As you maneuver your drone up in the skies, the lighting could change, and you can’t control how the sun and clouds move. That’s where your RAW format photos come into play.
As previously mentioned, photos taken as RAW files have uncompressed data, which you could work with on your favorite photo-editing program. You could even make edits on more than one program to enhance the quality of your aerial photos. Photoshop and Lightroom, in particular, are popular amongst professional photographers for editing and processing drone-taken photos. But you’re free to use any app you’re comfortable with.
If you want to master drone photography, it’s important to edit your photos appropriately. Many first-timers like to go ham on their pictures. This could worsen the images and make them look over-edited. Hence, whichever app you use, try to ease up on the edits to avoid common mistakes like oversaturation.
Conclusion
Using a drone for aerial photography is exciting and a fantastic way to take better photos. It may look challenging at first, like any new activity. But over time, you’ll get the hang of it. First-timers almost always find it to be one of the best ways to capture photos of views everyone deserves to see.