Drones have been a revolution in the world of the image, but it is necessary to learn how to use them and take advantage of the unlimited opportunities they offer for photographers. Do you want to get the most out of your drone? Here aeroflydrones.com will tell you. Keep reading!
“Flying a drone with a camera is like telling a story,” says Eric Cheng, author of the book Aerial Photography with Drones, where he makes available to the aerial photographer or videographer all the keys necessary to take full advantage of the potential of these flying machines. that are revolutionizing the world of the image.
The book is designed to solve some fundamental points for handling a drone, such as:
- How to become a qualified drone operator?
- Current status of camera equipment for drones.
- Anecdotes and opinions of aerial photographers from all over the world.
- Current regulation of the use of drones and their evolution.
- Techniques and tips to get the best videos and photos.
From this last point, we want to highlight 8 fundamental tips that will serve to make the best photos you can imagine with your drone. If you want more, go ahead and look for the book in your bookstore to continue learning many other techniques.
- Find good places to fly
To get good aerial photos and videos, it is necessary to find suitable places to fly. If we don’t go to the right places, we won’t have a place to practice or anything to photograph. You have to start at the beginning!
It is convenient to identify a common flight place where we can practice and carry out tests. The best thing is a large and open site that is not crowded. In Google RC flight fields, you can locate the closest to your home.
A good technique to fly private property is to contact the owners (in a friendly way) and ask them if they would be interested in receiving aerial images in exchange for permission.
- Practice Leads to Perfection
Becoming a good pilot is something that is achieved over time and it is inevitable to have to spend hours in the air practicing on a simulator. Both DJI and 3DR include simulators in their respective applications for mobile devices that allow us to fly virtually if we cannot go out for any reason.
We can practice flying in a random way, but practicing according to a plan will help us to be better and faster pilots.
Here are three exercises for you to start practicing. In the book Aerial photography with drones you will find many more:
Exercise 1. Takeoff and landing
Obviously we have to take off and land on every flight, but since both actions mean you are close to the ground it is important to practice both maneuvers until you are comfortable. The secret to reducing the chances of a crash taking off is to pay attention. To land the key is to do it smoothly and to avoid having to endure the turbulence of the ground effect for a long time, a small acceleration just before touching it can smooth the landing.
Exercise 2. Round trip
The round trip maneuver is the first spatial orientation exercise. The orientation of a drone is the direction in which you are looking; It is controlled by moving the left stick left or right so that the drone rotates sideways.
Before attempting this maneuver, we should feel comfortable piloting a drone that is facing in the opposite direction from us. As soon as the drone turns and is looking in another direction, we will have to start imagining the movements from its position, sometimes the movements of the lever will be the opposite of what we should do to the drone in the sky.
Exercise 3. The circle
Tracing a circle is the first of the advanced flight exercises because it requires continuous adjustment on both levers. In this particular case you will be looking in the direction of movement and constantly turning. When you want to rotate a drone during a flight, you always have to think about how an airplane would rotate, which means that you always have to apply a certain inclination to each turn.
- Think In 3d
When you have spent enough time piloting a drone you will realize that you will begin to visualize the world from all kinds of angles, even when you are not piloting. This constant preview of potential stories is very rewarding and worth developing.
- Straight Down
Looking directly down from the air is not something that humans can do often. Luckily, drones are good at looking down in a straight line and this is one of the best camera directions in flight. We recommend that you try shooting downward by combining camera orientation with low-altitude flight. Views when aiming straight down from high altitudes seem like satellite maps.
- Abstract Images
Aerial photography is very suitable for capturing abstract images. Due to the nature of its belonging and use by the human being, the earth is divided into different geometric shapes that can be seen clearly as our perspective moves away from the ground. You will get great images of regular geometric patterns!
- Slow Shutter Speeds
Using slow shutter speeds can be difficult from the air and it is probably not the first thing that comes to mind when we are going to fly, but the results with this technique will be spectacular.
- Time-Lapse
The time-lapse technique is a sequence of still images that are played back as a video, making it appear as if time passes in fast motion. To create films with this technique, the chosen composition or object must change over time, so we recommend that you try it with celestial objects, with clouds, with rising and falling tides and groups of cars or people moving in a structured way, for example, on roads or sidewalks. Aerial time-lapse is not yet very common but the technology exists to do so. Test it!
- Panoramic Photographs
Taking aerial panoramic images is easy. To create one, you just have to rotate the drone slowly, taking successive photos that overlap, and go through a program that automatically joins them. We recommend that you choose one of the editing programs, for example Adobe Lightroom or Google Photos, to join the images.