Tips and Tricks for Drone Photography
Nowadays drone photography has been one of the largest growing photography fields. It requires great skill and talent to fly a high quality camera in the sky to capture aerial photographs and the results can be beyond our imagination. Today I am going to give you some tips and tricks on how to do drone photography the right way and improve your photography skill. It does not matter if you are already skilled in handling a drone or just planning to buy one, there are certain things that you should know. Here are some drone photography tips.
Buy a drone depending on your skill and need- The first and important thing when doing drone photography is to remember how well can you fly a drone. You should buy your first drone that is cheap and light weight. Use it to practice flying and learning your limits and practicing. Cheaper drones do not have big batteries and have fewer features but I think it would be good for practice. Another thing to know when buying a drone is to know what you can do with that specific drone. Some drones can only be operated indoors, some have inbuilt lighting. Some are capable of flying long distances. Go through all the drones to find which one is for you.
Learn the rules and legal laws of the area where you want to take drone photos- Today almost everyone has a drone and tries to fly them everywhere. So the government has made some specific rules and regulations that need to be maintained or you will be fined. Different areas have different rules. So it is best that you learn the rules of where you can and cannot fly a drone. An example is drones cannot be flown around other aircraft or aerial objects so flying a drone in the airport is a crime.
Always to a checklist checking- It is a good habit to always check the checklist. This helps you if anything is wrong with your drone or if you are forgetting any equipment to bring to the venue. This will keep you and people around your drone safe too. The usual checklist is like this-
• Fly zone
• Weather
• Surrounding
• Settings
• Battery
• Propellers
• Motor
• Controls
• Landing spot
• camera
Test drive to see everything works-It would be very bad if you do not test drive drones before actually flying in the venue. You might lose control mid flight and crash your drone. So do not forget to test drive your drone and check everything is OK. It is all about practice and perfection.
Learn drone photography methods- It is pointless if you travel far and return with blurry or bad photos from your drone. Capturing beautiful photos is an art which can be learned only with practice and time.
Remember the basics- Most people forget the basics of photography while they are enjoying flying their drones. Keeping the drone steady and looking for the perfect shot is your way to perfection in drone photography.
Try to find symmetry and cool patterns- When you are up in the air with your drone and you have a birds eye view you will see the magic that architects see in their blueprint. Take photos of those beautiful architectures, find the symmetry and blend of colors and shapes.
Simplicity is best- Keeping it simple is best way to deliver your message to the viewer. Look for a simple and natural blend of subjects for amazing shots.
Lighting is key- As a photographer, you should know the basic rule of photography and how a simple light can effect a photo. Light is a crucial element of photography. The correct amount of light can give you a perfect photo that makes people awe.
Always keep the essential add-ons-
• Batteries
• Propeller guards
• Extra propellers
• Extra SD card
Accessories-
Landing pad- Keeping a landing pad would make sure that your drone is not harmed while landing.
LED lights- There is a high chance that your drone might get lost while shooting in the dark. So it’s best to attach some LED lights so that you can find your drone if this ever occurs.
Maintain a low ISO-Drones have a low sensor which do not work well at high ISO settings. Some devices will produce lots of noise if the ISO is more than 100. Whether you are shooting on a windy or a shady place, it is always good to keep a slow shutter speed to let more light and be able to maintain the lowest ISO for clean and sharp pictures.
Improvise and adapt- As a photographer adapting is your key to success. You will face unwanted weather and hurdles in the venues that will stop you from getting the perfect shot. It’s that moment when you get to show your imagination and adapt to your situation.
Panoramic shots — Drone cameras have a low megapixel count which makes the photo resolution low. Thus for a wealth of image details you can always use the panorama mode. Some drones have in built panorama mode.
Experiment with aspect ratios- The 3:2 aspect ratio is the most common, but because drone cameras are generally used to make videos, they have wider formats of 16:9 and 4:3. If you are do not know about which format to use, you could use both formats to check which one gives you the best-resulted effect.
Use camera lenses- You might not feel that filter is a must-have accessory in case of drone photography, but they are actually very much needed to help you with better pictures. There are ample filters each with a different purpose. Before purchasing any filter you need to keep in mind the types of photos you take, the time of your shoot, and the environment you generally shoot in. Drone photography is undoubtedly has been a powerful development in the field of photography which has made a huge impact on photography as a whole. Mastering the art of drone photography could be tricky but with practice and using these tips for drone photography, you can definitely achieve perfection with time.
Finally, I would like to end this article on a note that a good photographer also needs to be a good graphics designer and some photos need to be a little tweaked here and there but all photo geographers do not have the time to edit all photos so you can hire professional photo retouching company to help with your work.