Are You Drone-Curious?
An Introduction to Aerial Photography by Jamie Eilts
Drones and aerial photography seem to be causing quite a buzz (pun absolutely intended) in photography groups and circles these days – and for good reason. Drones are giving us a unique perspective on our world that cannot be reproduced easily any other way - the ultimate top-down perspective. And with affordable, easy-to-operate options available to consumers, it’s no wonder photographers are taking to this new technology.
What This Article WILL Discuss:
For the purpose of this group and this project, we will be discussing the basics of what you need to know/do before flying a drone. We will discuss important things to consider regarding drone photography specifically. We will go over what camera settings can be controlled by the pilot/photographer on a drone. There will also be a video example of how to take off/land the drone, how to control the drone in flight, and how to compose and take a picture with the drone.
What This Article will NOT Discuss:
There are lots of different types of drones, and for the sake of time (and to keep you from falling asleep due to boredom), this article will not be exploring all of the different types of drones. If you are interested in comparing/contrasting drones, there is a wealth of information easily accessible via simple web search, or my personal fave, YouTube. If you are considering purchasing a drone, I’d recommend making a list and of what features are most important to you (in order) to help narrow down your choices. In addition, because this project is specific to still photography, not video, the video features of the drone are not going to be discussed at this time. This includes recommended settings for cinematography, etc. We will also not be discussing post-production of drone images as it is really not that different from processing of DSLR or other images.
Three Things to Know Before You Fly:
1. Drone Laws
Before you take flight, it’s important to know and consider both local and federal laws where you plan to fly. Some examples of rules to consider: Do not fly your drone beyond line of sight. Do not fly above 400 feet. Do not fly near airports or any manned aircraft. Do not fly near or over people or sports stadiums. Do not fly anything weighing more than 55lbs. Do not fly for commercial purposes or payment unless specifically authorized by the FAA. Do not fly in national parks (USA). Laws will vary based on the city/country in which you are flying, so be sure to look up the drone laws for where you plan to travel as well.
2. Register Your Drone
There are two types of drone registration in the USA: recreational and commercial. If you plan to fly your drone as part of your business or anything beyond hobby purposes, a commercial registration is required. More details on these registrations can be found at www.federaldroneregistration.com.
3. Make a Plan
I know many of us are shoot-on-the-fly types of photographers, but that is not so easily done with aerial photography. Most drones have a total flight time per battery of 20 minutes or less, so it is important that you have a plan for your photography needs prior to take-off so that you can maximize your flight time. In addition, if you are in an unfamiliar location, take advantage of websites, online forum content, and apps available to drone pilots that give tips for finding the best spots for aerial photos and/or videos at a particular location. In addition, weather conditions must be suitable for flight, and this includes checking for wind speeds. Your battery life will be shortened in windy conditions, so this is important to consider when you’re making your plans. In addition, if you are flying in mid-day, full sun conditions, you may want to consider applying an ND filter to your camera (more on this later) to help filter some of that harsh light, but this must be done prior to take-off, so it is important to consider this ahead of time.
Five Important Considerations for Drone Photography:
1. Sensor Size
The size of the sensor on a drone camera is much smaller than that of a DSLR camera, so there is sometimes a bit of a shock factor to a DSLR photographer when viewing the images they captured with their drone. At least, there certainly was for me. This is important to consider as you are setting camera settings such as ISO, etc. Your drone is not going to handle low light situations and high ISOs like a DSLR camera would. In addition, I often apply noise reduction software in post-production to my drone images to help reduce some of the noise produced by the camera in certain situations.
2. Composition is Key
Look for lines, shapes, and patterns that will add interest to the photograph. If photographing in a wooded area, look for a pocket of sky that you could shoot through to the land below. Drones can also provide an incredible sense of scale when people are introduced to a photo. Consider locations that will look unique or interesting from above, but don’t forget the basics – leading lines, rule of thirds, etc.
3. Light is Still (Always) Important
Consider how shadows will be casted depending on where the light is and what time of day it is. In addition, when shooting near water, the light will affect how things reflect off the water, so if you hope to capture a reflection on the water of the sky or something on the land nearby, it is important to understand how light reflects off water. For example, to capture the reflection of the sky in this image, I could not shoot straight down on the water. I had to move the drone down and shoot at an angle due to the position of my light source.
4. Perspective/Storytelling
Consider unique ways to tell the story from above. When photographing my children, I will often shoot them at a little bit of an angle, rather than a straight-down perspective, as you will lose some of the story if the viewer can only see the top of the subject’s head. In addition, you can change how the light is entering your camera when you play around with different perspectives.
5. Battery Life
As discussed previously, the battery life on a drone is not incredibly long, so it is important to get your shot set up or have a plan in place before you take-off, if possible. Or, in my case, have a plan for a fabulous Mother’s Day photo, and then have an uncooperative two year old.
What Camera Settings Can the Pilot/Photographer Control:
1. Exposure
The pilot/photographer can control exposure of the photo by setting settings in manual mode. Exposure compensation is available as well. In addition, HDR, burst, and bracketing modes are available. A histogram and over exposure warning are available as well. These are helpful because you will be using your cell phone or tablet to set up your image and view what the drone camera is viewing, and sometimes the glare from the screen makes it difficult to view whether or not the photo is properly exposed.
2. ISO
While you do have manual control of ISO, it is very important to consider the small sensor size of the camera on the drone. Shooting at higher ISOs will result in more grain being introduced to your images, so the limits cannot be pushed quite like on a DSLR camera.
3. White Balance
Preset and custom white balance settings are available in addition to auto white balance.
4. Shutter Speed
One of my favorite things to do with drone photography is to play around with shutter speed to add interest to my images. Surprisingly, drones are actually quite stable while in flight, so introducing slower shutter speeds for motion blur/long exposure photographs is possible and quite fun! When using slower shutter speeds in brighter light, ND filters will be needed to avoid over-exposing your images. There are many different brands of filters available, but one of the more popular brands are PolarPro filters.
5. Zoom
Some of the newer drones have cameras with a zoom feature, but many of the older drones do not have this feature, so in order to “zoom” in on your subject, you have to move the drone closer to them or apply a zoom technique in post-production.
I hope that this helped to answer some of your questions about drones and aerial photography. It can seem a bit daunting or scary when you’re just getting started, but the perspective cannot be beat! It’s definitely a fun toy to add to your bag of tricks. If you have time, please check out the video that I’ve included in this lesson as well. It will show you what comes with a drone (or at least with my particular drone), how to take off/land the drone, how to control the drone in flight, and how to take a picture and control the drone’s camera. Let me know if you have any questions!
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