Drone Photography: 8 Tips To Help You Take Amazing Aerial Shots
Drone photography is a great way to take excellent aerial shots. However, a few tips and tricks can help you take professional-looking photos from the sky. This article will discuss eight helpful tips for aerial photographs that you should consider when flying your drone.
You don't have to stick with just one tip! Mix and match these ideas together as much as you want, and they're all great ways to create unique-looking shots from your drone's perspective!
1 – Get A Drone With GPS Features
When it comes to getting the best aerial photography experience possible, a common feature you'll find on most high-end drones is a 'GPS mode.' This feature allows the drone to hold its position and altitude more accurately. It also helps simplify or stabilize your shots, one of the essential factors for excellent drone photography.
Using a high-quality GPS-enabled quadcopter is extremely helpful when shooting aerial photos! It is by far one of the best tips on taking fantastic drone photos that we can give you. If you are looking into buying a new drone, then definitely look for one with this feature!
2 – Always Fly Your Drone With The Camera Pointed At You
One handy tip for professional-looking aerial photography is to always fly your UAV/drone camera-mounted vehicle with the camera pointed back at you. It will give you much more control over the orientation of your drone and give you a better ability to stabilize the camera.
For most aerial photography flights, if the nose of the UAV is pointed up or down in any direction, it can be challenging to keep your shots level and stable. When flying your drone camera with the front looking back at you, this creates an additional stabilization axis, making taking great photos much more accessible!
3 – Try To Avoid Direct Sunlight & Bright Lights
Flying outdoors in direct sunlight isn't always ideal for getting great photos. However, that doesn't mean that you should avoid doing so altogether! It just means that you need to be aware of how direct sunlight and bright lights can affect the quality of your shots by creating flares, shadows, and lens glare.
When using a quadcopter for drone photos, it's best to fly around noon when the sun is directly overhead, and this cuts down on the amount of lens flare you'll see in your photos. When possible, avoid taking shots where very bright objects or light sources are near or behind your subject, as they will create unwanted lens flare and unflattering shadows.
4 – Fly Higher Than Your Subject & Shoot Down At An Angle
If possible, it's generally a good idea to fly higher than your subject and look down at an angle when aerial photographs. The added height will give you more flexibility and room for error when maneuvering your drone around, especially if you can maintain a distance of at least 50-100ft between yourself and the subject.
Flying higher than your subject will also reduce the chances of having them obscured by tree branches or other obstructions within your shot. It is another important factor in creating professional-looking aerial images.
5 – Combine The Above Tips For Unique Compositions
Most of these tips have been fairly general, but it's important to note that all these ideas combined can be used in combination with one another to create some truly unique shots from high above! Try mixing and matching any number of these ideas to get creative with what you shoot! A little bit of experimentation can yield some outstanding results!
6 – Take Lots Of Photos, Then Select The Best Ones In Post-Production
Like any other kind, drone photography comes with its own set of challenges, and one of the frustrating difficulties you'll face is trying to get a perfect camera shot. While it's not always possible, try to take as many different images with a 1080p HD video camera as possible while keeping the following things in mind:
The more shots you take and the more variation between them, the better chance you will find a photo you like afterward in production. It also makes your job easier while editing and will give you more variety to work with.
7 – Shoot In RAW Or HDR Mode (When Available)
If your camera can shoot in either RAW or High Dynamic Range (HDR) mode, you must do so! Shooting in one of these modes will give you much greater control when editing your images, especially if they are backlit.
So long as the lighting conditions aren't too extreme, shooting in RAW/HDR can allow you to pull out a lot of detail from dark areas without losing details in the highlights. Look for your camera's menu settings to switch over to shooting in RAW or HDR mode whenever possible, and try experimenting with your shots to see the difference it makes.
8 – Be Creative With Your Angles & Use Unique Perspectives
Finally, as with any other type of photography, practice and experimentation are your best friends in learning how to take better aerial photos. Try taking shots from unusual angles directly above or at ground level, using a tripod if possible. Getting unique perspectives can lead to true one-of-a-kind looking images that will stand out and impress both friends and family alike!
Wrapping Up!
As you can see, there's a lot to learn when it comes to aerial photography, but by studying the above tips and practicing as much as possible in advance, you'll be prepared for any flying situation that may come your way!