10 Tips to Improve Your Drone Photography

Drone** **technology is in great demand with it now being readily available for everyday users. From photographers to explorers, this type of technology is vastly utilized, and it impresses on many levels. Drones can be used to help locate a fallen climber or spot sharks in popular swimming hotspots, offering a birds-eye view, and explore unreachable areas. This aerial advantage has enabled a new world of drone photography. While this isn’t without a challenge or two, the technology opens newer opportunities, including taking stunning images. So, what tips could you use to help improve your photography when using drones?

Always Scout for Prime (And Safe) Locations #

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While you might discount the idea of scouting for a prime location, it’s a smart idea. Researching the best areas to fly drones and take photos is essential. Fortunately, there are many ways to scout a location without having to leave your home. You could use Google Earth to find a suitable location or opt for a simple internet search. It enables you to find the best locations for photography. Plus, you can learn about locations that aren’t accessible by foot or too dangerous to do so. While you might believe drones can be flown anywhere, there are some locations that should never be used.
For instance, an airport or private landing strip is ideally located next to some breath-taking scenery. There are gorgeous mountainsides and rolling hills that you can’t access by foot. It’s a sunny day and you fly the machine up there to take photographs. Unfortunately, that’s risky. Areas in and around landing strips and airports may restrict the use of drones; in some cases, it could be illegal. You need to know this before you start flying drones out there because you could get into serious trouble. What’s more, you might end up inadvertently causing an accident with an airplane.
Researching or scouting areas first may prevent accidents or problems from arising.

Find the Optimum Flying Time #

Weather conditions constantly change and as a result, may impact your photography or flying abilities. Drones could be impacted by the weather so it’s essential to know when to fly. Ideally, you want a good, clear, cloud-free day to fly the machine, and you want as little wind as possible. It’s also wise to avoid flying in poor conditions, including at night or when lighting conditions are limited. Remember, high winds can impact your control over drones, even if it’s a heavy machine; colder temperatures tend to run down battery life quickly too. It’s risky to fly in high winds, rain, hail, sleet, and snow.
It’s important to check the weather forecast before you fly, especially on the day. This gives you a good indication of the possible conditions you face. While the day might start off sunny, it might turn to hail or sleet by midday and you don’t want to be left unaware. If rain is forecast for 1 p.m. make sure you get out and fly early to avoid the rain. Of course, you may want to try taking photographs in different conditions, but still, it’s essential to know when to fly.

Always Plan Your Photography Sessions #

Sometimes, you can plan a photoshoot and get amazing results. Drone photography can be beautifully finished when it’s done right and it’s wise to consider planning out each photography session, especially when using drones. Ariel shots can look great, but some are static and uninteresting; by using drones to photograph an image, it puts a new spin on it. Of course, planning a photography session seems boring and you might even be lucky enough to get a fantastic photo by chance, but not always. Planning may improve the end results.
For instance, photographs can wow you with excellent composition and subject that stands out. Careful planning may enable you to take a photograph that makes people stop and take notice. You could even use smartphone apps to plan your photoshoots.

Consider Experimenting with the Height of the Drone #

Putting height restrictions to one side, flying too high may not produce the best photographs. Sometimes you lose composition, and the subject matter gets lost in an over-cluttered photo. Instead, you may want to experiment with the height you take a photograph. Remember, the higher you fly the drones, the more you’ll get in a picture; however, it could be quite cluttered. Plus, some areas have height restrictions over how high you’re able to fly.
You could map the area out through various snapshots, creating a larger picture with your photographs. It’s quite an ingenious idea and fun too. Experimenting with height is a good idea, especially to capture unique photos of certain locations or areas.

Balance Is Important #

Everyone wants to take a great photo. You want your picture to stand out and be the one that’s remembered whether you’re posting it online or adding it to your family album at home. However, balance is crucial. For instance, composition helps to create a wonderful photograph, but you also need leading lines, such as mountains, and objects to guide – and hold – the eye of the viewer. Some would say to use the ‘Rule of Thirds’. This balances the image so that viewer focuses on the main object of the photo while keeping the surrounding images interesting. It cuts down on unwanted clutter in the photo.

**Panorama Images Look Great ** #

Ultra-wide-angle lenses are hugely popular today as they can create stunning panoramic images. These lenses are widely used by professionals and amateur photographers alike because they add something special to certain snapshots. While ariel photos don’t typically opt for panorama lenses, they can be quite useful on occasion. Panorama images show a larger scale of the photo and allow for more to be added without cluttering up a photograph.
You can fit far more into panorama pictures than with single-lens frames. Of course, some images are best suited to single-lens frames; however, some photos miss out on the beauty. For instance, if you were taking a photo of a glacier or gorgeous hillside, it might be wise to opt for an ultra-wide-angle lens instead of a single one. This would help to photograph a wider portion of the subject and can create a stunning image.
Panorama isn’t always considered with drones because people like to get close-up snapshots and yet, it’s a great way to improve photography while using drones. These lenses can be easily used on drones and many now have ultra-wide panorama functions built-in. It’s fantastic because there’s often no need to buy additional equipment. Your photos can be improved with panorama lenses and they are so easy to save and edit later.

Always Use the Best Photograph Settings #

Few people think about settings when they use drones to take photographs. Most people focus on finding the perfect locations and the right composition but not on the photography settings. While settings might not matter much to you, it’s actually an important factor to take into consideration. It’s quite different taking photos with drones than with a standard digital camera. Of course, the premise is the same, but you don’t always factor in weather conditions, such as the wind, you just focus on the perfect shot.
However, your settings must be right for the photograph to come outright. Images may not be as high-quality as you would expect; this is dependent on the type of camera used and the conditions in which the photos were taken. Fortunately, there are many ways to improve on the quality and one is to ensure the settings are spot-on. Some photographers (who use drones) prefer to opt for an ISO 100 while shooting scenes.
Also, it’s important to use filters to improve density and image quality. Polarising filters could also be utilized to reduce reflection issues.

Bracketed Shots #

As you probably already know, the image you see on the screen might not look the same when you print or copy it onto your computer later. For instance, some photographs can seem a lot darker when they’re first taken but when you upload them onto a computer, they actually are perfect. In other instances, some photos look great but have too much shadow in them and are hard to see clearly. Photos, whether you’re capturing them on drones or with a standard digital camera, can be very deceiving and it’s incredibly frustrating.
It’s almost impossible to predict how a photo will come out, even after it’s spent hours at the editing table. That is why you may want to consider bracketed shots. This is when the camera takes several shots of the same image but in different contrast lights. It could be the more suitable way of using drones to get the perfect image.

Always Use the Best Portable Monitor to Edit and View Your Photographs #

Portable monitors can offer some of the best methods to view and enjoy your photographs. A portable monitor can be used as a second computer screen and may be useful when you want to edit photographs. Buying the best portable monitor is important because it can be a good investment and may make photo editing somewhat easier. However, there are a few things you need to consider when buying the best monitor, including the following:

• A Suitable Monitor Size for Your Requirements

You not only have to consider the amount of space available at home but what’s best for your requirements. For instance, a larger screen is useful for making editing and other tasks, easier to see. On the other hand, smaller screens are better suited for limited or tight spaces. Again, this will depend on your specific requirements for the monitor’s screen size.

• Suitable Screen Resolution

Screen resolution is not something most people think about when buying a portable monitor; however, it is an important consideration. Portable monitors vary considerably and may have a resolution of 1080p to 4K. The type of screen resolution comes down to your preferences. Most should be able to work with a 1080p or even 1440p resolution. If you don’t have to do much video editing, then those resolutions should be more suitable.

Have Confidence in Your Abilities #

When you lack confidence, everything seems to go wrong. You make basic mistakes and just believe you can’t do anything right. Confidence can hold you back, even in photography. You can be wary of getting the drones into the air, flying too close to buildings, or even crashing the machine. It’s understandable because drones are expensive machines (depending on which model you buy) and you don’t want to lose them. However, it’s important to have some confidence in your abilities.
Of course, you need to learn how to use the drones and how to photograph with them, but once you are competent it’s time to enjoy using the machine. You can take some amazing images with drone photography.