I’ve bought my Mavic Pro nearly 2 years ago and over these years I’ve traveled to a dozen of countries taking pictures both for my personal archive and for Google Maps. Here’s what I’ve learned about drone photography so far.
1. Safety and regulations first
You should always check and comply with local regulations. Some countries (like Cuba) even prohibit bringing drones with you and you’ll be forced to leave them at customs when entering the country. Others (like Thailand) can impose huge fines for flying in restricted areas or way above the height limit. Always do your preparation work in order not to deal with the unpleasant consequences.
Safety while flying is a must. Check you surroundings and be extremely cautious in areas with intricate terrain. Never rely on what you see on your display and maintain the line of sight throughout your flight. It’s easy to get overwhelmed with framing the shot and figuring out the best flight path and forget about that tower in the background. You can lose your drone in a fracture of second. Also, don’t fly over or near people.
This shot was taken near Lake Tahoe in the U.S. I’ve registered with the local FAA online, got my registration number and put it on my drone on a sticker to comply with local regulations.
2. Plan with Google Maps but don’t forget to improvise on the spot
Google Maps have been of great help to me when looking for interesting locations to shoot with my drone. Finding a location is just one part of the job. Once you there fire up your drone and look at the area from above. You’ll notice so much more new angles and opportunities for a great shot when you are there.
Sometimes a drone can help you get the picture of an unreachable place. On Madeira we hiked Sao Lorenco cliff all the way to the easternmost point of the island. We wanted to reach the lighthouse but it appeared to be on an island with no means to cross the sea. The solution was to fly there and have a look at it through the drone’s lens. I nearly drained my battery flying 2 km there and back but made it in one piece. Here’s one of the shots I got:
3. Get close to the objects
This one will require some confidence which comes with experience. When I started flying I’ve always climbed up to the high marks - simply because I was afraid to hit anything and lose my drone. Some pictures taken from high above are really great, just take a look at this Japanese-style museum from the Russian island of Sakhalin:
However, there are many objects out there which are unreachable by foot but would make a great shot if you fly really close to them - monuments, towers, state-of-the-art buildings. So build your confidence and start flying closer and closer to the objects to take shots like this one of the Christ the Saviour statue on Madeira island:
4. Check the correlation between the background and the foreground for the most dramatic shots
With the drone you feel like you have a professional grip which can travel in any of the dimensions. But some pictures taken with it result into dull, uninspiring photos. It happens because some users don’t pay enough attention to the height, background and foreground of their shots. Look for that one angle which will make your picture a dramatic one. Where background and foreground work together to create that unique look. Focusing on stand-alone objects or people will help to achieve great results.
5. Drones are great for taking 360-degree pictures which will make a stunning contribution to Google Maps
Back in the days when I first purchased my drone we had to use third-party software to make 360-degree pictures with it. Now it’s built-in. So if you want to add some really unique pics to the Google Maps 360-degree pics taken from above is your way to go. Pay close attention to exposure since the sun tend to ruin your spheric panoramas and you don’t want to remake this shots which normally take up to 3 minutes to process (the drone will rotate and tilt its gimbal automatically to make multiple shots and then stitch them). Fix your exposure at the brightest spot of the frame and go from there. You’ll get photos like this: https://goo.gl/maps/itrRFFUsJdQs9yoG6
Altai Republic, Russia
Go ahead and try drone photography - it’s so much fun!
If you have any more questions about it - I’ll be happy to answer them in the comments.
