Whether you’re a drone hobbyist wanting to take better pictures, a photographer looking to use UAVs or a beginner to both photography and drones, there are a few key factors to be aware of when it comes to learning drone photography.
Drone photography for beginners is a huge topic but I wanted to put together the article I wish I had when I was starting out which cuts straight to the important parts.
If you’re looking for specific UAV recommendations check out this article on the best drones for photography where I go through my top 3 for beginner, semi pro and professional photography drones.
Quick Tips on Drone Photography
- Camera sensor size matters! The bigger the better.
- Shoot at dusk, dawn or with cloud cover for dramatic photos
- Use raw file format for easier editing
What makes a drone good for photography?
The top 3 qualities to pay attention to when buying a drone for photography are:
- Sensor size
- Resolution: 4k preferred
- Raw photo format
1. Sensor Size
When it comes to drone camera sensor size, the bigger the better. Larger sensors result in:
- Better low light photography
- Improved depth and variation of colors
- Dynamic range ; more detail captured in shadows and highlights
2. Resolution
Resolution is often over-hyped in marketing, decent quality drones have 4k resolution which is more than enough to capture great quality stills for personal use and sharing on social media. This resolution will be actually be minimized when uploaded to most social platforms anyway.
Higher resolution like 6-8k is really only needed by professional photographers who require these extremes for client requirements.
3. Raw Format Photos
Raw format files contain more pixel information than jpg. This makes post processing of drone photos easier and gives more options to enhance the photos when editing.
Features that don’t matter "as much" when choosing a drone:
When comparing drones, the list of specification and features can be overwhelming, so what features are just marketing hype?
Frames per second: FPS is often used as a marketing point and isn’t that relevant for many drone photographers. A drone might be able to shoot 60 and 120 fps. The higher frame rates are used for slow motion.
For reference, 24fps is the cinematic look and most drones do this as a minimum.
So, is it important to be able to create slow motion video from drone footage? Usually, videographers speed up drone footage rather than slow it down. The drone is so far away from the subject that the footage already seems slow.
Smart fly features: Smart fly features make the drone semi-autonomous, they can be handy but not essential.
Some examples of the commonly used smart fly features are orbiting an object, follow me and tap-fly which makes the drone fly to pre-routed locations. When it comes to these features, more is not necessarily better.
Intelligent or smart-fly features are handy when you want to focus on the camera settings rather than controlling the drone but you can just as easily have the drone hover in place.
What difference does price make for drone photography?
Price makes a big difference in drone photography. The price ranges from $300 to upwards of $8,000. Drones under $300 are toy-like, the features that are compromised in cheaper drones are the gimbal (stabilisation technology), resolution (often 2K or less) and transmission technology.
So what difference does price make in the $300 to $8000 price range?
Resolution
Drones that are priced at thousands of dollars often have resolution higher than 4K but not many of us actually need such high res images. The exception is professional photographers and videographers where this is a requirement from clients.
Sensor Size
One of the big differences that correlates with the price of the drone is sensor size. There are two commonly used camera sensor sizes in drones; 1 / 2.3” and 1”.
When it comes to camera sensors, the bigger the better. Few drones have an interchangeable lens or camera, one exception is the DJI Inspire which is designed for cinematography.
Sensor size is important in drone photography because larger sensors allow more light in creating clearer photos, better detail in low light and more realistic colors.
Obstacle Avoidance
Another feature that is improved in more expensive drones is obstacle avoidance. In the best drones for photography article, the cheapest drone only has 2 bottom sensors, the mid range drone has 4 way obstacle avoidance and the most expensive has full 360 detection.
When buying a drone for photography, the importance of obstacle avoidance depends on how you’re planning to use the drone. For example, some scenarios where obstacle avoidance will come in handy are :
- Selfies: if you’re using tracking mode to photograph yourself or a moving vehicle, obstacle avoidance is a must-have. It takes one tree branch, telephone pole or sharp corner around a building to end up with a busted drone.
- Flying in built up areas: Areas with lots of buildings or machinery can cause higher than normal interference causing the connection to be lost to the drone. This triggers Return Home which will put the drone on a direct path back to the programmed location, regardless of any obstacles in the way. Having obstacle avoidance will make sure the drone return to you with out hitting anything in that path.
The difference in drone price is not necessarily relevant to your level of skill or the difficulty of flying the drone. Cheaper models are often referred to as beginner drones because it’s better to start with a model that’s cheaper to fix… You’re likely to have a crash or two while learning the basic controls.
More expensive drones are not easier or harder to fly, all drones have the basic same functionality.
Drone Photography Tips for Beginners
- Iso 100: Grainy photos are often caused by the Iso settings. Iso brightens up images but has a cost; digital noise. Photographers normally try to add more light to the scene or open the lens to let more light in, but we usually can do this with drone photography so the last option is boosting the iso setting up. 100 is usually the minimum. The image gets brighter when this is increased but when you look at the photo later on a computer, the image looks grainy.
- Fixed white balance; The white balance setting on drones can automatically change while you’re flying the drone. This means when it comes to editing up hundreds of photos you can’t adjust the white balance as a batch, they need to be edited one by one or corrected in smaller batches. Having one set value for the white balance makes editing afterwards much easier.
- Bracketing aka Auto Exposure bracketing: This setting makes the camera take 3-5 photos at once with slightly different exposures. It can be difficult to tell by the image on your phone or controller if the exposure is correct so auto exposure bracketing helps when your slightly off; one of the other shots will be perfect.
- Use raw file format to capture more pixel information in shadows and brights compared to jpg.
- Crop less:
- Use the grid overlay on the app. This 3×3 grid is helpful for the rule of thirds in photography. The grid breaks the shot into 9 segments. Use this to analyse what you have in each part of the shot and as a result, you’ll end up croppping less in post production editing.
- Use the 3×2 aspect ratio, this uses the entire sensor so we have more choice when cropping down the image afterwards. If using the 16×9 ratio the image is already cropped down so you have less pixels.
- Use a landing pad to protect the gimbal instead of leg extenders. The gimbal steadies the camera so we don’t end up with shakey footage or blurry photos. The calibration of the gimbal can be messed up if your taking off from uneven ground.
Landing pads are also useful for precision landing, they generally need good contrast with the ground color. Smoother take off and landing , more accurate return home.
What is the best time of day for drone photography?
The first hour after sunrise and the last hour before sunset are great for drone photography because the low angle of light creates long shadows and makes the photo seem three dimensional. The light is also softer which produces nicer photos than harsh bright mid-day sun.
Clouds are also great for diffusing and softening light helping to take good drone photographs
What drone can I use for night photography?
Night photography requires a drone with a large sensor such as the Mavic 3 which has a 4/3 sensor.
The minimum sensor size that you could use for low light footage is 1 / 2.3″ because this will capture lighting extremes.
Camera sensor size is important for low light photography
Can I take portraits with a drone?
You can take amazing portraits with drones. Drone cameras create portraits that simply aren’t possible with a normal camera such as bird’s eye and down angles shots.
There are some cool framing opportunities that we can take advantage of with downwards facing shots like using the lines on a tennis court , edges of a road or path to frame the subject.
Communicate the plan with the portrait model first
Before taking portraits with a drone discuss the poses that you plan to do with the subject first because it will be difficult to communicate while taking photographs. You will either be far away to be out of frame if taking big expansive images or, if close together the noise from the drone will be pretty loud.
Also keep in mind that with drone portrait photography it’s difficult to see facial expressions on the small screen of a phone.
Take drone portait photos at a range of distances
Take a mix of close, medium and far shots. Often we can’t appreciate the full composition of the shot until looking at the photos on a larger screen.
Photographers starting out with drones often instinctively start taking photos far away from the subject to take advantage of the surrounds and pack as much into the image as possible only to end up cropping them right back afterwards.
Use props in drone portraits
When taking portraits with drone cameras it can be fun to use props if the person is lying down. We can also spread out their hair or dress to create gravity defying set ups.
Taking self-portraits with drones
Drones can also take awesome selfies and unlike normal cameras, the drone can follow you and take great action shots while you’re running, on a bike or in a boat.
Land based photography v aerial photography
Drone photography is different to land based photography in many ways such as the target subject matter, how the photographer plans the photo and the capabilities of drone cameras.
From a photographer’s perspective, land based photography tends to be focused on a subject but drone photography is putting together a graphical composition of different colors, textures and patterns across a large field of view.
What are the benefits of drone photography compared to normal cameras?
- The first and most obvious benefit is that drones can photograph large landscape shots from areal perspectives that would otherwise be impossible with a normal camera unless in an aircraft.
- Drones can take moving action portraits. Most drones now have a ‘follow object’ function. The drone maintains a set distance from the moving object (ie person on a bike or surfboard) and take timed or hands-free photos.
- Drones can hover in place. Unlike taking areal photos from a fixed wing aircraft, drones hover in place while we focus on getting the shot right. Fixed wing aircraft are constantly moving forward and needs to circle back if we miss a shot.
- The surprise element. I can only describe the experience of taking drone photos as eye opening. When taking photos with a hand held camera, we already have an experience of that perspective. With drone photography, we get a rough view streamed to our phones but the magic happens when we get back to our computer and experience the footage on a large screen.
What are the down sides to drone photography?
1.No Fly Zones : The biggest limitation and downside to drone photography are the no fly zones. Unlike a hand held camera that is allowed to snap photos basically anywhere, drones aren’t allowed in certain places like national and state parks.
The main reason is noise, drones give off an electronic buzzing sound which is a nuisance for people who are out enjoying nature. The bigger the drone the noisier, which is one reason that many amateur photographers prefer mini drones like the DJI Mini 2.
2. Battery & Flight Time: Most quality drones have a flight time of around 30 minutes. Unlike land based photography where you can head out to a new location and spend all day scoping out good shots and angles, drone photography requires a bit of preparation, more details on that under Drone Photography Scouting.
The key with managing limited photography flight time is to be prepared, have an idea what you want to shoot, what angles should work best and pack fully charged spare batteries.
The Autel Evo Nano is a good drone to consider if doing a lot of photography on the road because it has a multi-battery charger that can be used while traveling in the car. More on this drone in the break down on the Best Long Range Drones .
3. Set Up Time: Drones are slow to set up in comparison to cameras; Drones aren’t great for capturing an impromptu shot, they take time to set up. Unlike a camera that can be unpacked and take a photo at an instant, drones need to be unfolded, the app needs to be started up on your phone and connected to the drone then the done is deployed and finally you then line up the shot.
Drone Camera Lenses v Professional Camera Lenses
If you’re a pro photographer, it’s important to understand the capabilities of drones compared to a professional camera. Most drones don’t have the flexibility and range of photographic options or the option to swap out lenses.
The drones that professional cinematographers use are big, bulky and expensive. DJI Inspire is a good example, Inspire is designed to have the camera switched out depending on the lens you need for the setting.
However, this drone is not going to be something that you slide into a lens pocked in your camera bag. DJI Inspire is almost half a meter wide without it’s propellers .
Scouting for Drone Photography v Normal Photography
When taking photos with hand held cameras we scout out good angles and photo opportunities with our eyes. However, we only have an idea of what we’d like to capture with drone photography.
Scout before you head out on a photography mission with Google Earth because drones have a perspective we can only imagine. Doing a reconnaissance beforehand will give you an idea what angles, objects and compositions look like and have potential. Then, when in the field, we can fly straight to those locations.
Drone photography scouting with Google Earth
For more on drone photography checkout my recommended drones for beginner, semi pro and professional drone photography.
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The Pros of Drones to the Environment, Society and Industry