There are many layers to photography, and aerial photography adds a few of its own. Here are five quick tips from the Droneit team to instantly lift the quality of your drone shots.
1. Shoot in RAW
RAW files keep far more image information than JPEGs, giving you real room to recover shadows and highlights when editing. Aerial scenes often have wide dynamic range, bright sky against dark ground, so this matters more than it does on the ground.
2. Chase the golden hour
The hour after sunrise and the hour before sunset give soft, warm, directional light with long shadows that reveal texture in the landscape. Midday sun flattens everything. Plan flights around light and your images improve immediately.
3. Use compositional rules deliberately
The rule of thirds, leading lines and symmetry all work brilliantly from the air. Roads, rivers, coastlines and fence lines make natural leading lines. Top-down shots reward strong patterns and symmetry, so look for them while flying.
4. Bracket your exposures
Use automatic exposure bracketing (AEB) to capture several exposures of the same frame. You can blend them later for a perfectly balanced image, and it insures you against blowing out the sky.
5. Scout your location first
Check the location on a map before you fly, confirm you are allowed to fly there using a CASA-approved drone safety app, and think about the angles you want in advance. Battery time is short; a plan means you spend it shooting, not searching.
Want to take drone photography from hobby to career? A Remote Pilot Licence is the first step. Browse our CASA-approved courses to get started.