The Beginner's Guide to Drone Aerial Photography

Drone aerial photography may be one of the fastest growing trends for both the tech savvy and the creatively brilliant. You don’t have to be an award winning photojournalist to utilize drone aerial photography methods. With the growing number of drones available in the public market, using these multi-rotor flying devices to capture stunning snaps has become more attainable for photographers of varying skill levels and interests.

What You Need for Drone Aerial Photography

• A drone that includes a camera, or one that can accommodate the weight of a lightweight camera
• A camera - depending on the quality of the photography you intend on shooting, this could range from a GoPro to a heavy duty DSLR
• A gimbal paired with a brushless motor on your drone - this allows the rotation of an object around an axis and provides a good power-to-weight ratio
• Use a vibration insulator so you don’t ruin your images with air turbulence and vibration
• Fast lenses that are sharp at large apertures are helpful, but optional

Starting Out

When starting to shoot drone aerial photography, it’s important to get to know both the multi-rotor device and the camera. Start slow, watch tutorials and get to know your drone before take off. In the beginning, it’s a good idea to play around at different altitudes and practice landing.

When you’re ready to start flying and shooting photos or video, ensure your drone and the camera are facing ‘nose out’, so that you and the device are looking in the same direction. Keep in mind that learning to navigate the drone and shooting quality photos will be a work in progress; you’ll get better with practice.

Drone Aerial Photography Tips and Tricks

In order to get the shots you want, you need to plan ahead. Storyboard your shots and plan for time. Drones have limited flight time per outing, so you’ll want to know the average flight time for your drone and plan accordingly.

Whether you’re shooting video or still images, be aware of speed and motion. For still images, speed can be detrimental to your shots. It will take some practice to get camera movement to remain steady. When it comes to video, speed can be used for the perception of motion.

Keep safety in mind when flying your drone. Don’t fly over large crowds of people. Avoid bad weather where possible. Always consider what you might hit if your drone crashes.

After you’re comfortable with your drone aerial photography skills, consider upgrading your motor and propellers with KDE Direct products. Upgrading quadcopter motors adds flight time and power drones. Browse our shop for product information and have fun out there.