Aerial Photography | The Basics of Drones for Wedding Photography

Aerial photography for weddings is growing rapidly in popularity - and it’s no surprise why. Unlike ground photography, UAVs provide magnificent perspectives of a stunning location and a once-in-a-lifetime event. Drone photography produces cinematic aerial shots, offering a macro view of a wedding only a quadcopter could accomplish.

Learn the basics of capturing the venue, the guests, the bride and groom, and the scenery from the sky to capture wedding memories that can never be forgotten.

Planning Ahead

Being prepared before the shoot will leave you free to let your creative flag fly and capture stunning shots the day of the event!

Know the Laws in Your Area

Before you do anything else, make sure you familiarize yourself with laws in the area where you’ll be shooting. For instance, national parks never allow drones, and some cities won’t allow you to fly over private property.

Policies around drones are ever changing, so it’s important to double-check that you have the permits required to shoot at or around the wedding venue. Many permits for drones take time to acquire and may require a fee. On a similar note, always take precautions to fly safely and avoid flying over wedding guests.

Insure Your Drone and Camera

Insure your drone beforehand just in case. Drone photographers need personal property and liability insurance for commercial UAVs. In the extremely rare event that someone or something is affected, the drone operator is covered and the damaged object will be repaired.

Keep an Eye Out for Weather and Battery Life

Check the weather conditions in the area a few days before the wedding. It’s not safe to fly your UAV in winds higher than eight mph, heavy rain, or any other extreme weather conditions. While some drones and cameras may be waterproof, many are not. Only shoot when the sky is calm and clear to get focused, well-lit shots.

Most drones average 15-25 minutes of flight time per battery, so make sure you pack a few extra batteries to shoot the full event.

Shooting the Wedding

Explore Your Venue

Drones are excellent for taking establishing shots of the venue. Scope out the area before the ceremony so you can familiarize yourself with the facility. Make sure you have plenty of time to capture the venue in full before guests arrive - weddings only happen once, so there are no reshoots. In many weddings, the drone becomes a celebrity or party entertainment in its own right. Don’t be surprised if guests approach you, asking to take pictures with it.

Avoid Distracting Guests

After capturing the establishing shot, many drone cinematographers only shoot while music is playing during the procession, so attendees aren’t distracted by the sound of the drone. Likewise, others shoot during the cocktail hour so as not to disturb guests.

You can position the drone well behind the ceremony and equip the camera with a quality zoom lens to avoid distractions or opt for a high-altitude shot to capture guests mingling during the reception.

Capture the Most Requested Aerial Shot

The most requested aerial shot is the same as that of any other wedding - the moment the bride walks down the aisle. In this case, higher isn’t always better. Shoot the bride walking down the aisle at a lower angle than your other shots. This will help you capture more of the couple’s bodies and faces in a more ethereal way than shooting from the ground.

Upgrades for Your Drone

KDE Direct offers multi-rotor brushless motors, carbon propeller blades, and replacement kits to keep your UAV stable and soaring like never before. KDE Direct leads the field in aerial technology, employing top-of-the-line components to deliver longer flight times and more durable systems. Engineered and designed in the United States, our brushless motors and components provide best-in-class performance, power, and efficiency.

From design redundancy standards and fail-safes to thrust performance and payload capacity, KDE Direct motors are engineered for longer flight times along with higher efficiency and payloads that push the limits of today’s technology.