Digital SLR Photography - UK (2019-12)

CREATE AMAZING

AERIAL IMAGES

WHEN YOU’RE SHOOTING WITH A CAMERA THAT OFFERS LIMITED FUNCTIONALITY OR LITTLE ABILITY TO ADD PHOTOGRAPHIC

ACCESSORIES, YOU HAVE TO USE EVERY TRICK YOU CAN TO GET THE BEST SHOTS POSSIBLE. CAA-APPROVED DRONE PILOT

JAMESABBOTTOUTLINESTHEKEYTECHNIQUESTHATWILLDRAMATICALLYIMPROVETHEQUALITYOFYOURAERIALIMAGES

Words & images: JAMES ABBOT T

D

RONES OPEN A world of opportunity

for photographers; offering a

multitude of viewpoints and angles

when you consider the altitudes

you can fly at and the number of degrees

of camera/gimbal tilt available. So, once

you’re comfortable with flying a drone and

operating the camera, it’s time to move onto

the main reason you bought a drone – to

photograph aerial images.

The camera on most consumer drones

match the capabilities of high-end compacts,

which means you have automatic, semi-

automatic and manual shooting modes so

you can take as much or as little control of

the camera as you need. But, just like with

standard stills photography, it’s safe to say that

the most useful modes are aperture-priority

and manual, depending on which you prefer.

For landscape aerial photography, control

over the aperture is essential for achieving

a large depth-of-field. With both smaller

mobile phone-size sensors and larger 1in

sensors found in some drones, f/5.6 will

provide a close equivalent to f/11 – the 'sweet

spot' of many lenses that provides a large

depth-of-field coupled with the best image

quality the lens is able to resolve.

In this part of our drone series, we’re going

to teach you the key techniques you need to

know to take the best aerial shots possible.

From viewpoint and composition to HDR for

maintaining natural-looking detail throughout

the scene to noise stacking to improve image

quality, this month’s instalment will help you

to achieve professional results effortlessly

while maintaining optimum image quality.

Essential Guide...

 
 

PART 3