32
MAY 2019
WEAREOVERWHELMEDDAILY
BYTHOUSANDSOFIMAGES,BEIT
ONSOCIALMEDIAORMAGAZINE
ARTICLES.FROMA PROFESSIONAL
PHOTOGRAPHER’SPERSPECTIVE,
OURAUDIENCEISINDANGEROF
BCOMINGJADED.
Tocapturetheaudience’sattention,we
need to find fresh imagesor new angles.
Dronesprovidethatadvantage– offering
a freshperspectiveeachandeverytime.
Dronetechnologyis advancingquickly.A
dronethatlastyearwassolargeit needed
to becarriedin yoursuitcaseis thisyearre-
placedbysomethingthesizeof a basketball.
Next year, it might be somethingthat fits in
yourpocket.And it’snotjustthesizethatis
changing.Imageresolutionis improvingtoo.
Today’spocket-sizeddronesarecapableof
carryinga camerawithenoughresolutionto
capturepublishableimages.
Sofar,thereareveryfewpeopletramp-
ingwithdronesin NewZealand,butwith
theincreasein availabilityandportability,
thismaywellchange.Thegreatestlimita-
tioncurrentlyfortrampersremainsweight.
SomeofDJI’s– theworld’slargestdrone
manufacturer– latestdronesweighless
thana two-persontent.
Dronesarequicklystartingtoreplace
theneedto usehelicoptersforaerialpho-
tographyin thebackcountry.Althoughan
operatormayhavetowalkto a site,drones
stillhavemanyadvantages.Forexample,
wherea photographerusinga helicopter
may only be able to afford one flight, drone
operatorscannowwaitfortheperfectlight
beforelaunchingandcanmakemultiple
flights.They can also shoot at slow shutter
speeds– somethingnotpossiblein a shaky
helicopter– andcreatecomplexpanoramas
and 360-degreeimages.
Whilesomebackcountryuserswillbe
opposedto thenegativeeffectsonnatural
quiet, dronesoften replacethe need to fly
intotheseplaces,createlittlenoisein com-
parisontoa helicopterandcreatenocarbon
dioxideemissions.Whilstflying my drone in
thehills,everyoneI haverunintohasbeen
morecuriousthanannoyedby my “upside-
down flying lawnmower”.WILD PHOTOGRAPHY
Moderndronesarenow
sosmalltheyfoldup
to thesizeof a small
sleepingbag.Thisphoto
wastakenin a remote
areaof Kahurangi
National ParkThesmalltownof
Punakaikiis
backdroppedbyPaparoa
NationalPark