Photo Active
http://www.digitalcameraworld.com JUNE 2019 DIGITAL CAMERA^29
4
Shoot
straight
down
“Some of my favourite
shots are the straight-
down views. The world is
full of amazing patterns
when you look directly
down. Do be careful not
to make it look like a
flat grab from Google
Earth, though.”5
Equipment and
post-production
“I shoot most of my images on an DJI Mavic
2 Pro in HDR, meaning five frames blended together. It’s
sometimes not to everyone’s taste, but I try to do HDR
as your eye saw the scene, rather than an unrealistic
over-processed nightmare. There’s nothing worse than
a fake sky that wasn’t actually in the original scene.
I use Lightroom and Photoshop on desktop computers,
and Snapseed on a phone. Always use a desktop
computer when you can. Use AEB mode on the
drone to shoot five bracketed frames in one go.”5 legal tips for
using drones1 AIRPORTS
Chris says: “After
December 2018’s Gatwick
drone incident, the legal
perimeter for drones near
airports has changed from
1km to 5km. If you stray
inside this, expect harsh
treatment. Use the CAA
Drone Assist app to find
out if your location is legal.”2 DON’T LOSE SIGHT
“Always keep your
drone in Visual Line of
Sight. Just because the
instructions on your drone
say you can fly it 7km
away, you would be an idiot
to do so: it could either
collide with something
or someone, or crash
and you’ll lose it.”3 DO NOT FLY
ABOVE 400 FEET
“Again, just because your
drone can fly up to 2,000ft
high doesn’t make it a
good idea to do so – even
if you have checked the
area for air traffic before
the flight and it is all legal
and above board. Air traffic
can suddenly appear from
nowhere. Don’t become
a news story!”4 BIRDS
“I have arrived on
a shoot and abandoned
it because there are
too many birds around.
Seagulls will also dive-
bomb a drone: they see it
as a threat to any of their
nearby nests.”5 GET YOUR PFCO!
“If you want to fly
commercially, you will
need your PFCO, which is
permission to fly from the
CAA. This usually involves a
three-day course on how to
operate your drone safely.
Only then can you sell
your images. If you shoot
commercially without one,
you risk a £2000 fine.”
ChrisGorman