Take it yourself

Using a drone not only changes your perspective but the way you shoot too

EQUIPMENT

DRONE Use any drone with a decent onboard camera. Make sure you have a fast micro SD in both your phone and drone. Use SD cards with Class 10/UHS-1 and above, and a writing speed of 60 Mbps. Slower cards will cause disconnections in flight and problems with video feed as they can’t process data quickly enough. If you’re new to drone flying, find an open field and practise until the controls become second nature.

SETTINGS

Shoot in raw (or large, low-compressed jpegs if your camera does not allow raw) and D-Log, which supplies a very flat, low-contrast image that allows you to keep detail in post-production. Take wind into account when setting shutter speed and don’t go below 1 sec; moving subjects like waves or animals will need a high speed. Set ISO as low as possible as most drones don’t handle higher sensitivity well. Start with the aperture at f/5.6 and move up and down for correct exposure. Depth of field shouldn’t be too much of a concern because of the distance between the camera and subject, but f/8 will give you the sharpest image.

PRACTICAL

Safety first. Knowing the rules and planning your flight is essential – check that the airspace you plan to fly in has no restrictions (see ‘Know your stuff’ on the next page).

Shoot during the ‘golden hour’ after sunrise or before sunset. This gives you lower contrast, longer shadows and better texture and depth. Correct framing is key – directly from above for a bird’s-eye-view shot. Flying a drone can be stressful but take your time with this.

Use bracketing to get the exposure right. Most drones have an AEB (auto-exposure bracketing) function that allows you to shoot a set of different exposures that can be blended in post-production.