1 G E T A D R O N E W I T H G P S , F P V S C R E E N ,A N D A G I M B A L E D C A M E R ATo get decent shots, you need a drone that has GPS-stabilization while hovering, an FPV screen for precisioncamera control, and a gimbaled camera for sharp andsmooth shots without shaking or vibration. The DJIPhantom 3 Standard should be the minimum you considerfor photography. Spending more gets you nice features like4K video, more flight range, and larger camera sensors.

2 S H O O T C L O S E R T O S U N R I S E A N DS U N S E T

from SpyDroneR.com

DRONEPHOTOGRAPHY

GUIDE Expert Tips:

From Drone Selection to Editing in Post

Most Important Factors

Camera DroneSelection

Practice and Experimenting

Rule of Thirds

Once you choose a good camera drone and learn thebasics of drone photography and editing in post, then all

that's left is to just keep practicing and experimentingand your results will gradually improve

The What/When/Where

Some of the best photos with the best lighting and color areavailable during the golden hour after sunrise and beforesunset. Along the same line, photos have less helpfullighting at high noon, when the sun is at its highest pointand shadows are minimized.

Time & Place & Settings

Editing in Post

3 L E A R N L O C A L P I L O T I N G &P R I V A C Y L A W SBe sure to learn the various drone piloting and privacy lawsspecific to your country and make sure you stay withinthem, especially when choosing a target area.

4 G E T S P A R E B A T T E R I E S A N DL A U N C H C L O S E T O T A R G E TTo get the most flight time, and thus shot opportunities, tryto launch your drone from as close to your target as youcan. Also if you plan on doing a lot of shooting, then havesome spare batteries on hand.

5 P R A C T I C E & E X P E R I M E N T I N GM A K E S P E R F E C TThe more you practice and experiment with your drone, themore shot opportunities open up to you, and with themcomes the judgement of which way will get you the bestpossible shot.

6 S E T I M A G E A S P E C T - R A T I O T O 4 : 3Before you fly your drone, ensure your camera’s imageaspect-ratio is set to 4:3. Using a 16:9 aspect-ratio will cropthe image automatically, taking away detail. If you reallywant 16:9, then take a photo at 4:3 and then crop ityourself to get the best customized result.

Settings Before Launch

7 S E T P I C T U R E M O D E T O A E B( B R A C K E T I N G )HDR (High-Dynamic-Range) mode is good for high-contrast scenes, but AEB Mode (Auto-Exposure-Bracketing) is much more powerful. On the DJI Phantomseries it provides you with a range of up to 5 differentexposures of each shot, allowing you to create customizedHDR photos in post-production. You can add more detailto shadows or highlights this way, whatever your choice.

8 M A N U A L M O D E > A U T O M O D EAlways try to shoot in Manual mode if you can, as it allowsyou to manually select the optimal shutter speed and ISOfor each scene. Though Auto mode can sometimes be goodenough, especially if you're in a rush.

9 U S E L O W E S T I S O P O S S I B L E While in Manual shooting mode, it becomes a battle to setthe ISO as low as possible to minimize grain and noise whileat the same time getting enough light to capture the detailyou’re after. For example, the Phantom 3’s lowest ISOsetting is 100, so try to keep it there while the light levelsare sufficient.

10 K E E P S H U T T E R S P E E D U N D E R 2S E C O N D SUsing a faster shutter speed will freeze movement, whileslowing down the shutter speed will add a slight motionblur to moving subjects. To minimize the blurring effects ofdrone movements and wind vibrations, try to keep thecamera’s shutter speed under 2 seconds.

11 S E T Y O U R I M A G E F O R M A T T O R A W( I D E A L L Y B O T H R A W & J P E G I FY O U R D R O N E S U P P O R T S I T )If you want to shoot in the best way possible, then everyprofessional photographer will recommend shooting inRAW for maximum flexibility in post-processing. Theadvantages of RAW over JPEG are no data loss withcompression, max bit depth for more color detail, and fullcontrol over white balance in post.

12 C A L I B R A T E C O M P A S SBefore flying in a new location, you should calibrate yourcompass to minimize abnormal sensor data that couldpotentially lead to erratic behavior or failure. Check yourdrone's manual to see how.

ISO

RAW&

JPEG

13 N E U T R A L D E N S I T Y A N DP O L A R I Z I N G F I L T E R SIn bright and sunny shooting conditions with excessiveamounts of light, you’re often required to increase yourshutter speed to reduce the amount of light your camerasensor takes in. Neutral density filters let you lower theshutter speed in bright conditions by reducing the amountof light coming in without affecting color saturation.

14 R U L E O F T H I R D S ( T I M E S 4 )The Rule of Thirds is a simple photography guideline thathelps you frame your image as best as you can. It involvesdividing your frame with two horizontal and two verticallines, all equally-spaced. It's probably the simplest, yetmost powerful tip here.

For the best-framed photo, your subject should fall underany one of the four points where the lines intersect. Ifyou’re having a hard time selecting a point on your target,try to find something it intersects with in the background,like the horizon or an object, and choose that as your targetpoint.

Go into your camera setting menu on your drone andenable the grid option to make this easier to see.

If you’re unsure of which of the four points to use, then agood practice is to take four photos with the target pointunder each of the four grid points. This gives you fourdifferent options, allowing you to choose the best.

See the images below for the Rule of Thirds visualized:

Polarizing filters help reduce the glare and reflections frombright surfaces, and also help make the sky a richer bluewith increased color saturation. They are most effectivewhen used at an angle of 90 degrees from the sun.

Tips While Flying Drone

The painting above has it's target point where the lady's body intersects thehorizon (the intersection being more important than any specific point onthe body in this case).

The photo above has its target point where the figure's head intersects thehorizon.

15 H O V E R F O R S T I L L P H O T O S

Post Processing

To take the best and least blurry still shots, make suredrone is hovering in place and not moving. If it has to bemoving, for instance if it’s following something, then try tomove as slowly as possible. For video, movement is less of aproblem.

17 Post-processing allows your photos to be resized, cropped,straightened if not level, color-corrected, have their whitebalance on RAW photos adjusted, combine bracketed multipleexposure photos into custom HDR photos, applying filters, etc.

For basic editing, you can use mobile apps such as Snapseed orVSCO on your mobile device. If you want more powerfulediting options, especially for RAW photos, then AdobeLightroom and Photoshop on your computer are hard to beat.

Check out SpyDroneR.com for the expanded guide and more

16 A D V A N C E D S O F T W A R E F E A T U R E SIf you are planning on shooting a dynamic changing scene invideo, consider using the various software waypointoptions your drone supports. Some drones allow you toautomatically circle around a point or fly through a seriesof preselected waypoints while you control the camera.

If you don’t want to pay for the excellent PhotoshopLightroom to edit your RAW photos, then RawTherapee is asolid free alternative.

ConclusionPick the right droneSelect the right settingsLaunch at the right time & placeTry the Rule of Thirds (x4)Practice and experiment to see the best optionsEdit your photos in post