Introduction
I have been using a drone in my photography kit for a couple of years now and have shot with it across Scotland. Scotland is a fantastic place to shoot landscapes from the ground or the air; we are really spoiled here in that regard. The particular drone I use is the Mini 3 Pro from DJI, however, the information in this guide applies to every drone and all aerial work.
Loch Tulla, Scotland
Which Drone for Aerial Photography?
The Mini 3 Pro has been what I have used for several years now. This is, without a doubt the best drone for no hassle photography in my opinion; and I still continue to use it. In fact, I am just back from flying it today. It is lightweight, small and convenient and fits in my bag. This was one of the driving factors to choosing this drone in particular. Fly anywhere (almost), with the least restrictions in most countries and it has surprisingly good image quality for a small sensor camera. As you know if you have been reading my blog for awhile now, I come from using pro level 35mm Nikon DSLRs such as the D800, D810, D850 and Z8. If shot in raw, bracketed and processed delicately, these files are really nice.
What Makes A Captivating Aerial Picture?
Light, subject, composition…It is always the same three things you need to hold in your mind with any photography. There isn’t much you can do about the subject - if you have arrived at a location where you do not like the subject, drive or hike someplace else. The light, is a similar item, and is often a waiting game. Like regular, ground based Landscape Photography, it is usually a waiting game and experience - mixed with some luck that gets the goods. The chances of success are always increased by the frequency of being out there in the landscape itself. The more times you are experiencing nature, the more likely you will see and hopefully record something special. But how do we really do it you ask? What am I doing to collect the best information at the scene in order to process it later and create an image like the above?
The Settings for Success
Base ISO (ISO 100 for the Mini 3 Pro Drone)
Bracket everything in all but the least contrasty light (you can ditch what you don’t require later)
Fix white balance to 5500K for consistency and alter later if needed
Shoot in the native sensor format, with no trick modes. (12MP for the Mini 3 pro).
Enable the histogram on the controller and balance exposures
Learn how to effectively exposure blend using luminosity masking or another modern method
The above points will set you on the correct course for capturing and processing the best possible data.
Framing and Composition
Framing and composition are prime with all photography. Nothing changes now that we are airborne. We do have some things to consider however. If you are shooting with a drone that has a fixed lens, you have to think about perspective distortion. This is the type of distortion that presents itself from being too close with a wide angle to a subject (it has nothing to do with any inherent distortion present in the lens itself). The effective field of view of the Mini 3 Pro is 24mm in full frame format. This, I have found works well generally speaking for most pictures I make with the drone. We of course have, the option of horizontal or vertical framing too, which is freeing. Some subjects, depending on their placement within the frame will distort more than others with either orientation, so it is something we should factor in when taking pictures from above.
With all aerial photography, we need to think about how much sky we want in the shot. This should be a constant consideration; looking towards the sky, checking where the sun is in the sky - because we technically, in most cases do not want to be shooting directly into the sun or harshly sun-lit cloud. Usually this sort of light is too harsh for decent landscape photography, so the same principal applies here. Be cautious, as in normal ground based Landscape Photography, of blue sky days. They generally just don’t work, however there are exceptions to that rule.
Another big consideration is the importance of separation of scene elements when building your composition:
Eilean Donan Castle, Scotland
One of the reasons the above shot works well photographically, is that the height of the drone is such that the top of the castle does not intersect with the background land. It is nicely separated. It is a newbie error to under-estimate separation in a photograph. It is said that just being slightly higher or lower can change a good photograph into a great one. It’s all about separation here. Consider the importance of the height your drone is at relative to the subject, the angle it lies at relative to the scene and the amount of sky you place within the frame. The other reason this picture works well in a photographic sense; is that the sun was behind the drone, and illuminating the scene with late evening light, which is of course softer and better in quality than harsh midday sun. Of course, another perhaps obvious reason it works well, besides good light and composition; is that it is just an interesting subject and has a vast appeal. The grand scene often speaks to the most people in terms of landscape photography. Location is everything with aerial photography - I don’t care what anyone says, there are many places I don’t even bother to bring a camera out. However, that is me, and your mileage may vary, as might your interests.
There is an overall balance of the sky and land here, with a slight dominance given to the land (ie in the end, the subject of the photograph after all). Notice that I have not placed this into a strict rule of thirds composition. The horizon is not on a third, as we are so often conditioned to think it must be. If I did that, I'd have lost the power of the sky and its contributing drama in this image. I would have also lost the beautiful cloud framed by the darker cloud above it (there is a natural vignette here produced by the clouds and we want to use it to draw the eye down. We do not want to cut through the brighter white cloud area in the sky just below the darker cloud at the top). The light is such that the sun is behind the drone, effectively illuminating the castle with dark looking clouds behind - often an ideal situation and one I strive to find as much as possible for these types of picture. I find castle shots rarely work with blue skies, so watch for those when shooting subjects that suit more dramatic skies.
Let’s go back to the first picture I shared in this article. What makes it so good you might ask? (you might also not ask this!)
Loch Tulla Light, Scotland
Sometimes there is simply no magic to teach; no wisdom to impart, other than be there - much like the old landscapes F/8 and be there thing. Anybody could have taken this picture; however I did. I was there. No one else observed this moment; and no one else has it. This is what makes it special to me, and what makes all of photography special is that nostalgic factor. The essence of capturing a memory of a person, time, or place. We need to be there enough times, expose ourselves to the mundane enough times, that eventually we might just see something transformational. Something perhaps made even better; because no one else witnessed it.
Composition Breakdown
To delve a little deeper into this particular frame, fairly centralized subject, (the loch), it’s large and bright so is acting as a strong focal point. The dramatic dark clouds at the top of the frame add a natural vignette which draw the eyes down onto the scene below - just as we would wish in a picture such as this. In my mind, I couldn’t have framed this any other way; the loch had to be right there front and centre. It’s made even more powerful, by the strong S - shaped leading line into the scene from the bottom. For me, it gives it a sort of Jurassic Park vibe, albeit the Scottish version (let’s face it, that can only be a good thing, right?).
The Hermitage, Perthshire - Scotland
An Autumnal Picture
This image was shot in late autumn a few years ago in Perthshire. This is a three shot vertorama. In essence, a vertical panorama comprised of three pictures joined digitally in Photoshop. This might not look like it, however this is an exceptional field of view. If you have visited the Hermitage in Scotland, it will be a bit more obvious. To compose this image involves stitching the individual frames together, and bracketing the top frame - blending in the bright sky with a luminosity mask to get the natural dramatic sky without burning the tops of the trees dark. This has some complex initial stitching and the like however the actual image is very realistic. For the most part my edits are to reflect nature. Do not get me wrong, I still spend ages on mostly every picture I bother to share, however it is mostly subtle changes I am making. Dodging, burning, drawing the eye, blending exposures if required are the corner stones of what I do for this type of work. I often gravitate towards learning things in life that a) I need to know how to do well and b) I care enough to want to know more. In that sense, like many, I have developed my area of interest. I think many people might be like this also; however what I am trying to impart here is the very real sense that post processing skill is so crucial to obtaining the best result from RAW data which the camera captures. In this vein, if you want to know more about Luminosity masking - probably the single biggest factor I learned to elevating my editing and therefore photography style, click here to check out Jimmy McIntyre - the exposure blending expert who taught me so much as was extremely gracious when I reached out to him for further advice. You can also find him by a simple google search if the link breaks. I will try to keep on top of that side of things for this website. You will see he has used one of my images on the page I linked to also. Education will raise our game much more than a new camera or lens will. The sooner we realise this, the faster we will achieve what we want.
Stac Pollaidh, Coigach - Scotland
Photographing the Far North of Scotland
A strong leading line in this last picture in this article, which leads to the iconic Stac Pollaidh in Coigach. For this picture, I simply waited until I got the hint of light on the mountain and sent the drone up, knowing that the road would be the underpinning of the shot. Very simple; yet very effective. The one major tip I would give to anyone about landscape, or drone photography is to not over darken skies in post processing. Doing so often looks amateur and unrealistic of course, however more importantly, skies loose their drama and energy when they become too dark. This shot here is an example of this principal.
Stac Pollaidh beautifully demonstrates a glacial landscape. Around 22,000 years ago at the peak of glaciation, the Stac peak poked out of the top of the ice sheet - and it shows. The weathered peak shows freeze / thaw features leaving sharp rock exposed. The gentle, lower slopes of the Stac are from glaciers which spent thousands of years carving out U-shaped valleys (glens) all over Scotland. It is humbling to realise that the rock that formed this mountain is at least 1 billion years old. That’s about one quarter the age of the Earth itself!
Loch Buine Moire
Here is a final picture I have to share today, which I will leave for you to decide how and why I have composed it the way I have done. Drone and Aerial photography is all about trial and error to begin with. It’s about learning how to collect the best data at the scene, predominantly through base ISO usage and bracketing, and processing the files using modern luminosity masking techniques afterward to obtain a natural result.
Closing Thoughts
Keep your drone away from people as much as possible, even if you are allowed to fly it near or over them, such as with lighter weight drones. Not everyone is going to be enamored by drone use. If I ever land near to someone they tend to think they are about to be attacked by a giant, genetically modified, human eating wasp from hell. Go by stealth, don’t attract attention and try to follow the rules is my best advice in this genre of photography. This is not because we are doing anything wrong per se; however why attract needless drama when you simply don’t have to?