Improve your Aerial Photography with these handy tips

droneblog.com
By Omar
February 16, 2017


 


Drones or unmanned aerial vehicles have literally exploded onto the market. Ok, well not like the Ford Kuga or the Galaxy 7, but you know what I mean, in a good way. They are affordable, fairly easy to get the hang of and loads of fun.

Many people are quite content to use their drone for a bit of fun, flying them around and doing the odd trick or two. Most people, however, want to take aerial photographs or video using their drones. This takes a bit of skill and a fair amount of practice. It’s not the same a snapping a quick selfie with your smartphone.

The first step is to master your drone flying skills. It is no good trying to take quality photographs if you are still worried about controlling the drone.

If you want to improve the quality of the photographs or video taken from your drone, read on. If you have some basic photography skills, great. The same ideas apply, they just have to be adapted for aerial photography. If you are an absolute beginner, that is also ok, the following tips will help you to take impressive drone photographs.


Practice

If you are just starting out, the urge to start taking photographs can be overwhelming. Try and fight this urge and ensure you can fly the drone perfectly before you add more challenges to the task.

Once you 100% confident and competent in operating your drone, you can start experimenting with photographs and video.

Also, keep an eye on the weather. This applies to beginners as well as experienced flyers. The more wind you have to contend with, the harder the task is going to be and the less likely you will be to get good results.


Camera quality

Much of this will depend on your budget and how seriously you want to take the photography aspect. Many drones come with a built-in camera, starting from rather basic and inexpensive to some pretty good quality cameras.

If you are still learning or taking the odd photographs as a hobby, the built-in cameras are fine. If you want to take it more seriously and produce high quality or commercial quality photographs, then it would be wise to go for a drone that you can attach the camera of your choice to. You might choose to start with a fairly basic camera and upgrade as your skills and needs develop.

A few things to look for in a camera:
Go for the highest megapixel count your budget will allow
The better the resolution, the clearer your photographs will be
Take a look at the view modes that are available to see what works best for you
Low-light capabilities are a great advantage
If you intend to shoot video as well as still images, the higher the frames per second the better quality your video will be


Invest in a Gimbal

A gimbal is a joint that mounts the camera onto the drone and assists in stabilizing the camera, compensating for the movement and keeping it steady as you shoot. Some drones with a built-in camera already have a gimbal. If you are adding your own camera, it is worth investing in a gimbal, especially if you want to shoot video.

They can be rather costly but if you have invested in a decent drone and a quality camera, it is worth spending the extra on a gimbal for better quality and clarity.

Most gimbals also allow you to move, tilt or angle the camera as well, allowing for a greater range of angles and options when shooting.


Go higher for more perspective

Many people try and fly close to the object they wish to photograph. While this might seem logical, it misses the main advantage of having a drone that can hover high above the subject, giving a great perspective and more into the picture.



Practice and experiment with different heights and angles to get an idea of what I am talking about.


Use GPS Mode

GPS mode can come in really handy, especially for less experienced flyers and photographers. The main advantage is that it improves stabilizations but it also allows you to focus on the photography without having to think much about controlling the UAV.

You can survey the area, pre-plan the flight path and then let the drone do its thing while you concentrate on taking the best shots.

Having a Drone with GPS mode is a most for Drone Photography. Unlike most RC craft, price is not a good measure of ease of use. If you take an RC car, for example, the more expensive models have more features and higher speeds and are more difficult to control. With drones or UAVs the slightly more expensive models are generally easier to control.


Use FPV

Some drones offer first person view or FPV as a standard feature, others work off an app or you might have to invest in additional equipment for this. FPV is particularly good for long range and distance shots or following a subject you are filming or photographing. It is not great for close up photography.


Get the Settings Right

This may take a bit pf practice and experimentation to determine what works best for your equipment and the type of work you are doing. Again, it takes practice and patience.

The drone and gimbal quality also make a big difference. Either way, it is very different than taking photographs from a camera on a sturdy tripod. What you sacrifice in stability your more than makeup for in the unique angles and perspectives that you can get from a drone.

With a decent gimbal you can use a lower resolution, play around to see what works best but 720p will normally be ok. Have the zoom on medium.

If you don’t have a gimbal use the highest resolution available and a wide zoom.

Getting this right will make a big difference to your results so take the time to experiment with different resolutions, frame rates and zoom settings.


Shoot Using Different Angles

The ability to take shots from a number of angles is one of the benefits drone photography offers so take advantage of it.

Get a series of multiple different angles and different viewpoints, from above and different sides. You can later determine which worked out the best.


Select a Good Location

Look for somewhere safe and open, free from overhead cables, birds, buildings and trees. You also want an area that has something or a few things of interest.

As you become more experienced you can try some more challenging locations.

Also, make sure it is legal to fly in the area you choose and you are complying with local regulations.


Night Photography

It helps to have a controller or app that gives you a display or FVP for night photography. You can buy additional lighting accessories that you can play around with for great effects.

Depending on what you go for you can take better shots at sunset or even in total darkness if the lights are powerful enough.

The main thing to bear in mind, especially if you are fairly new to photography is that most learning comes from practice and trial end error. You can read countless pages of tips and tricks but the real learning comes from doing it and analyzing the results. See where your errors are and decide what can be done to correct them. Works out what setting are best for what type of shot and setting. Always look at your photographs critically afterwards to see how they can be improved.

Decent photograph and video editing software is also essential to get professional results.

Trust me; it will not take long to be a competent aerial photographer. Once you have the basics mastered, you can fine-tune and perfect your skill and soon you will be taking captivating, incredible photographs.

Read more:

http://droneblog.com/2017/02/16/improve-your-aerial-photography-with-these-handy-tips/

Six Tips For Scaling Your Drone Operation

suasnews.com
By Press
3 February 2017

So you’ve obtained executive buy-in for a drone program at your company and started small. By achieving gains in efficiency and overall safety, you’ve made a strong case for expansion. How do you take the next step forward without jeopardising what you’ve already built?

Scaling your drone operation can seem daunting. With a little smart planning and prioritisation, you’ll have an easier time moving forward.

1. Manage your data
Even if you’re flying a drone for simple photogrammetry, you have an opportunity to apply algorithm analysis and increase the quantity and quality of the data you gather. Skyward partner PrecisionHawk applies algorithms that can determine whether crops are diseased or need fertiliser, as well as their eventual yields. As your business grows, extracting more actionable data from each flight will become a vital means to increase the efficiency and value of your operation.

With all this information, storage and management increasingly become concerns. How long do you need to store your data? How can you best search and maintain these databases as they grow? Thinking about these questions now and planning ahead will spare you a few headaches further down the road.

2. Have strong internal systems

No matter what industry you’re in, having strong internal systems in place will make the process of scaling up run exponentially smoother—and this tip goes double if you’re in a particularly complex industry such as construction and engineering or media. So many moving pieces at any given moment (permits, personnel, equipment, schedules, multiple vendors) introduce variables and increase risks. As your operation scales up, you’ll find it increasingly important to have an easy-to-use system to manage all of these details, especially once you start coordinating multiple jobs in separate locations with different flight crews and managers. You’ll want to know that every crew is following the same processes, that aircraft are being maintained to the same sets of standards, and that everyone is meeting internal and regulatory compliance.

If you haven’t already, come to one of our weekly live demos to see how Skyward can help you accomplish these goals.

3. Be flexible with pricing
We get dozens of emails every week from individuals and big companies asking for advice on pricing drone services. Because the industry is so new, everyone is wondering how much to charge for aerial services and data. You have to start somewhere, but rest assured that the pricing structure you start with doesn’t have to stay the same forever.

This doesn’t necessarily mean finding ways to charge more. Experiment with charging by the hour, by deliverable, or by the day—you can go after different parts of the market with different options. Take PrecisionHawk, for example. They charge farmers 10 cents per acre to process crop data, and 20 cents per acre to store the data. They adapted their pricing to their farmer clients, who are accustomed to thinking by the acre. Once you find an approach that works, a clear, tiered pricing structure will help further expand your customer base. People like to be given choices, and it’s best if they’re choosing between your offerings than between you and a competitor.

A hybrid pricing structure might also be the right approach, depending on your offerings and capabilities. Certain deliverables require expensive software or intensive, time-consuming analysis. If these deliverables aren’t profitable after you’ve factored in travel, time, and opportunity cost, don’t be afraid to turn down that work, or raise the price to reflect your investment.

4. Be creative
New use cases are being discovered every day, and it’s likely that we have yet to see most of the commercial applications for drones and aerial data. But even now, drones are providing utility well beyond nice real estate videos, especially by taking over dangerous or time-consuming jobs that can be done safer and more efficiently with a drone.

NBC News recently used drones to document the aftermath of earthquakes in Italy and flooding in Louisiana. Volumetric stockpile inspections are another growing use case across several industries. Equipped with the right software, a drone flying over, say, a vast pile of aluminium extrusions, can help to determine how many aluminium rods you have and how long they will take to transport.

Here’s an example that might surprise you: Stantec, the multinational professional services firm, uses drones to examine sites for possible anthropological and paleontological significance. By flying over a site that’s poised for development, they can see if artefacts are buried under the surface and avoid costly legal and ethical complications during construction.

This union of the ancient and the modern world might have been unimaginable a few years ago, but we are now at the point where new applications for drone technology are being identified in almost every field. By embracing one of these new use cases—or better yet discovering one on your own—you can expand the value of your drone operations.

5. Expand your fleet
With a larger fleet and more pilots, you can cover a wider area and perform multiple operations simultaneously, or you can use several drones at a single site to cover a large area in a fraction of the time. If you’re having trouble finding qualified pilots, or need an additional hand to help with a tricky or demanding flight, you can use Skyward’s Pilot Finder to search for operators, filtering by location, desired services, drone manufacturer, insurance coverage, and more.

Having a good maintenance system can prevent many, but not all, equipment problems. And when your primary aircraft becomes unusable before or during an operation, the fix is sometimes not as simple as turning a screw. As your total flights increase, so does the risk of malfunction. With a backup UAV available, you’ll be able to complete the scheduled flight and then perform repairs on your own discretion, not in the field.

6. Network
How are you presenting yourself to the public or different divisions within your company? What sets you apart and what problems do you solve? You should have a comprehensive marketing strategy and a visually appealing website that shows off your capabilities—even if your “customers” are your co-workers. The deliverables you can provide are a better marketing tool than the tools you’re using, as customers might not be able to translate technical specifications into the results they’re seeking. Looking to promote your services to major corporations? Partnering with a reputable drone network will increase your visibility, and help establish a sense of trust in a nascent industry.

For more on finding customers, take a look at our recent article on Finding Customers and Growing Your Drone Business.

https://skyward.io/6-tips-for-scaling-your-drone-operation/

Read more at:
https://www.suasnews.com/2017/02/six-tips-scaling-drone-operation/