Photography Tips

IF you already have a photography background then there may not be much in here that is new to you. I will put some items in bullet form on here then explain them.

Some key things to keep in mind if you are new to this:

Frame up your pictures keeping in mind what is called the thirds rule
If there is an item of interest in your picture, is it going to be the focus or an accent
TURN ON YOUR HISTOGRAM
Use different setting for the same picture so you can see the results.
Use filters

FRAME UP YOUR PICTURES

The Thirds Rule is to try an ensure that you have only 1/3 of your picture that shows the sky (unless the sky is your focus, ie clouds) Most drones have the option of turning on a GRID which will help you get that done. The grid is broken up into thirds. If your camera is pointing straight ahead you will get half/half so you might need to pan down a bit.

ITEMS OF INTEREST

We like to capture the unique things we see but sometimes we focus on just that item and lose what could be a great picture. I will give you a scenario, You have a bikini model standing in front of a waterfall.

If the model is the item that needs to be the principle item then should would normally be in the center of the picture, but then you lose the wonderful waterfall. She is called the focus and the waterfall is the accent.

If the model is not to be the focus then the scenery becomes the focus and she becomes that accent. Envision in your mind what is the picture you want to do and then work from there. (personally I would do some of both in that case.)

TURN ON YOU HISTOGRAM

I could go to great length on this but easier for you to watch this video : https://forum.dji.com/thread-135404-1-1.html

USE DIFFERENT SETTINGS

Once you are used to the other above items, try using different setting so that you can see what difference those can make. For example, in normal daylight I always try to shoot pictures with a setting of 100 ISO (best quality) but there is times for some pictures that I want to introduce some "noise" to get the effect that I want. For that I would move my ISO to the highest setting that I can use.

Other times I need to really slow down a a picture for the effect. For example, if I was shooting a waterfall. I can decide if I want the water coming over the edge to be crystal clear so I can see each drop or do I want that water to "flow" over the edge. To get that "flow" effect you have to use ND filters to slow down your shutter speed. I have some great waterfall pics, but those required an ND64 filter. I highly recommend using an ND all the time but you will have to choose based on you light for that day. (see video bellow)

There is a great app out there made by Polar Pro which can recommend which filter you need to use for your currently lighting.