Photographer's Guide to Drones, 2nd Edition
Description
Learn to master your drone?the gear, the technique, the photography, the video?and create jaw-dropping visuals!
Over the last few years, drones and quadcopters have become the hottest new gear in photography, whether you're a professional photographer or an amateur shooter. These ?flying tripods? have given photographers the ability to place their cameras virtually anywhere they want, creating still images and video footage that was previously impossible to capture. Many photographers have a drone or quadcopter right at the top of their ?I want? list. And many others have already purchased a drone but haven't mastered its use yet.
No matter what model you may own?whether that's a popular Mavic, Mini, Air, or Phantom from DJI, or another brand?you need to learn how to put this new gear to good use in your aerial photography. You need to learn how to safely operate and fly a drone, how to create compelling photos and video, and how to make your work stand out from the crowd.
In this fully updated and revised edition of the bestselling first edition, photographer and bestselling author Colin Smith guides you toward mastering your drone and creating powerful and impactful imagery. Featuring his award-winning and beautiful aerial photography throughout the book, Colin will teach you:
• How to fly a drone, including practice flight patterns and controller tips that will help you master the basics
• New rules of composition for aerial photography as they apply to drone and quadcopter imagery
• How to create the best files for both still photos and video
• Post-processing techniques?both basic workflow and advanced techniques?unique to aerial photography that you need to know, such as how to make videos look both dynamic and smooth
You'll learn everything you need to know about drones and quadcopters in order to take your photography to new levels...literally!
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Safety and Regulations
Chapter 2: Drones and Gear
Chapter 3: Flight School
Chapter 4: Shooting Photographs with a Drone
Chapter 5: Shooting Video with Drones
Chapter 6: Basic Photo Workflow in Lightroom or ACR
Chapter 7: Advanced Photo Editing
Chapter 8: Editing Aerial Video
Parting Words
Index
More details
Other editions
Additional editions
Content
- Cover
- Copyright
- Contents
- Chapter 1: Safety and Regulations
- Safety
- Preflight Safety
- In-Flight Safety
- Propeller Guards
- Attacks by Seagulls
- Other Safety Concerns
- Regulations
- Recreational Flyer
- How to Fly a Drone Recreationally
- TRUST Test
- Registration
- Commercial Use
- Part 107
- Conclusion
- Chapter 2: Drones and Gear
- Mavic Foldable Drones
- Mavic (Formally Mavic Pro)
- Occusync
- Autel Robotics
- Sony Airpeak S1
- Firmware Updates
- Gear
- Filters
- First Person View (FPV)
- Batteries
- SD Cards and Readers
- Bags and Cases
- Chapter 3 Flight School
- Pre-Flight Check
- FPV App
- Control Basics
- Controllers
- A Dozen Exercise Patterns to Fly Like a Master
- Time to Yaw
- Framing Exercise
- Master of Movement
- Advanced Flight Modes
- GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite Systems) Assist
- Tripod mode and Sport Mode
- ATTI
- Course Lock
- Home Lock
- Self-Flying, Robotic Flying
- POI/Orbit
- Dronie/Selfie
- Cable Cam/Waypoints
- Follow Me/Tracking
- Novelty Modes
- TOAL: Takeoff and Landing
- Auto Takeoff and Land
- Manual Takeoff and Land
- Handheld Launch/Catch Landing
- Which Landing Style?
- Chapter 4: Shooting Photographs with a Drone
- Foundational Rules of Photography
- Rule of Thirds for Composition
- Change Your Viewpoint, Change the Photo
- Try Flying Lower
- Fill the Frame with the Subject
- Foreground Elements and Interest
- Leading Lines
- Control the Background
- Shoot During Good Light
- Golden Hour
- Special Types of Photography
- Panoramas
- Bracketing: HDR, Capturing the Full Range
- Panoramic HDR
- Burst of Shots to Get the Action
- Bird's-Eye View
- Chapter 5: Shooting Video With Drones
- First-Person View in Video
- Video Basics
- Frame Size
- Frame Rate
- Best Settings for Video
- ND Filters
- A Word on Compelling Video
- Video Movement
- Static Video
- Dynamic Video
- Single-Axis Moves
- Aerial Camera Moves
- Chapter 6: Basic Photo Workflow in Lightroom or ACR
- Media Downloading and Tips
- Dumping Your Data
- Where Are You Putting It?
- Where Is It?
- Asset Management in Lightroom
- Catalog
- Collections
- Keywords
- Finding Images in Lightroom
- Basic Edits in Lightroom
- Basic Lightroom Workflow
- Fix the Lens
- Crop and Straighten
- Color Correction
- Tonal Corrections
- Local Corrections
- Gradient
- Using AI Tools to Darken the Sky
- Making the Subject Pop
- Adjustment Brush
- Fixing the Bad Stuff
- Noise
- Chromatic Aberration
- Finishing Techniques
- Radial
- Vignette
- Creative Use of Dehaze
- Sharpen
- Sharpening Workflow
- Conclusion
- Chapter 7 Advanced Photo Editing
- Panoramas
- Panoramas in Lightroom
- Fixing the edges
- Panoramas in Photoshop
- High Dynamic Range (HDR) Images
- HDR Panorama
- Exposure Blending
- Dodge and Burn, Painting with Light and Shadow
- Removing Distractions
- High Pass Sharpening
- Special Effects
- Sky Replacement
- Tilt Shift
- 360-Degree Tiny Planet
- Chapter 8 Editing Aerial Video
- Free (Or Almost Free)
- Trimming Clips
- Mining the Shots in NLE
- Trimming in Photoshop
- Photos from Video
- Extracting a Still in Premiere Pro
- Extracting a Still in Lightroom
- Color Grading
- Lumetri
- What About the Histogram?
- Adding Color to the Shadows and Highlights
- Storytelling with Color Grading
- LUTS
- Using LUTs
- Rolling Your Own LUTS
- Plugins for Stylized looks
- Magic Bullet
- Boris FX, Sapphire
- Fixing Common Aerial Video Problems
- Reducing Shake
- Removing Lens Distortion
- Reducing Prop Shadows
- Reducing Noise
- Encoding
- Encoding from Adobe Premiere Pro
- Encoding from Photoshop
- Parting Words
- Index
