Drone Photography and Video Masterclass 1781453004, 9781781453001

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR Fergus Kennedy is a photographer, filmmaker, and marine biologist, and an experienced multirotor pilot and camera operator. Through his company, Skylark Aerial Imaging, he uses drones to provide aerial video,

still photography, and 3D modeling services to clients including the BBC, ABC Television, Canon Europe, Love Productions, WWF, and the Royal Navy.

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PHOTOGRAPHY & VIDEO MASTERCLASS

FERGUS KENNEDY

AMMONITE PRESS

CONTENTS INTRODUCTION CHAPTER 01 THEN & NOW

CHAPTER 05 STILL PHOTOGRAPHY

Early Aerial Photography

What Makes A Great Photographer?

Dawn OfThe Drones

Composition

Rapid Evolution

Camera Settings

Profile: Andy Yeung

Shutter Speed Aperture

CHAPTER 02 EQUIPMENT

ISO

Types Of Drone

Profile: Andy Deitsch

Gimbals

Lens Choice

Camera Choice

Image Format

Monitoring

Post-Processing

120

Batteries

Panoramas

124

Profile: Eddie Oosthuizen

Planning Shots

128

Profile: David Hopley

130

Yn

CHAPTER 03 SAFETY & LEGAL REQUIREMENTS

Essential Knowledge

CHAPTER 06 SHOOTING VIDEO

Air Traffic

One Person, Two Jobs

134

Keeping Your Distance

Get Moving!

136

Other Legal Requirements

Exposure & Focus

142

Privacy

Resolution, Compression & Frame Rate

146

Weather

Color

150

Planning Your Mission

In The Editing Suite

152

Preflight Checklist Profile: Miguel Willis

Profile: Lec Park

154

CHAPTER 07 3D MAPPING & MODELING Getting Started Planning Your Mission

158

Flying Skills Profile: Fredrik Christiansen Flight Modes Getting To Grips With Flight Line Of Sight

Case Study: Mapping The Picos De Europa

164

Glossary

170

Useful Websites

172

FPV

Picture Credits

173

Profile: Felix von Aulock

Index

174

About The Author & Acknowledgments

176

CHAPTER 04 DRONE SETUP & FLYING SKILLS

Get To Know The App

160

INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION If all of your photography takes place with your feet planted

Whether you are a keen photographer in search of new frontiers,

firmly on the ground, you’re missing out on a whole dimension!

or you have a drone and want to hone your photographic or video skills, this book contains all the guidance and inspiration you need. The amount of information may seem daunting at first, but if you fly your drone with specific goals in mind— concentrating on one technique at a time and carefully planning your flight toward a specific shot—you will find that your photography or video skills improve at a much faster rate. You are far better off capturing one stunning shot on a flight than snapping dozens of mediocre ones! Although there is plenty of detail in this book about equipment—and you certainly need to know your way around your kit—it’s important to realize that it is the person operating the controls that makes the photograph. It’s very easy to become distracted by the equipment, but the magic happens when the drone becomes an extension of you and you can concentrate on the view through the camera lens. Most of the outstanding drone shots | have seen have been taken by talented and experienced photographers using very modest equipment, and you can quite easily join their ranks.

The ability to look down on the earth, as though through the

eyes of a bird, has been a dream of mankind throughout history. I’ve often wished | could get an aerial view of a particular scene— having worked as a photographer from a variety of full-sized aircraft, | knew what could be achieved from the air, but it was

often too expensive or impractical. So when affordable camera

drones started to become available, | was really excited to become involved—the air above and around us now represents a realm of photographic opportunity that is rapidly becoming more accessible. But how best to approach this amazing new opportunity?

The ideas and tips put forward in this book can be summarized by the phrase “You’re not flying a drone, you’re moving a camera.” By this, |don’t mean that you can ignore all the skills and safety aspects involved in operating an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), it is just that these should become second nature.

Once that happens, you can concentrate on the photographic

and creative elements involved in making beautiful images.