Drone Photography: Art and Techniques 9781785006906

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Drone Photography

Drone Photography Art and Techniques

Jake Sugden

First published in 2020 by The Crowood Press Ltd Ramsbury, Marlborough Wiltshire SN8 2HR www.crowood.com [email protected]

This e-book first published in 2020 © Jake Sugden 2020 All rights reserved. This e-book is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN 978 1 78500 690 6 Dedication If you’re serious about photography you’ll know that you need the tireless support of those around you. This book is dedicated to Susie, my constant companion, often found ‘riding in the car’ on my many photo-adventures. Disclaimer The information in this book was accurate at the time of writing, but please check the current regulations to ensure that your flights are safe and lawful. The author and the publisher do not accept any responsibility in any manner whatsoever for any error or omission, or any loss, damage, injury, adverse outcome, or liability of any kind incurred as a result of the use of any of the information contained in this book, or reliance upon it.

CONTENTS

Introduction

  PART ONE: Getting your camera airborne 1 Early history of aerial photography 2 Types of drone and their capabilities 3 Safe and legal? 4 Flying your drone for the first time 5 Planning an aerial shoot

  PART TWO: Photography 6 Stills photography 7 Basic stills editing 8 Finishing your work and sharing it 9 Postscript – other forms of data capture 10 Case Study Useful resources and information Appendix: Regulations Index

Introduction

he very recent explosion in the availability and use of drones has been a phenomenon that has taken both photography, and the aviation world, completely by surprise. Their arrival has suddenly put highly sophisticated, very affordable, cameras on ‘easy to fly’ aircraft within the reach of budding photographers. With a new-found freedom, these photographers have enthusiastically taken to the skies in their thousands – snapping away and sharing the airways with manned aviation. And there’s the rub. With the advent of drone technology, aerial photography, which itself has been around for decades, is very much in its infancy. Unfortunately, a lot of what we read and watch about drones has negative connotations. For the most part, the media has delighted in portraying drones as the tools of voyeurs, drug gangs and activists trying to disrupt airport operations. The press has largely demonized drones as the modern-day scourge of the skies and has called for them to banned. Conversely, drones are portrayed by others as the very essence of the future in our modern-day consumerist lives.

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Whether you are a photographer keen to explore new territory or a beginner who wants to build your photography skills, then this book will set you on the path to safe and successful adventures.

Of course, as with any technology, there are those – the majority – who embrace it for its positive potential and recognize the wide range of possibilities offered by drone technology beyond just photography, such as data collection. The potential uses for drones are almost endless and, indeed, they have already been adopted across a wide spectrum of disciplines from archaeology to zoology. Looking further ahead, developers are exploring the

possibilities of unmanned flying taxis for metropolitan travel. So, whether you intend to use drones to widen your photography practice or you’re just someone who wants to use them for recreational pleasure, you will need to understand how to operate your drone safely and legally before you can go on to explore the amazing potential for photography that they offer. This book will initially guide you through the complexities, and legalities, of flying a drone. You must first ensure that you don’t fall foul of the law, or injure yourself or anyone else. Once the business of flying the drone becomes second nature then you can concentrate on developing the skills required to capture stunning aerial photographs. Remember, at the end of the day, it is the person behind the camera that gets the great shot, not the equipment. Aerial photography is no different from any other kind of photography: you are still operating and manoeuvring the camera – it’s just that now the possibilities are almost limitless and therefore potentially even more confusing. Breaking it down into manageable steps should help you navigate your way to success. With that in mind, the book is divided into two sections. Part 1 deals with the nitty-gritty of drone flying, and in Part 2 we get to grips with aerial photography. Working your way through the chapters will help you adopt a more disciplined, and planned, approach to your aerial photography; setting out with a specific shot in mind will help your photography progress rapidly from ‘middle of the road’ to meteoric.

PART ONE

Getting your camera airborne

his section covers everything you need to know to get your camera airborne. I’ll begin by exploring the origins of aerial photography before guiding you through the choices you can make in buying your own camera drone. There follows a ‘classroom’ section, where you learn the necessary rules about flying safely and legally, before I guide you through your maiden flight. Finally, to round off the section, we’ll put all of that into practice when we look at how to go about planning an aerial photography shoot. There’s lot to take in, so first of all, let’s put it all into context.

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Chapter 1

Early history of aerial photography

erial photography has been around almost as long as photography itself. No sooner had balloons been invented than cameras were hoisted aboard to offer a ‘bird’s-eye view’ of the landscape below. Such photos were headline news around the world. Early applications were developed quickly for military purposes in the Great War and became a staple of military intelligence in World War Two. ‘Creative’ applications have since been extensively developed, as film-makers and photographers initially took to the skies in all manner of aircraft clutching their cumbersome equipment before more bespoke equipment was developed. The advent of remotely controlled aircraft heralded an era when, for the first time, camera and operator could be separated from each other, and the race to put aerial photography at the disposal of the masses had begun.

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THE BIRTH OF THE ‘CONSUMER DRONE’

Aerial imagery still carries an air of mystery and wonder to this day; unimaginable vistas and scenes open up to the aerial photographer, which simply cannot be captured with your feet on the ground. As radio sets and flight controllers became more sophisticated and as the weight of cameras reduced, radio-controlled aircraft were developed to carry cameras. These developments finally put the business of aerial photography within the grasp of the recreational pilot. They were expensive to own, however, and difficult to fly, as they were still highly specialized pieces of kit.

Early aerial photography: an Observer of the Royal Flying Corps, 1916.

Until recently, drones weren’t sold ready to fly. Here’s my ‘back-of-an-envelope’ design for the workings of my first DSLR-carrying drone.

In late 2013 I bought my first drone: a DJI Phantom 2. It still needed heavy modifications – which included a camera, a 3D gimbal, and a video transmission system so that I could, at least, frame my shots. With the addition of a more stable undercarriage I was ‘good to go’.

Rapid technological advancement and refinement led to the advent of ‘multi-rotor’ aircraft – which, with their built-in GPS, improved battery technology and sophisticated flight control systems, sowed the seeds of what we see today. Even ten years ago it was still unthinkable that you would be able to buy an aerial photography platform on the high street for as little as £50. Chinese manufacturer DJI launched the Phantom in 2013. Often equipped with a fixed ‘GoPro’, it had a flight time of ten minutes and soon became synonymous with the word ‘drone’. YouTube was suddenly alight with incredible video and photography shot by ‘hobbyists’ and aerial photography suddenly went viral. The drone revolution had begun…

THE FUTURE FOR DRONES Probably the most informed thing to be said about the future of drones is that we are currently just at the dawn of this new technology. Roll the clock back a hundred years and

see if anyone could have imagined what manned aviation would look like today? The future of drones will look like that – multiplied a thousand times! Whilst the future of drones will see them adopted across every conceivable walk of life, every conceivable scientific, medical, manufacturing and service application, there are some immediate hurdles that need to be overcome. As with any ground-breaking, or disruptive, technology there are often barriers that need to be taken away before the technology can fully flourish and be integrated into the legacy world. With drone technology the difficulties are perceived as large, but they are not insurmountable.

Battery technology Batteries, currently the way most drones are powered, have severe limitations. They need to be recharged, they are heavy and they have a limited power output. Whilst they are sufficient for the limited uses of today’s drones, a new way of powering drones will need to be commercially viable to take them to the next generation. Extensive investment is being made, globally, into the replacement for battery power. It is the number one priority for a number of industries, not just for drones. Hydrogen fuel cells, nuclear cold fusion and photovoltaic cells are just a small number of the options that are being trialled as we speak.

Integrated airspace Airspace has, for decades, been the domain of the manned aviation world. Drones have certainly disrupted that in just a few years. Until now, aviation authorities around the world have tried to ‘adapt’ the rules for manned aviation to fit drones, with limited success. There is currently a big rethink going on where aviation authorities are examining, afresh, the possible solutions for the future. In the UK the CAA has launched its ‘Share the Air’ initiative to examine how the future of a fully integrated airspace would need to look and how it could be operated safely.

AI and autonomy Again, at the very dawn of its existence, extensive research is going on around the world, into autonomous drone operations. Effectively, aircraft are capable of running in automatic, or autonomous, ‘intelligent’ modes that virtually take the human out of the equation. Making aircraft visible to each other and programming them with algorithms that ‘de-conflict’ the airspace is just around the corner. Indeed, DJI, the world’s largest producer of retail drones, is just about to fit aircraft detection to its consumer drones. For the first time, drone operators

will be warned of the presence of other aircraft. This is just an insight into the future possibilities.

Chapter 2

Types of drone and their capabilities

nsurprisingly, drones come in all shapes and sizes. The legislation that governs the use of drones refers to unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs – this covers everything from toys you can fly in your house, to military drones operated remotely from a different continent. When we talk about drones we typically mean small (up to 25kg) multirotored aircraft, with a camera system, controlled by someone on the ground, using a radio transmitter. Choosing a drone requires you to think about the application that you’ll be using it for and the budget that you have. If you are just starting out then you should get something that will enable you to have fun flying; something relatively inexpensive whilst you learn the controls and capabilities; something you can afford to crash and possibly lose. More proficient flyers will progress to more expensive and sophisticated machines. Professionals will generally choose the payload they need (i.e. a camera, thermal imaging equipment and so on) and the drone will be matched to the requirements of the payload.

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TOYS AND MICRO-DRONES

Starting at the bottom of the size scale we have the micro-drone. These are typically very small and inexpensive and can be bought for a few pounds. Often small enough to fit in the palm of your hand, micro-drones have limited systems, for example no GPS and no camera capability. They are fabulous machines to learn the very basics on and help you get to grips with the fundamentals of control. That said, they have very limited battery endurance and because you fly them ‘manually’ they are probably best kept indoors.

Not much bigger than a 50p coin, micro-drones are great fun and teach you the basic flight controls. Best flown indoors until you get the hang of it!

Next up are the toy drones – bigger in size and price tag, they will often have some GPS capability and, perhaps, a camera system. Again, these drones may be the limit of some

hobby fliers’ aspirations as they are fun and inexpensive. If they have a camera system then some basic photography and video recording may be possible but don’t expect too much in the way of quality. Prices range from just a few pounds for a micro-drone to tens of pounds for the bigger craft.

TYPES OF DRONE There are many types of drone, all with different characteristics, price points and functions. • • • • •

Micro-drones and toys FPV and racing ‘Prosumer’ integrated camera ‘Heavy-lift’ camera Fixed wing

FPV OR RACING DRONES Recent years have seen the development of First Person View (FPV) or ‘racing’ drones. FPV refers to the fact that the pilot wears goggles, and controls the drone (typically a small radiocontrolled quadcopter) equipped with a video camera. The goggles show the pilot a livestream video from the drone so he feels like he is onboard. Flying this way gives the pilot better depth perception and obstacle awareness, enabling the drones to be flown very accurately around, and even through, obstacles. The drones are fast and robust, and often take a real beating!

FPV racing is now an international sport with prize-pots running to millions of dollars.

FPV pilots are given an exemption to maintain Visual Line of Sight (or VLOS) with their aircraft but, according the law, ‘must be accompanied by a competent observer, situated alongside him/her, who maintains direct unaided visual contact with the small unmanned aircraft sufficient to monitor its flight path in relation to other aircraft, persons, vehicles, vessels and structures for the purpose of avoiding collisions and advises the remote pilot accordingly’. Usually confined to indoor, or netted, arenas, FPV racing has become an international sport where drones are raced against each other around a specially built obstacle course; the action is fast and furious, and there are always crashes!

‘PROSUMER’ DRONES The DJI Phantom was the first drone to win mass appeal and to put an affordable drone, with a good quality camera capability, in the hands of hobbyists and professionals alike. Other manufacturers quickly followed and now there is a wide choice of drones and camera systems in this space. The drones in this range may weigh from about 0.7kg up to around 5kg

and prices are in the range of hundreds of pounds to low thousands. The evolution of this genre has seen the development of foldable, more flexible, higher spec aircraft with ever more sophisticated functionality, and this has only served to widen their appeal. Features of drones in this category will be a good quality camera (with, say, 20mp stills or 4K video capability). The camera will be mounted on a 3D stabilized gimbal so that the camera is kept still even though the drone may be moving. Some cameras have a zoom lens; others may have interchangeable lenses. Physically the drones are light, often foldable, and they may have retractable landing gear. With high capacity batteries, flight times can be more than twenty-five minutes. The camera output and flight telemetry can be viewed through a monitor, and often via an app, giving the pilot ultimate control over ‘smart’ flight parameters as well as creativity.

The DJI Mavic, with its foldable configuration, has become the drone of choice for many starting out in serious aerial photography.

Getting an SLR airborne is quite a daunting proposition. My Vulcan octocopter has a flying weight of 9kg and can be heard in the next county.

For professional use the drones can be configured as ‘dual operator’ so that the pilot can fly the aircraft whilst the camera operator concentrates on operating the camera. Drones in this range are most likely to be the first that serious photographers will acquire and will be most versatile for all types of photography. I will be using one for most of the work shown in this book.

‘HEAVY-LIFT’ DRONES Not really relevant for many readers of this book is the heavyweight scene. Mostly the domain of the professionals, the so-called ‘heavy-lift’ drone is the catch-all term for aircraft that can carry larger, often bespoke, payloads.

Heavy-lift drones are not for the faint-hearted or inexperienced operator, and nearly always require a degree of customization. They are normally made of carbon composite materials, yet, despite that, will often weigh in at more than 20kg. Applications can be anything from film production or high-end photography using SLR cameras to crop spraying. Expect costs to be in the thousands of pounds bracket – and that’s before you have attached your payload! Ironically, despite their cost, heavy-lift drones may have far less functionality and capability than their much cheaper relatives in the prosumer range. What they lack in ‘bells and whistles’ is compensated for by the quality of the data or imagery they capture. Working at this level is definitely one where the camera is a more important factor in the decisionmaking process. Heavy-lift drones will normally have a dual set-up, as a minimum, as flight times are short, pilot work-rates high and small mistakes can be very costly.

FIXED-WING DRONES Multi-rotor drones, which can take off vertically (VTOL), hover and transition to horizontal flight, are amazingly versatile, easy to deploy and fly. Their Achilles’ heel is that, in order to do so effectively, they need multiple motors, in turn powered by a heavy battery, or batteries.

Fixed-wing drones usually have a single motor, are very lightweight and can be landed without any undercarriage. This makes them ideal for long endurance missions, like crop surveys, as seen here.

Some drone applications like mapping and photogrammetry don’t require the versatility of VTOL so can dispense with the need for multi-rotor aircraft. Instead, mapping drones can be fixed-wing, can be hand-launched and can land conventionally. Only having one motor, a large wing surface that can generate lift with constant forward flight, means that flight times can be extended well beyond those enjoyed by multi-rotors with a similar power supply. Fixed-wing drones can be programmed to fly autonomous missions gathering data over longer periods of time, or much greater areas. With ever-evolving technology some fixedwing drones have their motors set for VTOL and swing into a horizontal position for forward flight, once airborne, and so take advantage of both technologies.

GOING FORWARD: NEW APPLICATIONS FOR DRONE TECHNOLOGY

More and more, nowadays, it’s the application, or use, of the drone that gets attention rather than the technology itself. This is the sign that the industry is beginning to mature, a little like manned aviation in its infancy; once the novelty of the technology itself wears off then the race is on to commercialize its application. We have already seen much in the media about Amazon’s ‘delivery drones’ programme. Indeed, it was recently reported that new apartment buildings in London already have built-in drone delivery ports. Other potential applications include unmanned ‘flying taxis’ from Uber – again, as difficult to imagine today as would an A380 Airbus have been a hundred years ago. The public sector has leapt on drone use for its versatile applications such as surveillance, emergency services missions and ‘search and rescue’. The possibilities are almost endless but the challenges become more complex than just mastering the technology. Once into the application phase there is a myriad of other issues like privacy, data protection and redesigning airspace use so that it is safe, as well as making sure that the legislation governing its use is fit for purpose. These problems often absorb more brainpower than the development of the drone itself.

PRO TIP Exercise caution when buying on auction sites, as the drone may well have been crash damaged. Be aware of where the drone you want to buy is in that manufacturer’s development/planned obsolescence cycle. It is not unusual for drones to be rendered obsolete by manufacturers after a couple of years. Unsupported software, or batteries being no longer available, can make your investment quickly worthless.

DRONE CAMERAS AND OTHER EQUIPMENT As a photographer, the question I get asked most frequently is, ‘Which camera would you recommend?’ There then follows a long Q&A about use, affordability, experience and so on. To be honest though, it normally boils down to budget and selecting from one or two of the better-known brands, which will allow the prospective photographer to get started and then grow with the same system, or brand, as their skills improve.

Now everything you need for an aerial shoot fits into a single, manageable case.

A few years ago, setting out to buy an aerial photography platform was pretty much the same process. You started with your camera and found a drone that was either ready to fly with a standard gimbal or you built your own. A critical factor in camera choice was its weight and then you had to figure out its compatibility with existing drones. So, the early days saw small action-cameras, essentially GoPros, rigidly fixed to small drones. As the potential was recognized so the technology leapt ahead. Bigger drones to carry Micro Four Thirds (MFT) cameras like the Panasonic GH3, then bigger still to carry full-frame DSLRs like the Canon 5D. Along with these came lighter and more capable gimbals so that footage could be stabilized. You then needed to add in a flight controller, radio transmitter and a way of controlling and monitoring your camera. Again, you had to buy and assemble these packages separately; they certainly were not ready to fly. Roll forward a couple of years – yes, just a couple of years – and the industry has come

full circle. Technological progress has now delivered amazing cameras (stripped back to the bare essentials to reduce weight) with full monitoring and remote camera control, integrated into drones that are literally ready to fly, off the shelf. On the downside, rapid technological pace in drone development means that there is always the temptation to buy the latest gear. Don’t be drawn into that if you can find what you want at a more affordable price. So now let’s revisit the question, ‘Which drone/camera system would you recommend?’ Today, it’s almost easier to choose an aerial platform than it is to choose a regular camera because, largely speaking, there is very little choice in each price bracket and so it normally boils down to, ‘What do you want it for?’ followed by, ‘Get the one you can afford.’ Of course there are still decisions to be made at the margins.

CAMERAS Cameras on drones fall into two categories: 1 2

Integrated camera systems (usually in the ‘prosumer’ ranges). Non-integrated cameras that need to be attached to a drone using a gimbal (almost exclusively at the professional end of the market).

Integrated cameras Integrated cameras have distinct advantages over bespoke arrangements, in that they are light, can be controlled and monitored remotely, and come as part of a ready-to-fly package. You can literally be up and running in minutes.

Drones with integrated cameras, like the DJI Inspire series, are more at the ‘pro’ end of the ‘prosumer’ range. With their interchangeable lenses, and dual operator potential they are the workhorse of the commercial market.

Cameras usually have small sensors, a wide-angle and fixed focus lens. The data capture will be JPEG or RAW for stills and up to 4K for video but with low bit-rate meaning acceptable but not top-end quality. Dynamic range and low light performance can often be an issue. The camera controls are usually integrated into an ‘app’ and the photographer can control every aspect of the camera’s operation from the ground whilst the drone is airborne. Flight times can be twenty-five minutes or more.

Non-integrated camera systems These offer almost unlimited choice. The camera option will almost certainly have been driven by the need to get a better creative result than that available with an off-the-shelf package. So why isn’t everybody using them? Typically, non-integrated camera systems fall into the ‘heavy-lift’ category. They are often very expensive custom builds that are expensive to own and operate. They are

cumbersome to transport, they are difficult to deploy and often require a crew to maintain, support and operate. You can often have little, or no, control over the camera controls and settings once airborne. Flight times are normally in the region of ten minutes. They are almost exclusively used for high-end movie making and specialist photography.

Setting up a ‘non-integrated’ camera system in the field is not something to be taken lightly! An early shot (2014) of a Cinestar 6 being configured for flying. Note the 1.5kg dummy payload – we weren’t brave enough to have our cameras and gimbals mounted to the drone during test flying.

GIMBALS A gimbal is the ‘cradle’ that your camera sits in by which it is attached to the drone. Gimbals are a vital piece of kit for both photography and video. In the early days cameras were fixed to drones with solid mounts and at best had some form of rubber damping. Whilst this was acceptable for photography it led to camera shake and a ‘jello’ effect in video, which

rendered the video useless apart from for hobby use. Small brushless motors were integrated into the gimbals, over time, to help them achieve total camera stability. The use of accelerometers and brushless motors now means that the camera can be held solidly in a point in space irrespective of the movement of the drone around it. As drones have become more sophisticated so have the gimbals that hold the camera. Mostly, these days, gimbals are ‘3 axis’ or ‘3D’ meaning that they stabilize the movement of your camera in three dimensions – roll, tilt and yaw (pan). There are a few specialist legacy gimbals used for photography, which only stabilize in two dimensions – roll and tilt – indeed, I still use one for my DSLR camera.

My Freefly Movi 5 gimbal (2014). Gimbals are notoriously sensitive to set up. This bench-top set-up enabled me to finesse my settings before attaching to the drone. The gimbal also has its own independent battery power pack.

Nowadays, with the integrated drones, you are hardly aware of the existence of the camera as they just form part of the drone unit. For non-integrated cameras, however, it’s a different matter. The gimbal will often have its own power supply and control mechanism. Many can be hand-held and operated independently of the drone. They are usually very technical to set up, very sensitive and very expensive. Again, very much the domain of the pros!

CONTROLLERS, APPS AND MONITORS So, now we have a flying camera! That’s still only half the story though. Now you need to be able to control the camera, alter its settings and move it around to compose your shots. There are two key elements to this part of the set-up: 1 2

Camera controls, like those on a conventional camera, but which are now separated from the camera and need to be controlled remotely, by you. A monitoring system, akin to a viewfinder or screen on a camera – again, this now needs to be in your hands on the ground.

Most prosumer drones with integrated cameras now take a ‘packaged’ approach to control and monitoring through the use of an app, which can be viewed on a smartphone, tablet or a custom controller. The device attaches to the remote controller and is very easy to set up and use. The drone sends back a live video feed to the monitor, along with aircraft telemetry and other important information like battery life, warnings and so on, so the pilot/photographer has all of the information that he or she needs to conduct the flight safely, whilst at the same time composing and making images! Be aware that the range of these systems can be reduced by interference, weather or even the direction the drone is flying in relation to you. Signal can be attenuated or lost completely, so it is always vital to keep your drone within visual line of sight and not operate at the extremes of the system. For straightforward missions a combined controller/monitor can be an ideal solution. If you can fly instinctively then it is easy to manoeuvre the camera and get the shot; if you are a better photographer than you are a pilot then you can concentrate more on flying. If you are new to both then, initially, this can seem like total sensory overload! With practice at both aspects – photography and flying – you will learn to become more proficient. Professional crews will usually split the functions of pilot and camera operator, so that each can concentrate on their respective jobs. In high-pressure situations it is all too easy to lose concentration and miss the shot or cause an incident. Splitting roles is safer and normally more successful; it is certainly a lot less stressful!

LENSES Most prosumer drones come with fixed focal length, fixed focus, wide-angle lenses. At the

top-end these can be very good and deliver exceptional results. Moving up a price bracket, or two, it is possible to buy an integrated system that comes with changeable lenses. Having a choice of lens means that you have greater artistic control on the one hand, but from a flying point of view it might mean that you can get a shot, with a zoom lens say, that you would not have been able to get because of safety and separation requirements. Ultimate control comes with using nonintegrated systems, where a client or a Director of Photography will dictate not only the camera system to be used but the focal length and type of lens to be used – to match the ground-based cameras being used, in a movie, for example.

Be aware that wide-angle lenses, when used on a diagonal, can produce extreme distortion. Note the spacing on the pillars on the left- and right-hand sides of the building. The ‘front-on’ shot was better.

For this skyline shot of sunny Basingstoke, my separation requirements meant that the only place I could take off from was a park some distance away.

Having the ability to change-up lenses to a zoom meant I could achieve the desired shot without compromising safety.

To achieve good overlaps for my aerial 360 work I use a fisheye lens on a DSLR camera mounted in portrait orientation.

PRO TIP Although technically you may wish to slow down the shutter speed in some drone photography – capturing a hyperlapse with moving traffic, for example, generally the use of NDs should be avoided and it has more unintended negative consequences than benefits.

FILTERS Filters are pieces of optical glass that screw onto the front of the lens to modify the light coming into the lens in one way or another. Coloured and effect filters are still used for creative photography and filming but their use has waned with the advent of digital postproduction where the desired effects can be added later. In ‘drone-world’ the use of filters is chiefly limited to what are called Neutral Density (ND) and Circular Polarizing (CP) filters.

You can now buy sets of ND and CP filters for drone cameras. This set is drone specific; make sure that you buy optical glass if you want good results.

ND filters reduce the amount of light entering the lens and, ultimately, the camera sensor. They do not alter the colour of the light, hence ‘neutral’ – imagine them as clear sunglasses! They come in different ‘strengths’ (ND8, ND16, ND32 and so on), which reduce the light by increasing amounts. NDs allow you to select combinations of aperture and shutter speed that would otherwise produce over-exposed pictures. In conventional photography they are used to achieve effects such as a shallower depth of field or motion blur. On a drone camera they are almost

exclusively used for video, where you need to slow down the shutter speed – in accordance with the ‘180 degree rule’. This rule, used in filming, dictates that your shutter speed should be twice the frame rate you are using, i.e. if you are shooting at 25fps then ideally you would use a 1/50th shutter speed. This can only be achieved by the use of ND filters in strong sunlight. CP filters, on the other hand, have a place in stills photography – they can darken skies, reduce reflections or glare from the surface of lakes, vegetation or the sea and can help to saturate colours. The filter is rotated (before take off…!) for the desired artistic effect.

BATTERIES AND CHARGING The final part of the jigsaw, and the bane of the drone flier’s life, is the flight battery. Battery technology is now the single area that is holding back drone advancement. The flight time of any drone is limited by the battery capacity and the conundrum is always the power-toweight trade-off. Simply increasing battery capacity to extend flight times doesn’t work because the drone has to carry the extra weight, which in turn reduces the flight time. The battery flight pack is normally the heaviest component of a drone so for the next generation, in drone technology, batteries will need to be smaller and more powerful.

They’re both LiPo batteries but there the similarity ends. The ‘intelligent’ battery in the foreground is for the DJI Mavic 2; behind it is a 9,000mAh battery used (usually in pairs) for heavy-lift drones.

That said, the new smart batteries that are fitted to prosumer drones are a massive improvement, in terms of safety and monitoring, on their predecessor, the basic Lithium Polymer (LiPo) battery. Drones are normally powered by LiPo batteries. This is the same battery technology that powers smartphones and laptops and has been around for many years in radio-controlled models. LiPos pack a punch, they’re rechargeable and they’re perfectly suitable for drones with a good power-to-weight ratio. BUT – and it is a big but – they are inherently volatile and can be dangerous if not treated with extreme care. Smart batteries, with their modular looks and connectors, may seem pretty innocuous but in truth they are still the same battery inside the shell and need special attention.

BATTERY DOS AND DON’TS DO • • •

• • •

Set up a ‘charging station’ – an area free from flammable material, with a fire blanket on hand. Use LiPo safe bags to minimize the potential risk of fire. Keep your batteries warm before flying. Cold batteries will not perform as well and may fail. For extreme cold operations you can buy battery heaters to keep your batteries warm right up to the point of take-off. Keeping them under clothing is an effective option in the field! Fly your drone smoothly: harsh manoeuvres cause surges which strain your battery. Cycle your batteries from time to time with a deep discharge. Refer to your drone operating instructions for the manufacturer’s recommended method. Keep them in a protective case for storage and travel. Old ammunition boxes, with the seals removed, have been long-term favourites of RC enthusiasts.

DON’T • •

•

Leave your batteries unattended whilst they are charging. If you need to leave them, switch off the charger until you are able to return. Leave your batteries fully charged for more than a couple of days, as this will degrade them. You should discharge them down to ‘storage voltage’ of say 50–70 per cent if you plan to leave them for any length of time. Most smart batteries will automatically do this if they are left for a number of days (which you can determine in the app). Use a damaged battery. Any damage to the battery will likely lead to them ‘puffing up’ and could lead to a LiPo fire or explosion. Damaged batteries should be disposed of by fully discharging them over a long period of time in a bucket of water before taking them to landfill.

Chapter Summary CHOOSING A DRONE FOR YOU rones are complicated, sophisticated and expensive machines. It is therefore very important that you find the drone that best matches your needs, your capabilities and your budget. Here are three basic questions to ask yourself before making that purchase:

D 1

Am I a competent flier? Can I afford to lose my drone the first time I take it out? If not, perhaps you should consider going for something cheap and cheerful until you get the hang of the basic flight controls and feel more confident.

2

What am I going to do with the images that I produce? If they are for your own use, social media and so on, then don’t spend hundreds of pounds on an expensive camera drone. If you are going to sell them or need to make poster art then you might just want to purchase a drone with a higher spec camera.

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How much can I afford/do I want to spend? In my experience a lot of people think that buying the latest gear is somehow going to make them better photographers or more competitive. Quite often, it’s the case that you just need to buy the kit that can do the job you need it to do and then invest the balance of your budget on learning how to use it properly! One of my best shots, that I have sold many times over, was taken on a GoPro with half the quality of a modern camera drone.

Do your homework. Rapid technological progress means there is obsolescence built in to batteries, software and hardware – so don’t expect your drone to be current, or even useable, after a couple of years at the most. Finally, I would urge you to exercise extreme caution when buying a second-hand drone. You need to ensure that it hasn’t been crash-damaged and I would recommend that you carry out a comprehensive test flight before committing to purchase it. If you are unsure about a test flight then find someone who is more familiar with drones to do it for you.

Chapter 3

Safe and legal?

rone photography can be hugely rewarding and great fun. All of a sudden, for a modest investment, the creative possibilities for your photography open up and the sky is literally the limit; you can put your camera exactly where you want to. However, while this is true to a certain extent, there are two big differences between conventional photography and drone photography:

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You are operating an aircraft that shares the airspace with other users – from microlights and parachutists to helicopters and military fast jets. All airspace users are bound by law to observe ‘rules of the air’. You are operating a piece of machinery that has the potential to do severe damage to people and property.

In order to be able to enjoy your flying, and to be able to capture those stunning images, you must ensure that you are operating both legally and safely at all times. Let’s take a closer look at the safety side of operating drones before we look at the legal obligations that apply to all drone operators.

FLY SAFELY – THE BASICS Generally speaking, safety is not something that most amateur photographers have to give much thought to; apart from cliff-edge sunsets and canal-side panoramas, it’s all pretty runof-the-mill. At worst, lack of care is going to result in damage to your own camera and

perhaps yourself. Pride dented, shot lost, but nothing worse than that! Drone photography is a complete departure from easy-going, ground-based photography, where you have lots of time and no particular rush or concerns about getting a shot. Operating a drone is to work in a whole new dimension. You will find that there are a lot of things to plan, a lot to keep an eye on and a level of stress that you never get with regular photography. It is likely you will be operating equipment that you are unfamiliar with, in an alien environment, where the consequences of ‘getting it wrong’ can be much more serious than just missing the shot.

To become a competent aerial photographer you’ll need to be able to fly your drone safely in all sorts of locations and conditions.

Learn your aircraft and its systems ‘inside out’. Get some flying hours under your belt to build your confidence.

First, learn to fly! You, alone, are responsible for the safe operation of your drone. You need to become familiar with the drone’s flight controls and its operation before you venture out too far. You should find a wide-open space, where you can practise flying before you even begin to think about photography. Get some flying hours under your belt; become familiar with the flight

characteristics of your drone and become proficient at flying it. Sure, drones have lots of failsafes and automation, and they’re ‘easy’ to fly when it all goes according to plan but you need to be prepared for, and competent to deal with, situations when they don’t. You should become competent at flying in ‘non-automated’ modes, in different weather conditions and at the extremes of VLOS. Practise losing orientation of the aircraft and recovering it, practise landings in strong wind, practise accurate flying and predetermined manoeuvres like circles and ‘figure of eights’, practise flying the aircraft towards you using reverse controls and so on. There are a lot of skills to master before you can call yourself competent but the better a pilot you become, the more likely you are to be a successful aerial photographer. This subject is covered in more detail in Chapter 4.

Visual Line of Sight (VLOS) VLOS is the remote pilot’s watchword. It governs everything you do in safe flying. Some people are tempted to fly their drones to their limits, as far away and as high as they can. Doing this is illegal and dangerous. The Air Navigation Order (ANO) mandates that you must always be in ‘unaided visual line of sight’ of your drone. This means you must always be able to see it, and the airspace around it. Why is VLOS so important? 1 2 3 4

The primary reason is that you can see other aircraft entering your flying area and can take action to prevent a collision. You can maintain a good control signal with your drone. Losing sight of your drone by flying behind a building or structure will most likely mean you lose control of it. You will possibly lose the video feed on your monitor and so lose orientation or the ability to fly the drone back to yourself. You may fly into obstacles, or over people, inadvertently. The further away you fly your drone the worse your ‘depth perception’ becomes.

Flying a drone against a sky of moving clouds, when all you can see is a tiny dot, is very challenging. It is good practice to fly the drone by watching it, rather than your screen. Get into the habit of using hand controls and buttons without having to look down to locate them.

You need to have your drone in Visual Line of Sight (VLOS) at all times so that you can take action as necessary to avoid other airspace users.

FPV pilots fly their drones with the assistance of FPV goggles. They must use a competent observer to keep the drone VLOS on their behalf.

PRO TIP If you need to look at your screen it is a good idea to get a ‘fix’ on your drone against something on the ground (not a cloud) before you do so; that way you can relocate it when you look back up. Photographers will find this easier than videographers, which is why most video crews have dual operators; one to frame the shot whilst the other flies the drone.

Weather and safety Bad weather can present stunning photo-opportunities: approaching storm clouds, lightning strikes, snowscapes and so on. But bad weather is just another factor on the drone pilot’s list of things to avoid! Be aware of the weather forecast, keep a close eye on developments and perhaps you will gain the confidence to fly and capture some stunning aerial images, rather than be grounded. Make sure when planning your flight that you take into account the general weather forecast for the area. Be aware of frontal systems approaching, with their associated weather. Be on the lookout for high winds, cold snaps and rain. There are many apps for forecasting weather and even those that play simulations of rain radar maps. You will learn which ones suit you as you become more experienced, and you will also learn to take forecasts with a pinch of salt! Sometimes, you have to just get out there and see for yourself. If you do get caught out in the rain it is best to get the drone back and under cover as quickly as possible. Flying backwards through a shower will ensure that you protect the lens from water droplets and you may be able to grab a last-minute shot.

A number of apps are available to help you accurately predict the weather but sometimes you just need to get out there and see for yourself.

In addition to the big weather picture, you also need to be aware of ‘local weather

anomalies’ where wind may funnel around, or over, a feature that you are flying near, causing stronger than usual winds and turbulence. Even if you have permission to do so, flying close to buildings can present challenges for even the most competent flyers. Sometimes it’s better to revisit when the anomaly is less pronounced or you could consider standing off, at a greater distance, and using a zoom lens. As well as the weather on planet earth, as unlikely as it may sound, you need to be aware of weather on the sun! So-called solar storms that generate solar winds send bursts of radiation to earth, causing the Aurora Borealis (the Northern Lights) for example. Solar activity also interferes with GPS satellites and can affect the performance of your drone’s GPS systems. Satnav and GPS ‘outages’ are not uncommon. Online resources will give you ‘space weather forecasts’ and a ‘Kp index’ of geomagnetic activity. A high Kp index suggests that you shouldn’t fly. Another perhaps surprising consideration is the ‘weather’ if you are flying indoors. Large commercial buildings like factories or hangars will often have very strong air currents running through them, which can catch the unwary pilot out. If you are flying indoors you need to be especially careful as you will most likely be flying without the aid of position fixing due to the lack of GPS availability.

Why is there a picture of the inside of a warehouse in the weather section? Be aware of turbulent eddies if you’re flying indoors; these strong winds can quickly send your drone into a wall – especially as you have no GPS positioning.

WEATHER CONDITIONS Be aware of the weather conditions and the effect they can have on your drone: • • • •

High wind: be prepared to switch into Sport mode or Attitude mode (ATTI) if the drone is getting away from you. Cold weather: keep batteries toasty warm before flight. Don’t fit them to the aircraft until you are ready to take off. Solar activity: this can adversely affect the GPS system. Indoors: turbulent eddies and a lack of GPS makes indoor flying very tricky.

PRO TIP If you are flying indoors then fly slowly and fit propeller guards!

FLY LEGALLY – THE BASICS Air traffic You are now ready to fly your drone in ‘airspace’. Airspace is a highly regulated environment used by manned aircraft of all types. As a drone operator you are also governed by these rules and legislation. Mastering the co-ordination and awareness skills required to fly the drone is an important first step, but (and you knew there’d be a ‘but’) it’s just the beginning of the story. You now need to make sure that you know where and when you are legally allowed to fly your aircraft. Flying within the law means, first of all, ensuring that you are not going to put anybody in harm’s way (whether on the ground or in the air) but, just as importantly, it also serves to protect property and people’s privacy. The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) mandates the rules for operating all aircraft, including drones, in the UK. The legal obligations upon all drone operators are set out in the Air Navigation Order (ANO) and this is the source document for the Drone Code. The Drone Code succinctly, but not exhaustively, sets out rules and parameters for operating a drone safely. Mostly common sense, the rules are designed to ensure that you operate safely and pose no risk to unwitting members of the public, or other flyers, who are going about their daily business. Contraventions of the Drone Code are investigated, and prosecuted, by the

police. More detail from the ANO can be found in the Appendix and on the CAA website.

Prop guards are an essential part of the indoor flyer’s armoury!

Police forces have taken to social media to reinforce the serious consequences of flouting the requirements of the Air Navigation Order.

The Drone Code The Drone Code mandates rules for everybody’s safety: 1 2

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Keep your drone in sight – this is primarily so that you can see and avoid other airspace users. Don’t fly near airports or airfields. High-profile incidents, like the closure of London Gatwick in December 2018, have led to the tightening up on rules about flying around airports. All major airports and some smaller airfields now have exclusion zones (Flight Restriction Zones or FRZs) within which you must not fly. These FRZs extend to 5km, and beyond, in some directions. Keep your drone below 400ft (120m). This is primarily to keep you away from General Aviation (GA), but be aware there are plenty of times that aircraft fly below 500ft –

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emergency services and military helicopters are prime examples. Don’t fly within 150ft (50m) of people and property. Not just when you are taking off but also when your drone is in the air. Always be mindful that your drone can suffer a failure, or be struck by a bird, which can send it at speed to the ground below. Never fly near aircraft. This goes without saying – but they say it anyway! Enjoy responsibly – which is translated from the ANO as, ‘don’t fly recklessly or endanger any person or any thing’. Flying overhead at a festival, or a busy public place for example, will be regarded as ‘reckless endangerment’ and could be punishable by fines or imprisonment.

That said, observing these rules doesn’t mean you can now go and fly your drone wherever you like. You still have more homework to do.

The basics of the Drone Code are just that. Take time to understand what they mean and the law that underpins them.

No Fly Zones (NFZs)

Some drones, notably DJI models, come with built-in software that prevents the drone entering so-called ‘Geo-Fenced’ areas or No Fly Zones (NFZs). Geo-fencing is a tool that prevents a drone from flying into sensitive or high-security areas like airfields, prisons or military bases. Again, you need to cross-reference the NFZs on your drone app with other apps like NATS Drone Assist; just because an area doesn’t show as an NFZ doesn’t mean it is OK to fly there. Commercial operators can apply to ‘unlock’ an NFZ in advance of a commercial mission being flown. Note: Drone laws and guidance are constantly changing. Stay up to date with the latest changes and requirements. Ignorance of the ANO requirements is no defence in a Court of Law.

Keep your distance Separation is a term found in manned aviation; it is the distance between aircraft in airspace – commonly used by Air Traffic Controllers to keep aircraft apart in order to prevent mid-air collisions. In the world of small unmanned aircraft then separation has two elements to it, which a drone pilot must constantly monitor and be aware of: 1

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Separation from other airspace users. Largely speaking the vertical limit of 400ft takes care of this. The addition of the pilot ‘must maintain unaided visual contact’ takes care of the rest, i.e. those times when aircraft (and other drones) fly below 400ft. Drones are operated remotely – by definition – and having no transponders or radar aboard means that it is the remote pilot’s responsibility to ‘see and avoid’ other aircraft, i.e. to maintain safe separation and avoid a collision. FPV goggles, which give a thrilling experience, impede the pilot’s ability to ‘see and avoid’ as he cannot see an aircraft approaching from behind, for example, and so cannot take action to prevent a collision. For this reason an observer must be used for FPV flying. Separation from people, structures and ‘vessels’ (which effectively means anything mechanical that moves on the land or sea). The Drone Code stipulates safe minimum distances that you can fly your drone around people, structures and vessels. At the time of writing, these distances are: Not within 50m of a member of the public or property. This includes when your drone is taking off – not just when it is airborne. There is some debate, at the current time, about whether this 50m is a lateral distance (if, say, you are flying your drone at 50m altitude). Although not stipulated, and importantly, not yet tested in case law, the CAA has said

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that the important consideration would be whether the flight would be considered dangerous or reckless. Personally, I interpret the 50m separation as being 50m laterally and keep well away from people, buildings and vehicles. The new EASA (EU Aviation Safety Agency) rules that come into effect in July 2020 stipulate horizontal separation distances – irrespective of aircraft altitude. The 50m distance also maintains people’s privacy. If you have people ‘under your control’ then you are permitted to fly closer to them than 50m. They must understand what you are doing and how to react if you give them instructions. A simple notification, or warning sign, does not ‘bring them under your control’. Not within 150m of a congested area. A congested area is deemed to be a crowd of people or a built up area like a village or town. It is an area largely used for residential, commercial, industrial or recreational purposes. The greater separation distance, of 150m, is prescribed because, in the case of a failure and a crash, there is deemed to be a far greater risk of the drone injuring a person or damaging property.

Be alert to what is going on around you at all times – not just in the air but also on the ground. Have a ‘plan B’ for landing should a member of the public come within your safe separation zone.

KEEP CLEAR! You’re now in 3D space. Be aware, and keep clear of: • • •

Aircraft and other airspace users. People near you, or who might approach you. People in the vicinity of your drone when it is airborne.

Privacy With your new equipment, and all of its capabilities, you’ll be keen to try it out in a whole

range of scenarios. You’ll no doubt, want to use your drone to capture a sunset, or a friend on his mountain bike, or your kids at the lake. What you might not be aware of, necessarily, is how other people view what you are doing. Even if you are flying safely, and within the law, you need to be acutely aware of other people’s right to enjoy their privacy. Because of media hype, and some genuine nefarious use that has been reported, there is a lot of suspicion surrounding drones. You must respect people’s privacy and comply with the law (data protection policy) that applies wherever you might be filming. Make sure that, wherever possible, you communicate with people to put them at their ease. If you intend to publish the images then you should ensure that people are not recognizable or that you have their express permission. Quite often, showing people what you are doing, or even offering them a copy of the photo, can appease any worries. People are often interested to understand more and watch what you are doing – so embrace that as an opportunity to do some positive PR for us all. As a guide to what is reasonable, I always try to imagine how I would feel if I was on the receiving end and someone was photographing me, or my back garden. Whether legal or not, it’s the intrusion that often causes the offence; and with their high-pitched noise drones do draw attention to themselves.

Property owners have the right to expect their private space to be free from intrusions.

PRO TIP Flying the drone as close to yourself as possible also helps you overcome the problem of depth perception and helps you to stay clear of obstacles.

WHO OWNS THE AIRSPACE ABOVE A PROPERTY? There is a myth amongst some in the drone flying community that if you are not trespassing when you take off, and if you keep your 50m distance, then you can fly over someone else’s land without any further regard. Let’s bust that myth. If you own property, you also have air rights above that property, and you, therefore, have the right to expect this space to be free from intrusions. The property owner’s right isn’t limitless, however, as airspace is divided into two types: the lower stratum and the upper stratum. The lower stratum is the space immediately above and around the property. There is no defined measurement for this space, but if activity in the area is likely to affect the reasonable enjoyment of it then intruders can be prevented from entering it. For example, if a drone were to fly over the land and its noise were likely to affect your enjoyment of the property, then it would be considered an infringement of your air rights. The upper stratum is the height above which any intrusion is likely to affect reasonable enjoyment of the property. Air property is not endless – it is generally considered to be approximately 500 to 1,000 feet above the property (Section 76, Civil Aviation Act 1982).

COMMERCIAL WORK Up to this point we have concentrated on the personal, or ‘hobby’, use of drones. At some point you will, no doubt, take a shot so good that you think you might like to sell it; or someone will approach you and offer you some cash to take some wedding photos. Where do you stand? And what are the implications of this? The CAA has a view and you need to know exactly where you stand legally when it comes to selling your work.

One day you’ll take a shot and think ‘I can sell this’. You need to understand the CAA rules about ‘financial consideration’ before you do.

The two scenarios I have just mentioned are actually quite different. In the first, you have taken a shot for your own pleasure, someone sees it and wants to buy it. In this case, as you had not intended to sell the image when you took it, then you are in the clear and may do so. In the second scenario, you are intending to make ‘financial consideration’ from your work and it is deemed by the CAA to be a commercial operation. In order to accept this assignment you must have a CAA permission in place before you undertake the work. This permission is called a Permission for Commercial Operation (PfCO) or, as it is sometimes mistakenly termed, a ‘CAA Licence’.

TO GO COMMERCIAL, OR NOT? If you want to explore the possibility of getting a PfCO then I would advise that you do some homework. Put together a business plan, which has some meaningful figures in it. Talk to other operators who have real experience in the field you are trying to enter – rather than those who might have a vested interest in you buying a training course. If you think that you will make a solid business out of photographing golf courses, houses for estate agents or weddings, you might be surprised to know that those markets are largely saturated now. In my experience, now that the market is maturing, we are tending to see that different professionals add drone work to their existing business rather than create a business

around a drone. Surveyors use them for mapping, filmmakers have aerial crews and a photographer usually has a successful broad-ranging photography business of which a small fraction might be drone work. Many people see the PfCO as the door to untold riches and commit fully to setting up a business in a discipline in which they have no prior experience. If you are tempted to go down this route, then you should prepare, and plan, as you would with setting up any other business. If you are serious about taking the leap, then, in addition to your business plan, you should do some market research and create a portfolio of your work that you can show to prospective clients. This way you will get feedback on whether you have what it takes to be successful. Clients are no longer interested in the drone technology itself; that’s old hat! What they are interested in is how you can use it to get amazing results. You’ll also find out what they are prepared to pay – again, don’t be surprised to find there’s a gap between what you think your work is worth and how much someone is prepared to pay you for it. Sad but true! For some this means owning a drone and making some money on the side. Any money you make goes towards the cost of your kit and PfCO. Low expectations, low financial risk, and perhaps a good way to test the water. Others already have a viable business within which they can incorporate a drone capability; again, a low-risk approach.

If you fancy your chances of making a living out of aerial photography then there’s a lot you need to be aware of before you take the leap.

So you want to ‘go pro’? Try to marshal your thoughts with some soul-searching questions: • •

What sector of the drone industry am I going to be targeting? What are the barriers to entry? What is my skill set in that sector? How good am I? Do I need qualifications to enter?

• • • • •

Can I demonstrate my skill through examples of my work? Who, specifically, will I target? Can I set up some ‘trial conversations’ to gauge reaction? What does my competition look like? How am I going to win clients against them? Price? Quality? USP? Have I done thorough market research? Where is the industry heading and what has been the experience of other operators? Who can I ask for some honest insights? How do I calculate my ‘day rate’? Start by adding up the costs of: a Initial training and PfCO, annual renewal b Insurance c Equipment, batteries, cases and so on d Transport and travel e Computing and post-production f Website design and hosting g Software licences h Sub-contractors (second operator, editor) i Marketing and promotion j PHI and pension k Tax l Professional fees m Salary.

Put actual numbers in this plan to calculate your total revenue requirements. Divide this total by 120 (the average number of days that the weather is good enough to fly a drone in the UK) to get an indication of your daily charge-out rate. (Remember this only works if you are lucky enough to be fully booked for every good-weather day!) How do the numbers stack up? What are my realistic chances of success?

Going professional You’ve run the numbers and you want to go professional. What next? The CAA will grant a Permission for Commercial Operation (referred to as a PfCO) to operators as follows: 1

Completion of a ‘ground school’ course by a recognized, and approved, training provider (an NQE). There are more than twenty NQEs who provide training in the UK at present. You must pass an assessment on completion of the course – which will normally take

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two days and covers everything from the theory – like air law, safety, insurance and meteorology – to the practical aspects of commercial operations. Successful completion of a ‘flight assessment’. You will be required to fly your drone, under examination conditions, and safely carry out a number pre-determined manoeuvres and emergency drills. This ensures that every commercial operator can handle their drone under a wide range of conditions and can deal with abnormal, or emergency, situations safely. You will then write your own ‘Operations Manual’ detailing how you will run the entire gamut of your drone operation to comply with the ANO and to ensure the safety of yourself, any crew and members of the public. This becomes the blueprint that details what you will do and how you will do it safely and legally. Once approved, the CAA will inspect your manual annually, at your PfCO renewal, to ensure that it maintains currency with changes in the law and any meaningful changes to your operations or procedures.

The CAA grants eligible applicants with a ‘Permission for Commercial Operation’, or PfCO.

You’ll be required to fly your drone under examination conditions before you can be granted your PfCO.

In addition to your PfCO you will need to have insurance to cover your kit and public liability. PL insurance normally starts at around £1 million (the amount here might be specified by your client depending on the work you are undertaking). There are now a number of specialist insurers offering insurance to PfCO operators.

Drone regulations are changing all the time. It’s important to keep on top of the changes and what they mean to you.

PfCO courses can cost anything from £500 to £1,500. Writing your operations manual can be time consuming, and involved, depending on the complexity of your proposed operations. Insurance is usually in the region of hundreds of pounds per year and at the time of writing the initial PfCO application costs £253, and the annual renewal fee is currently £190. Selling your work, or a service, suddenly becomes a serious and expensive proposition. There are more than 8,000 registered PfCO holders in the UK; their details are available on the CAA website. It is not known how many of them are actually active but anecdotally there is a high percentage drop-out at the first annual renewal point.

GOING PRO? You’ll need to: • • • •

Complete ground school and pass a theory exam. Complete and pass a practical flight assessment. Write an Operations Manual for your business and have it approved by the CAA. Purchase comprehensive specialist insurance with public liability cover.

Hot off the press As we go to print the CAA has announced plans for the introduction of the EU UAS Regulations. These European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) regulations will come into force on 1 July 2020. It is not clear at this stage exactly which elements will be adopted, as the CAA can adopt some, all, or none of the EASA framework. The CAA states that the background to this development is as follows: The concept of harmonization across Europe is one of the key aims of the European Union (EU), and with this in mind, these regulations are intended to simplify the overall process for UAS operations, and remove the need to refer to separate regulations within each Member or Contracting State. An additional, but no less fundamental, objective was the desire to foster a greater European market which would promote the growth of the European UAS industry. There will be three categories of UAV operation: open, specific and certified. Most readers here will find themselves in the ‘open’ category where the following conditions apply: 1 2 3

The take-off mass of the unmanned aircraft must be less than 25kg. The unmanned aircraft must be operated within visual line of sight (VLOS). The unmanned aircraft must not be flown further than 120 metres (400 feet) from the closest point of the surface of the earth.

There are then further subdivisions, which will determine, based on aircraft weight and type of construction, how close to people you can fly. More details about these parameters and conditions can be found in the Appendix to this book. The overall concept of the open category is that it should be simple for the user to understand. For the consumer this is ultimately the case, in that:

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You buy your ‘drone’, upon which you will find a class number. You read the leaflet corresponding to the class of drone and note the things you must, and must not do. You fly your drone, while ensuring that you comply with the text in the leaflet.

For a more detailed look at these regulations please refer to the CAA website.

Chapter Summary FLY SAFELY AND LEGALLY Fly safely • Follow the Drone Code to keep yourself and others safe. • Learn to fly your drone properly. • Keep your drone in VLOS at all times. Fly legally • Learn the rules, and keep on top of them; they are constantly changing. • Use apps to tell you where you can and cannot fly. • Make sure you get permission if you need it. • Be aware of people’s right to privacy. If you think you want to make a go of it professionally • Take a good look at the industry and the skills set that you have. • Write a business plan. • Make sure the numbers stack up.

Postscript: When it all goes wrong… With all the planning in the world things can still go wrong. I’m happy to share my experience in the hope that it will help you understand that things can, and do, go wrong and that’s why the Drone Code is there. Approximately two years ago, I was flying my drone (a quadcopter) on its fourth flight of the morning. I had flown that drone for more than twenty hours in total over the previous twelve months. I had carried out all of my preflight checks; I was in a safe location with adequate separation from people, buildings and infrastructure. All good. A quick climb to 200ft; a routine flight to capture some stills. Shots captured and returning to my landing point over scrubland. At approximately 100ft altitude, and approximately 50m away from me, I saw a propeller detach from the drone and spiral off (like one of those sycamore ‘helicopter’ seed pods). The drone spun on its axis (compensating for the sudden overspeed of one motor) and spiraled 25m in the opposite

direction before crashing into the ground. A very heavy impact resulted; the drone was a write-off, and I finally recovered the camera more than 10m away from the aircraft.

Sometimes things just go wrong. No amount of planning and checking can prepare you for a freak accident.

In the end, no one was injured, and there was no financial loss; I was insured and was able to find the Micro SD card (three hours later…). However, this was a very unsettling incident that has governed my flying ever since. I now fly with the attitude that any drone can fall from the sky at any time and I plan my flights accordingly. The Drone Code (in particular Article 241) is there for when things go wrong. It keeps the public, and property, safe and it keeps you out of court.

Chapter 4

Flying your drone for the first time

ou’ve done your homework; you’ve found the right drone for you, now you need to fly it! For those unfamiliar with the technology, this can be a very daunting, and nerve-wracking, moment. Where do you even start? It helps to take some time to think through what you will do next, and how you will do it. If you know someone who has experience you might want to ask them for help; alternatively, there are some trainers who will give you a basic lesson for a reasonable price. It’s worth the investment if this is all totally new to you. First, you need to familiarize yourself with the equipment, its safe assembly and any preflight requirements. Read the manual thoroughly. Second, you need to get used to the controls and the pilot interface – usually in the form of an app, which displays on a smartphone or tablet connected to the flight controller. Only then can you take the next steps to getting your aircraft airborne. Let’s look at these steps in more detail.

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FIRST STEPS: GETTING READY TO FLY

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Familiarize yourself with the equipment. An integrated camera drone will normally consist of several components: a the drone body; b detachable propellers (two clockwise and two anti-clockwise); c a flight controller (with built-in rechargeable battery); d a built-in monitor, but more usually, a cable to link your controller to a smartphone or tablet; e a rechargeable flight battery, which is fitted in the aircraft; f the camera – which will usually be part of the drone body. Be aware of removable gimbal guards, that protect the camera, that will need to be removed prior to flight. Failure to remove the guards could lead to the gimbal motors burning out.

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Assemble the aircraft carefully, following the instructions in the manufacturer’s manual: a charge the flight battery fully; b attach the monitor to the controller; c attach the propellers in their correct locations – it is usual to leave this until just prior to flight to prevent accidents; d load up the interface app, ensuring that the software is the latest version that is available.

EXPLORE THE APP I would recommend that you spend a lot of time familiarizing yourself with everything that the app has to offer. The app acts as the interface between you and the drone, as well as hosting the camera controls and camera viewfinder. The screen view can be very busy, and potentially confusing, with all of its menus, sub-menus and options. Think of it as being like a ‘head-up display’ for a fast-jet pilot and you’ll get the idea.

Putting your drone together is considerably easier than it used to be! Here, I ‘pre-assemble’ the components of my ‘almost ready to fly’ drone in 2014.

You can almost fly it right out of the box.

Familiarize yourself with the control app. There’s a lot to take in; not unlike a fighter pilot’s head-up display!

Most apps will display: • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

The camera view, with cropping for different aspect ratios and a histogram. Camera controls. TV or AV modes, AE bracketing, HDR, hyperlapse or panoramas. Camera settings. Shutter speed, aperture and ISO with +/− EV. Focus points, focus or exposure peaking. Drone telemetry (flight data) such as drone altitude, bearing and distance from you. Satellite connections. Battery life. Flight times – elapsed and remaining. Horizontal and vertical speed of the drone. Obstacle warnings. Signal strengths (of the controller and of the returning video signal). Flight modes. The home point – shown on a map. Warning notices – such as high winds, airspace cautions, battery alarms and so on. Menu options for camera, aircraft, flight modes and other advanced settings. And many more…

With practice and experience you will learn which features you need to use before a flight (such as compass calibration, SD card formatting), which features you don’t need to refer to very often (like gimbal or IMU calibration, or failsafe settings), and which features you need to monitor constantly, such as battery charge levels.

Let’s look at a few essentials that you will need to understand before you go flying. Take the time to look at all of the information that is available to you (and learn where you can find it in a hurry!). You can do this in the comfort of your living room. During this phase of exploration it is perfectly safe to power up the controller (first) then the drone. Note that you should not have the propellers attached to the aircraft in case you should accidentally start the motors. You should aim to become very familiar with where everything is located in the menus in the app, and set up the parameters for how you want to operate your drone for its maiden flight. Also, learn where the physical controls are on the controller – switches and buttons can be assigned to certain control functions making the whole process of flying a lot more efficient. For beginners, some drones have a ‘beginner’ mode, that will limit the distance and height the drone can fly so as to minimize the chances of a complete disaster first time out. You should also set your failsafe parameters, which determine how the drone behaves in the event of a transmission signal loss or low battery. Experiment with the camera controls and get used to how different it is to operate compared to a normal camera. In particular, you won’t be familiar with the gimbal ‘tilt’ or ‘pan’ controls if you have only used a regular camera before.

HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE SET-UP The drone has a number of delicate sensors that will need to be calibrated before you make your first flight. It also has very sophisticated software that needs to be set to the current release.

Firmware updates Your drone manufacturer will forever (it seems) be issuing firmware updates to the software for your controller, the aircraft and the app. Some ‘intelligent’ batteries also have software that needs to be updated from time to time. These firmware updates normally fix ‘bugs’ in the software or introduce new features such as a flight mode or a camera setting. It is important to be aware of these updates and what they are purporting do to. Unless they are safety-related then I would caution against being the first to update as, usually, there can be a flurry of unintended consequences and the updates can even be reversed with operators being advised to ‘roll back’ to a previous firmware versions.

Make sure that the firmware for the drone and the batteries is all up to date before your first flight.

The first you will normally know about a firmware release is when you are just about to fly. As you will often require a Wi-Fi connection it is best to update your equipment at home before you intend to go flying. With new product releases you should expect frequent updates!

OUT OF THE BOX There’s a lot to do before you can even think about flying your drone for the first time: • • • • • • •

familiarize yourself with the hardware; read the manual; read the manual; read the manual; make sure you update the software (do this indoors with the drone’s propellers removed); familiarize yourself with the software and control interface; just to be safe, read the manual again…

Compass calibration The electronic compass needs to be calibrated so that it can feed the drone with accurate information about its direction. Calibration sets the compass for the geographical area that you are operating in to take account of the local variations in the earth’s magnetic field.

Failure to calibrate could mean your drone doesn’t fly in a straight line but rather will ‘drift’. In extreme cases the drone may even spiral in what is known as the ‘toilet bowl’ effect. If you always operate in the same area then you may not need to calibrate your compass every time you fly. A rule of thumb used to be that if you travel more than 100 miles then you should recalibrate. Follow the manufacturer’s guidance on this and also the procedure that they lay out for doing the actual calibration – often referred to as the ‘compass dance’ – socalled because it quite often involves some physical contortions. On completion of the calibration, you will normally get an indication on the app that calibration has been successful, or a flashing LED light will show on the aircraft.

Calibrate your compass before your maiden flight and when necessary thereafter.

Read and understand the full user manual – not just the ‘quick start’ version.

PRO TIP You should avoid recalibrating the compass near any metal objects or large structures that could interfere with the process and misalign the compass.

Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) calibration The IMU is the sensory brain of the drone. It combines sensors, such as accelerometers, barometers, thermometers and gyroscopes, that feed into the control system to allow you to control the drone precisely. It also feeds the camera gimbal so that the camera is fixed very precisely in space, irrespective of the movement of the drone. The telemetry that you receive on your app, back on the ground, about the drone’s spatial position and movement comes from the IMU. Normally the IMU operates quite happily in the background but there may be occasions when it needs to be reset. Follow the

manufacturer’s directions about how to do this, but, generally speaking the drone needs to be placed on a solid, level surface (check with a spirit level) and not be warm. You should therefore do this before you fly, not immediately after.

PRO TIP On strong-wind days, it is good practice to fly the upwind leg of your mission first as this will drain your battery much quicker than flying downwind. It’s far better (less stressful) to coast back with battery power to spare than wonder if your drone will make it home, hammering back into wind in ‘sport’ mode.

Batteries Batteries (both in the controller and the aircraft) should always be fully charged before flying. Taking off with a partially depleted battery can often lead to erroneous readings and the drone directing itself to land, or return to the home point. In a controlled environment this might not present so much of a problem, but if you happen to be operating over water, or if you haven’t registered your home point properly before take-off, then it can spell disaster. Be aware that battery duration drops much more quickly in cold operating temperatures, so always keep an eye on your battery indicators. Take care of your batteries and aim to land the drone with 30 per cent capacity still remaining; not only to give yourself a safety margin but also to preserve the life of your batteries. Flying your batteries to the ‘empty’ line will do permanent damage, reduce their efficiency and life-span or, at worst, cause a total failure.

Keep a watchful eye on the health of your batteries. If there is a problem then it’s usually better to destroy the battery than risk your drone.

You can choose what your drone does in the event of an emergency. Make sure you fully understand the consequences of the choices you have made before you fly.

Brief your ‘crew’ on how to get your drone back in an emergency. My RTH switch is red – to make it easy to identify.

Failsafe settings In the event of loss of radio contact with the drone most will now immediately begin a recovery procedure. This procedure normally means that the drone will return, and land, at the ‘home point’ (so long as you allowed the take-off point to be recorded before you took off). Once initiated, the drone will climb to a safe pre-set altitude, return in a straight line to the home point where it then descends vertically and lands on the take-off point – plus or

minus a few centimetres. This procedure can be customized, in the app, to suit the operating parameters of your location. You should aim to set the recovery altitude to ensure that the drone reaches a safe altitude – to clear any obstacles in its path, and that it either lands or hovers at the home point depending on what you would like it to do. For example, you might not want it to attempt to land if you are operating from a boat, which is nowhere near the home point when the drone recovers itself.

PRO TIP If you have someone with you when you are flying, an observer perhaps, it’s always a good idea to show them how to trigger the ‘return to home’ feature, just in case they ever have to do it in an emergency.

Collision avoidance Most prosumer drones have anti-collision sensors built into the drone body. These sensors are multidirectional and will detect a solid object at a distance of approximately 5 metres. They can also permit stable indoor flying by identifying floor patterns as reference marks. The collision avoidance systems have limitations that you should be aware of: namely that they do not see, or avoid, fine branches or wires, for example.

PRO TIP Sometimes, when flying ‘into sun’ the sensors think they see an object and will bring the drone to an abrupt halt. If problem persists, then a simple solution is to fly backwards!

They are not active in certain flight modes like ‘sport mode’ where the drone may be flying too fast to give it time to react.

FLYING CONTROLS All drones fly using similar inputs from a controller. The controller basically consists of a handset with two control ‘sticks’ operated by the left and right hand. You will instinctively either ‘pinch’ the sticks between forefingers and thumbs or you will simply use your thumbs.

Try both and see which you prefer. Each stick is fixed and pivots around its base in either a forward/back, left/right or in a circular motion. In what is called ‘mode 2’ (which seems to be the UK preferred set-up) the left-hand stick controls throttle and rudder, whereas the right stick controls elevators and aileron. These terms refer to fixed wing control surfaces and, although technically descriptive, they are not very useful as a means to understand what happens to the drone when you move them!

Left stick Move it backwards and forwards to make the aircraft descend or climb. Move it left and right to make the drone pivot, anti-clockwise and clockwise around its vertical axis (called yaw).

Right stick Move it backwards and forwards to make the aircraft go backwards and forwards. Move it left and right to make the drone go left and right, whilst maintaining its forward heading. Remember that these controls are relative to the aircraft, so if the aircraft is facing you, and you want it to move left, then you move the right stick to the right, not to the left as you would when it is facing away from you!

YOUR MAIDEN FLIGHT Prepare thoroughly for your maiden flight. Make sure that you identify a wide-open space where you can fly safely and you have all the permissions in place. Don’t be tempted to try to fly in the living room because you might think it’s safer – if you want to know why not, watch a few videos on the Internet!

All drones are controlled by a remote controller. They may look different but essentially you have a left and a right stick for flight control. They can be operated singly or in combination.

For your maiden flight, and for your subsequent practice you need to find a wide-open space so you can really let rip!

Use a take-off mat to keep your camera lens out of the wet grass. Ensure that the mat is pegged down to avoid a gust carrying it, and your drone, away.

Once you have gone through your pre-flight checklist, carried out the Compass Calibration, allowed the Home Point to update, you are ready to go.

Ready for take-off Place the drone, facing away from you, on clear ground. Move to a safe distance, approximately 5m away, from the drone. Start the motors using the CSC manoeuvre (Combined Stick Command – refer to your manual for instructions). When it’s safe to take off, move the left stick (throttle) fully up and the drone will ascend. Be bold with this manoeuvre; you don’t want the drone to be languishing around at ankle height as it can drift and get entangled or ‘trip’. Take the drone to above head height and centre the throttle stick. You have now completed a take-off and your drone will happily sit in the same position until, either, you tell it to do something else or the battery runs out!

Landing Bring the drone to a safe hover over a suitable landing spot about 1m above the ground, a safe distance away. Gradually reduce the throttle (pull backwards on the left stick) until the drone descends to a few centimetres above the ground. From here pull back hard on the stick and the drone will land. Again, be bold: ankle height is not the best place for a drone to be for

any more than a second or two. Be aware that downdraught from the propellers, interacting with the ground, can cause turbulence which, in turn, can make the drone behave erratically. Once on the ground, keep the throttle stick in the rearward position and the motors will cut out. Immediately approach your aircraft and switch it off, or disconnect the battery. You can then power down your controller. Get into the habit of taking off and landing in ‘non-automated’ modes so that you are in control of the drone the whole time. The results are a lot more predictable that way!

PRO TIP Always switch on your controller before you power-up the drone. Always cut the motors and power-down the drone immediately on completion of flying. If you don’t, there’s a chance of it thinking it’s lost radio contact and disappearing off to the last recorded home point…

FAMILIARIZATION AND FURTHER PRACTICE Congratulations! You have now got your maiden flight under your belt. Jangly nerves settled, drone still in one piece, you’re up and running! From this point on, you now need to get in some hours of practice, so that you become proficient at handling your drone safely and in a variety of conditions. I would recommend that you set yourself some goals and try to master a number of manoeuvres, which will increase your flying skills, and dexterity, until flying the drone becomes second nature. Flying in different conditions will also teach you about the limits of your equipment.

MANOEUVRES TO PRACTISE Practise these manoeuvres to master flying accurately and efficiently. • • •

• •

Take off and landing – practise this a lot. Practise in high wind as you get more skilful. Flying towards yourself – using ‘reverse sticks’. Disorientating at first, it’s definitely a skill you will need to master. Keep the drone above head height! Flat circle – over a fixed point in front of you. This will teach you to combine stick movements smoothly. Once you have dialled that in, then try a circle around you. This has the added complexity of flying behind you. Figure-of-eight – as for the circle but more complicated. Loss of orientation – practise losing aircraft orientation and recovering it – without looking at the monitor.

Combined stick movements Initially, you will find yourself flying using single stick inputs, for example flying forward and then left, rather than diagonally. That’s fine until you get the hang of what each of the controls does, but soon you will want to learn how to combine stick inputs, so that you can move your drone quickly to a point in space. This is the ultimate aim for photography: to move quickly and efficiently.

Flight modes You will almost certainly find a bewildering array of ‘flight mode’ options on your drone. In time, you will come to learn which ones you prefer to use; there may be some that you never use at all, depending on the kind of flying you want to do.

Practise complicated ‘combined stick’ manoeuvres like the figure of eight. Develop precision and accuracy. (© Connor Adams)

There may be a beginner mode setting to help get you started. If you’re at all unsure then try it until you become more confident.

Basic flight modes 1

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3 4

5

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Beginner – as we have already seen, this mode will limit the height and distance the drone can be flown as well as its maximum speed. Think of this mode as a set of training wheels. Ideal to get over the first nerves, but you’ll want to switch it off as soon as you can. GPS – this is the mode that you will find yourself flying in most of the time. With GPS satellites locked-in the drone will have spatial stability so that it will stay in the same place without any control inputs. Opti or Vision – usually available for drones with downward optical sensors, it means the aircraft can hold its position indoors without a GPS signal. Attitude or ATTI – where the drone does not have, or overrides, GPS or optical sensors. Not all drones have this as a ‘selectable’ mode but some may default to it in the absence of a GPS signal. In this mode the drone will maintain its altitude but not its geo-spatial position. If you have ATTI as an option you should definitely learn how to control the drone in this mode. The main characteristic is that the drone will be affected by the wind and will drift so you have to learn to counter the drone movements with opposite stick controls. The drone will also continue in a direction, with momentum, until you reverse the control and physically ‘brake’ it. If you can’t select it then you must know what to do if the drone suddenly ends up in ATTI mode. The best policy is to keep it slow and not make big control inputs. ATTI mode is often the preferred choice of videographers who want smooth flight paths for their shots. Sports – as it implies, this is the ‘go faster’ mode. Good for operating in high winds perhaps or just having a blast. Caution: the anti-collison sensors are disabled in this mode so fly at a safe height and away from obstacles as it can all unravel very quickly. Tripod – the total opposite of Sports mode: big control inputs result in very slow drone movement; ideal for video making.

‘Intelligent’ flight modes Intelligent modes tend to be useful for videography, rather than photography, but I shall cover them here for completeness as they can be used for hyperlapse photography in some instances. 1

2

Home Lock – a useful mode for getting your drone back after you have become disorientated. Right stick inputs move the drone in relation to the home point. For example, if you pull the right stick backwards, the drone will come back to the home point, irrespective of which way it is heading. Course Lock – in this mode you can fly the drone in a straight line, for example to track

3

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a car, whilst panning the aircraft around its vertical axis. Again a videography mode rather than being particularly useful for photography. Point of Interest or POI – the aircraft completes a circle in either a clockwise or anticlockwise direction, at a height you determine, around an object or point of interest. Be aware of obstacles in this mode and set a safe height and distance from the object. Active track and ‘follow me’ – can be used to follow moving subjects, yourself included. Waypoint – the drone will fly to a series of predetermined points.

Experiment with the different flight modes that your drone has. They’re not for everyone but try them anyway.

If your drone has these modes then they can be fun to experiment with. Make sure to practise them at your practice field rather than in the ‘live environment’ first. It is certainly my experience that accidents tend to happen when in ‘intelligent’ flight modes as the drone doesn’t always behave as you might have intended! Mastering flying skills, and understanding the various modes, will set you up for graduation to the next step.

TIME TO REMOVE THE TRAINING WHEELS From the safety of the training field you will now want to venture further afield. Don’t be in a hurry, make sure you are comfortable with the transition before you make the leap. Putting all of that planning and practice into action can now seem like a pretty daunting task; add to that the fact that you are now out in the open and the heart rate quickly elevates!

It is important to try to ‘de-risk’ each flying situation as much as possible.

You’ll be surprised what you forget when the pressure’s on. A checklist means never missing a shot!

PRO TIP Make a laminated card with your basic procedures on it. It is helpful to develop procedures that keep you free from distractions, and, ensure that you don’t miss anything important. It seems to be the rule that the majority of mistakes happen when you are either in a rush, with a client or showing off your new drone to friends!

CHECKLISTS It is all too easy to get caught up in the frenzy of trying to grab that ‘shot of a lifetime’ (Cartier Bresson’s moment juste). Lack of familiarity, initially, or over-confidence as you become more experienced, often means that the vital steps that ensure safe flying or prevent dreadful photography can be overlooked. Just like in the manned-aviation world, using a checklist, or Quick Reference Card (QRC), can help you gather your thoughts, removed from distractions, to ensure that you carry out all of the vital pre-flight safety checks or camera settings before you take-off.

PRO TIP Checklists are a great way to make sure that you keep on top of your workload. List everything that you need to remember before, during and after flying. They help you concentrate when, otherwise, you might be distracted or under pressure. Even the most experienced of us get distracted – or over-confident!

I have several checklists: • my packing list; • my camera and gear set-up (physical); • my camera settings for different types of work. You should spend some time making a checklist that works for you. Laminate it and keep it in your drone case. Use it on every occasion. I have a rule of thumb, which is that, the less time you have for checking things the more likely you are to need to check them! So, slow down and follow a set procedure – it will be worth it in the end. Here are just a few suggestions: 1

Packing

a b c

What do I need to do before I set off to fly? Batteries charged? A list of kit required.

2

Planning a Am I legal to fly? Permissions and NFZs. b Have I determined a clear take-off and landing point? c Do I have an unobstructed view of the sky? Can I maintain VLOS? e Am I clear of people and roads? f Weather forecast – which direction is the wind coming from? g Orientation and safe distances. h Distances to and height of obstacles.

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Aircraft a Battery checked, undamaged and charged. b Aircraft checked for signs of damage. c Camera gimbal cover removed. d Lens clean. e Propellers fitted correctly. f Check flight restriction and Return to Home (RTH) heights to ensure you will clear obstacles.

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Camera and settings a SD card in the camera and formatted. b Set to camera. c Camera mode – for example shutter priority, shutter speed. d Shooting mode – bracketed shots. e ISO.

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Pre-flight checks a Compass calibration if required. b Drone sat on firm ground or take-off pad. c Clear to take-off. d Home point established?

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Post take-off a Have I got control of the aircraft? Test the controls when the aircraft is above head height. b Test the camera shutter.

Chapter Summary FIRST STEPS • • • • • • • • • • •

Read your manual thoroughly and understand it. Configure your drone before you take it out for its first flight. Always fly with fully charged batteries. Find a big wide open space for first flight. Learn the basics first. Set yourself a goal of learning more complicated manoeuvres. Practise, practise, practise. Become proficient in ‘non-auto’ modes. Explore the full functionality of the drone’s capabilities in the safety of your practice field. Develop procedures and checklists to ensure that you don’t miss anything. Avoid the temptation to show off!

Chapter 5

Planning an aerial shoot

eautiful photography rarely happens by chance, and this is even more so with drone photography. You can vastly increase your chances of success by careful thought, previsualization and planning. Like all photography you need to start out with a clear idea of what you are trying to achieve; in the case of commercial work a client giving you a brief makes this simpler. As a recreational photographer you should try to ‘pre-visualize’ the photograph you want to take so you can approach it in the same logical fashion. A disciplined, rather than a ‘suck-it-andsee’ approach will yield better results more of the time.

B

PRE-VISUALIZATION Pre-visualization is having a good mental image of your final shot. This will help you to: • • • •

plan your shoot; work out the best composition; get the best lighting; finish the job in post-production.

PRE-VISUALIZATION OR ‘THE BRIEF’ There is a world of difference between ‘opportunistic photography’ – having a camera in your rucksack and grabbing a couple of shots as you happen across a ‘scene’ – and ‘intentional photography’ – going out with your equipment to take a particular shot. With drone photography the vast majority of the photographs you take will need to have been planned to some degree. If you are planning to take a shot, let’s say, of a castle on a hill – whether that be for your own pleasure and social media or for a commercial shoot – then there are a number of things that you can do to increase the chances of getting a great shot. It’s important to have a good mental image of what the final image is going to look like. If a client is commissioning you then this is often made easier by the fact that they will give you a brief – which will include not only the subject matter but also the ‘mood’ of the shot. If you are shooting for yourself then you should try to adopt the same approach and ‘pre-visualize’ the final shot and then deconstruct that into a brief. Do some research online and find other images of the location, go to tourist information and look at brochures or simply look at postcards in the local newsagents. Someone will, no doubt, have taken a shot of the same castle and will give you a steer as to the best views, time of day, vantage points and lighting. We will learn a lot more about about composition in the next section but there are a few other aspects that you will need to consider when sitting down to plan the shoot: • • • • •

What is the subject matter? Which angle is the best to shoot it from? Is it a close-up or a wide shot? Where does the light need to be coming from to get the best shot? What is the best time of year/day to get the shot? You might have to revisit the same site

• •

multiple times. Do you want to avoid having people/vehicles in the shot? What composition are you trying to achieve – high or low, oblique or vertical?

It helps to have a very clear mental image – pre-visualization – of what you want the final shot to look like before you take off. For this shot I needed a strong composition and I knew exactly where I had to put my drone to get it.

This process will help you to determine the time of year, the time of day and a rough position for the drone to be positioned in order to capture the perfect shot.

Running through this list of prompts will give you a good idea of the starting point for planning the actual drone mission.

LOCATION SCOUTING In normal photography you and your camera are in the same place so you only need to work out the relative location to the subject matter and off you go. With drone photography the location of the subject, the drone and the place that you will fly your drone from could all be different and, indeed, quite some distance apart. You need to have a good idea of how this will all work safely before you set off.

Initial online planning So, armed with your mental image of the pre-visualized shot, the next step is to convert that into a location plan. Google Earth is a great initial planning and location-scouting tool. Use it in conjunction with online airspace planning tools such as the NATS Drone Assist app. First, identify your subject matter and approximate drone position. Look carefully at the surrounding area for obvious take-off sites. You should be looking for a take-off location with sufficient clearance from people, structures and roads/paths. Once your drone is airborne the flight track to your preferred photography location should also maintain sufficient separation. Having established a suitable location you need to determine whether the mission can be flown legally and safely. Here are some factors that will help you make that decision: • Who owns the land and do you need to get permission to fly? • What is in the surrounding area? Consider the proximity of roads, public rights of way, members of the public, houses and so on. • Are you in clear airspace? Are you are permitted to fly? Use the NATS Drone Assist app. Have a look for small airstrips, which do not appear on the app, and try to work out the likely proximity of other airspace users – microlights, gliders, light aircraft, low-level military aircraft, for example. The app will also let you alert other air users to your flight. • Are there any obstacles that you will need to avoid? Have a look for power lines, trees or anything else that might obscure your vision of your drone or other airspace users who might be encroaching on your airspace. Do I need to change the Return To Home altitude settings for emergencies? • Is the position of the sun going to make it difficult for you to maintain visual contact with your drone?

•

Can you identify an alternative landing position in the event of an emergency?

There is a wealth of online resources to help you plan your missions. I find it helpful to have my planning apps in a single folder so that I can work through them methodically. I refer to a number of ‘air planning’ apps to see if a flight is even feasible before I start planning the photographic elements.

Make use of apps like NATS Drone Assist and DJI Fly Safe to determine whether you can actually fly in a location in the first place.

Where’s the light? There is a myriad of apps that allow you to predict the path of the sun across your target location. This app, Light Track, allows me to determine the precise time that the light will be exactly where I want it to light up the castle.

Make a plan. Having pre-visualized a silhouetted sunrise shot of Donnington Castle, online planning tools like Google Maps will allow you to pre-recce the site and form a plan of the mission. Here, I have planned my parking, the route to the take-off position and the distance I need to fly the drone to get into the correct position for the sun at sunrise. I will take a copy of this plan with me to recce the site.

Site visit Online planning will iron out the big issues and give you a good idea of the location in advance but there can sometimes be a big difference between what you see on a satellite image, taken five years ago, and the reality that you face when you arrive on site. It is not unusual to find new housing developments, roads or other structures, which weren’t there when you were pin-pointing your take-off position. Trees that looked like tiny shrubs online can suddenly obscure half the horizon and what was a quiet country footpath may now be a busy thoroughfare; a grassy field that you were planning to take off from could be a field of head-height maize!

It’s often a good idea to recce your planned take-off site; what looks like a nice open field on Google Maps might now be head-high crops or even a housing estate!

There is no substitute for a recce visit to the site. You can then build up a picture of the flight plan, taking account of the actual topography and obstacles that present themselves. It is quite often the case that you will need to go back to the drawing board and try a different approach. Sometimes that will require a complete rethink; sometimes spending a bit of time

scouting the location on foot will offer up other possibilities that weren’t necessarily obvious online.

How far away is that road? When on site, use apps such as Distance Tool to convert the planned distances on paper into reality. Measurement apps will allow you to accurately determine the proximity of obstacles and ‘no go’ zones in the live environment.

This is the shot I wanted but flying the drone in the evening was impossible because of the restaurants and bars. With the alarm set for 05:30, I had the place to myself.

TIMING Photographic considerations First and foremost, your pre-visualization of the image that you want to make, or your client’s brief, should determine the timing for the shoot. There are a number of purely photographic considerations: •

•

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The time of year and the available light. What is the look you’re trying to achieve? Autumnal warmth? Summer sun? Winter chill? Some subjects lend themselves better to different seasons than others. The time of day and the quality of the light. The so-called ‘golden hour’ – the time before sunset – is often favoured by landscape photographers as the light is soft and warm and the colours are richer than, say, the harsh shadows of the midday sun. The position of the sun relative to your subject – if you have a choice then shooting directly into sun should normally be avoided. Try to have shadow and light on your subject to give it shape and depth.

•

The weather may be an issue – look at the forecasts to find a day that is going to give you the weather that you need to make the best backdrop to your shot. Remember that gaps between storms can often give the most dramatic atmosphere so don’t necessarily dismiss bad weather out of hand. Forecasts of 40-knot winds, on the other hand, might indicate a ‘not today’ sign!

Safety considerations Sometimes safety, and other, considerations might outweigh the photographic requirements and you may have to compromise in order to get an acceptable outcome. Think about what might be happening on the ground when you plan to fly your drone – and modify your plan accordingly: • • • •

What is going to be the likely vehicle or pedestrian traffic – is there a quiet time when the area is likely to be closed, or less busy, that could make it easier or safer to operate? Will my photograph benefit from being taken at a less busy time of day, even if the light isn’t quite right? What time of the day will be better from the point of view of other air users? Military aviation typically doesn’t operate at weekends, for example. Will it be easier to see my drone in full daylight?

If you are working for a client, then it is always a good idea to ‘manage their expectations’ where you identify possible compromises. If you don’t think that the photograph can be taken legally or safely then it is your responsibility to say so. Ultimately, as the ‘remote pilot’, you are liable under the law.

PERMISSIONS A big part of planning a successful drone shoot is getting the required permissions in place. For recreational pilots, once you have determined that you are not in a Flight Restriction Zone (FRZ) or Restricted Airspace, then this means essentially ensuring you have permission to use the land for take-off and landing. Commercial drone operators, on the other hand, may need to jump through a few more hoops before they can legally proceed. Most notably commercial operators may need to operate within the FRZs of airfields or large airports, near military establishments or prisons, and there is a protocol that needs to be adhered to when planning to do so. These procedures are taught to prospective commercial operators as part of

their training to get their PfCO.

If you need permission then get it. It helps to put the details down on paper in case you are challenged.

Having established a safe potential take-off position you are probably going to need permission from somebody to fly there. Land can be owned or operated by any combination of private individuals, companies, trusts or public sector organizations. You are obliged to find out who owns or operates the land and get their express permission to fly there. Even if you are flying from your own property be aware that you should not fly within the prescribed safe distances from other people’s property. It is often possible to identify a property or a business from Google Maps and find out the contact details. A quick call is often all it takes. Failing that, you can ‘knock on doors’ at the location prior to flying. Some areas, such as National Trust properties, municipal parks or SSIs, are governed by by-laws which prohibit flying. You should observe these at all times. Don’t forget to be respectful of other people’s privacy at all times, and when seeking permission the offer of a free photo can often be very persuasive! It is also good practice to make a note of the person’s name and contact details for future reference.

On-site risk assessment All the planning in the world does not guarantee that you can turn up to your planned location and fly. The final piece of the jigsaw is to carry out a Dynamic Risk Assessment (covered in detail in Chapter 2) immediately prior to take-off. Even though you thought you had all of the bases covered there still might be something that conspires to make your flight inadvisable or plain unsafe.

TAKING YOUR DRONE ABROAD Small drones, with their integrated cameras and compact controllers, make for the perfect travelling companions. If you have a small drone, you will almost certainly be tempted to take it abroad on holiday at some point. There are a number of aspects you should consider before setting off with your drone, including the respective laws in the country you intend to visit, their ‘Drone Code’, packing and carrying batteries and any ‘pre-registration’ requirements.

Your holiday photos will never be the same again.

Make sure that you understand the ‘Drone Code’ for your destination.

You will find your airline’s policy about LiPo batteries in their ‘Carriage of Dangerous Goods’ section on their website – be sure to stick to their guidelines or you may not be flying your drone at all!

Different countries, different regulations Although all countries co-operate when it comes to international manned aviation, each country will have its own rules and regulations when it comes to both amateur and commercial drone operations. It is your responsibility to find out – in advance – exactly what those rules are and to ensure that you comply with them. There’s a good reason for doing it in advance and that is that some border agencies will confiscate drones from your luggage on entry if drones are not permitted or if you don’t have the appropriate registration documentation. Online enquiries will quickly offer a solution. You should satisfy yourself of the following before you pack your drone: 1 2 3 4 5 6

Whether the use of drones is permitted in the countries that you intend to visit, or even transit through. Whether a licence is required. Registration and payment requirements. Where you can fly, and where the No Fly Zones are. What the rules are for flying near people, monuments, airfields and so on. What the airline’s policy on carrying batteries is.

Paperwork and drone marking Make sure that you register your drone, in advance, where required, and pay the appropriate fee. If required, mark your drone with the appropriate registration number using a label maker. For example, for personal use in the USA, you are required to complete an online declaration with the US Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) and pay a $5 fee; you are given a

registration number, which you are required to make visible on your drone. Failure to register, or failure to comply with the regulations once in the USA, will result in a very heavy fine. • Airline policies: generally speaking, there are no rules regarding carrying drones, per se, on aircraft. However, airlines are very concerned about the carrying of LiPo batteries and each airline will have its own policy about numbers you may carry, their capacities and safe packing. You should refer to the airline’s website and find out what their terms say about batteries. Rules fall under the ‘Dangerous Goods’ advice. • Know the Drone Code. All countries will have different drone codes but most will vary around the common theme of not flying near people, airports, national parks, sensitive sites or monuments. Make sure that you find out what the code is for each country that you visit. Apart from anything else, knowing that you are safe and legal makes for a much more enjoyable experience!

Packing your drone’s batteries The following guidelines are good practice: 1

2 3 4 5 6

Airlines will determine the maximum capacity (referred to as ‘watt hours’) that you may carry and the maximum number that you may carry. If travelling with company then consider sharing the batteries amongst you. Batteries should be packed in your hand luggage and not in the hold. Batteries should be discharged to storage voltage levels (approx. 50 per cent). Battery terminals should be isolated. Batteries should be carefully wrapped, preferably in individual LiPo bags. You should remove the battery from your drone.

Chapter Summary PLANNING AN AERIAL SHOOT • • •

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• •

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Careful planning ensures that you conduct the flight safely and increases your chances of getting a great shot. Determine whether you are clear to fly before you commit to complicated planning. Think about the final image you want to achieve and the conditions that need to come together to achieve it: • composition • light quality and direction • weather • timing Think about the factors that could impede your shot: • proximity of people • weather • safety concerns Get the required permissions. Carry out a Dynamic Risk Assessment prior to take-off and if you are not 100 per cent sure that your flight can be conducted safely then do not fly. Go back another time. If you’re planning to take your drone abroad make sure that you understand any registration requirements and follow that country’s ‘Drone Code’. Comply with all the rules about the carriage of batteries on airlines or you might not even get the chance to fly!

PART TWO

Photography

I

n this next section, we’ll be going back to basics with photography, seeing how aerial photography differs from what you might be used to on the ground, and taking the results of all of that into the editing suite.

Finally, we’ll pull it all together with a look at building a portfolio and presenting your work – whether for friends and family, social media or, indeed, prospective clients.

Chapter 6

Stills photography

L

et’s start at the beginning and examine in detail the principles of photography and what makes a good photograph.

WHAT MAKES A PHOTO ‘GREAT’? We now live in an age where nearly everyone carries a camera around with them. We are overwhelmed with imagery everywhere we look. Smartphones, social media and the Internet have ‘democratized’ photography; everyone is now a photographer and, at the same time, a photography critic. Even so, from time to time we see a photo that makes us look again, and perhaps makes us go ‘Wow!’ Some photos really stand out from the mass-media and, not surprisingly, some photographers stand out from the crowd. It is often no coincidence that the great photos are taken either by photographers who ‘have an eye’ or by who those who really invest in honing their skills. Give the same camera to half a dozen photographers and ask them to capture the same scene and the chances are they will all record something completely different. Some may ‘go wide’ whilst others ‘zoom in’ to detail. Some may find patterns where others find colour and make that the feature. Different angles, lenses and focus will give a completely different look and feel to a scene… The potential for difference is infinite. As a result of the experiment you might see one or two exceptional photographs in the mix. The chances are that these photos will look exceptional because they have captured something different from the view that the eye sees. They have structured the image in a way that surprises you, that makes you think; they may be technically brilliant or just plain beautiful.

TAKING A GREAT PHOTO Most great photographs are great for a reason, they don’t just ‘happen’. You can improve your chances of making a great image: • • • •

There are rules and conventions for creating striking compositions. Study good photographs and try to figure out why they work. Which ‘rules’ have the photographers employed? The best photos are normally taken in the best light. Study light and how changes in weather and seasons affect its quality. If you don’t have a photographer’s eye then you can develop it with practice. Learn how to master your camera controls.

Pre-visualization and creativity Taking a great photo isn’t just about holding a camera up to a scene and pressing the shutter. In exceptional circumstances, it can be, but usually you take a shot because you have a mental image of what you want to record before you take it. This is called ‘pre-visualization’ or as people like to call it ‘the eye’. People who have ‘the eye’ take better photos than those who are less creative. Some people are naturally creative and have it in their blood; the rest of us have to work at it. You can improve your creativity by finding some ‘photo heroes’ and deconstructing their work. Why do you like their work? What is it about their images that you like? The more you understand about the constructs of good photography, and try to put that into your own work, the better you will become. Remember that, like all of the ‘arts’, there are trends and fads. Don’t be afraid to experiment.

There are rules that you can follow to create ‘great’ imagery but sometimes a photo is ‘great’ because you just really like it.

Persistence Good photographers aren’t ‘lucky’; they work hard at their art. Photography is a profession, a calling or an obsession. Being able to ‘pre-visualize’ a great shot is one thing; achieving it can be quite another. Great photographers will often plan their shoots thoroughly and revisit the same scene or subject matter time and again, until all of the components fall into place. For example, you want to take a photo of a castle. Just because you got up at 4am to get the shot at sunrise doesn’t guarantee a good result; it might be overcast so the light isn’t right. A good photographer would use that as an opportunity to try some different compositions and come back another day. I have a list of shots that I want to take, at some point, and I am always researching how and when I can take them; my holidays often revolve around a photo opportunity to be ticked off my bucket list!

Technical skill All of the creativity and persistence in the world counts for nothing if you can’t translate it into a good technical image. Your images need to be well exposed, sharp and well composed. This means you need to have mastery over the controls on your camera so that you can capture the shot exactly as you have pre-visualized it; and you may already be factoring in

what post-production techniques you’ll need to apply to achieve the final result. With cameras becoming ever more sophisticated it is all too easy to rely on the ‘automatic’ functions and trust to the camera’s brain to get the shot. True technical skill, and mastery of the craft, begins when you switch the controls to ‘manual’ and tell the camera what you want it to do.

Have a list in your head of the locations that you would really love to ‘nail’. I’ve been thinking about Eilean Donan Castle for years – and on the way back from a rain-drenched week in Skye I finally got my chance – the clouds lifted and I managed to capture that season’s first snowfall as a bonus.

BACK TO BASICS Composition The first thing we do, when we look through the viewfinder of a camera, is to move the camera around, zoom in and out, until we like what we see and settle on a ‘good composition’. The viewfinder represents the frame, or the bounds, of the final image and everything we want to record needs to be contained within it. ‘So, where’s the difficulty in

that?’ you might ask. The difficulty comes in knowing what to include in the frame, where to locate it in the frame, how much of the frame to fill with the subject matter, what to have in the background, where to have the light coming from and so on. With aerial photography there are even more decisions to make as you can now move your camera around in space! To help get you started there are some ‘rules’ to composition and these apply to all photography. These rules will help you assemble the components of your shot and give you a good chance of it working out. For aerial photography there are a few additional guides that will set you on your way to great photography.

The ‘rule of thirds’. Divide your frame into thirds vertically and horizontally. Place your subject matter on the intersections of the lines, or along them, for a more interesting composition.

PRO TIP Composition rules are tricks of the trade; they have been developed over many years based on evidence of what looks pleasing to the eye. Study photos that you like and see if you can work out which ‘rules’ they have employed.

PRO TIP Don’t include a lot of sky in your image unless the sky is the star of the show. Looking at a photo that is half sky, even if it is blue, isn’t very scintillating. If the sky is dramatic then drop the horizon onto the lower third line and make it a feature.

The ‘rule of thirds’ This is the classic compositional rule. Imagine your frame is divided into thirds, horizontally and vertically. Your frame now has nine boxes, and intersections where the dividing lines cross. The rule states that you will achieve a pleasing composition if you place vertical and horizontal elements of your image along these lines, and objects of interest on the intersections where they meet. This means that the subject matter is placed off-centre rather than occupying the middle of the frame.

Don’t fill your shot with sky unless it really is the star of the show. Here, simply tilting the camera down fills more of the image with the subject matter and makes a better shot.

Not all drone shots need to be taken at nosebleed-inducing heights. Some don’t even need to look like drone shots at all.

Leading lines take your eye through an image to the subject matter. Here, there are a number of lines that all converge on the floodlit pitch.

The elegant sweep of the shore and the waves lead you to the walkers on the beach.

Strong diagonal elements in your images will add a sense of dynamism.

Leading lines These are lines in the image that ‘lead your eye’ naturally through the scene. Sometimes images can be a confusing array of components; using a ‘leading line’, whether it be a natural or man-made element in the image, can help make sense of the photograph. Leading lines control exactly where you want the viewer to look within your image, where the important subject matter is.

Diagonals Diagonals can add depth and a sense of movement to a shot. Rather than shoot a building, for example, straight on, where you’ll end up with a very ‘blocky’ image, if you shoot it obliquely, from a corner, then you can add depth and perspective, and more interest.

PRO TIP I always try to include a strong diagonal element, or elements, in my aerial photos. Finding diagonals with a drone can be a lot easier than running around on the ground!

Depth This is created by the juxtaposition of elements in the foreground and the background of your image. To add depth to your aerial compositions you should consider flying close to your subject matter, to a point where the foreground and backgrounds separate, i.e. one looks close and the other far away. Don’t always shoot wide, as your images could look flat and uninteresting, as the subject matter blends into the background. This is a particular problem with the standard wide lenses on most prosumer drones.

PRO TIP Using a zoom lens can help you achieve ‘depth’ in your images by separating the foreground from the background.

Getting in close to your subject matter can give it a prominence through the perception of depth that it creates. Make sure you have permission and that it is safe to do so.

Top-down shots These shots are the real signature of drone photography. Get your drone high and point the

camera straight down to capture shots that you will never get from ground-based photography. Look for abstract shapes, patterns and shadows that leave the viewer puzzled and amazed.

PRO TIP Don’t over-use ‘top-down’ shots as the novelty soon wears off and some images can be positively vertigoinducing. Top-down shots of buildings are normally uninteresting as the viewer is faced with an image of gutters and air conditioning plant. Try flying at just on, or above, the roof-line for the most interesting shots.

The interesting thing about top-down shots can be the ‘suggestion’ of the subject matter created by its shadow. Keep an eye out for long shadows at the end of the day.

Top-down shots can be vertigo-inducing but a nice pattern gives an edge that you’d find difficult to achieve with ground-based photography.

Aerial photography gives you, the photographer, almost limitless compositional possibilities. Try to practise different compositions of the same subject by experimenting with: • • •

Distance from the subject – try near and far. The drone’s altitude – try low and high. The relative position – try left and right, and even behind, if you can.

PRO TIP If you are photographing a tall structure, fly your drone to a point where the top of the structure protrudes above the horizon to give the image a sense of scale.

If you’re unsure as to what might make the best shot, then – if you have the space – experiment and try the subject from all angles, heights and in different light directions. The sky is the limit!

By experimenting you will at least have explored the compositional possibilities for that subject. Remember that you also have the tilt function with the gimbal as a new method of changing the composition of your shots.

PRO TIP When shooting an object or scene, get the shot that you had pre-visualized first. Then, as you have plenty of battery life left, fly around and experiment with different heights, distances and approaches. Some of my best shots are the ones that came from experimenting after I had taken what I thought was ‘the money shot’.

Here’s that ferry again! I liked the shot I took first of all but then, as I had about twenty minutes of battery remaining, I decided to experiment! Here are two more shots – different angles, different light, completely different results. I have to say I like them just as much – but for different reasons.

Sometimes a bold composition that breaks all the rules can be striking and just as pleasing to the eye. There wasn’t a ‘rule of thirds’ composition that worked here, but I loved the light in this early morning shot in Lake Garda, so I made that the star of the show. Putting the statue above the horizon separated it from the background – also a strong compositional element.

Rules are meant to be broken! The beauty of modern digital photography, and post-production, is that it allows us endless possibilities. Experiment with the rules until you find out what works for you. When you have more confidence it is OK to go against convention and break the rules. Simply changing something like the aspect ratio, for example, can often be dramatic and completely transform a shot. Remember that you can change many of the compositional elements of an image in ‘post’, like the aspect ratio, or horizon line, so it might be better to do your experimentation there rather than in camera. Always have that in mind when making an image.

Early evening sunlight raking across Bovey Castle, in Devon, really accentuates the features of this historic building and gives a warm contrast to what might otherwise be ‘just a building’.

PRO TIP Shoot slightly wider than you think you need to. Allow yourself space to crop, level horizons and correct verticals in post-production.

LIGHT Above all else, there is one element that can make or break your image: the light. I don’t mean a correct technical exposure, but the quality and quantity of the light in your scene; how it is lit and the direction it is lit from. Pause a moment there… this is something that we have no control over. We’re using a drone so we have to go with the light that there is and make the best of it, surely? Of course, to some extent that is true. If we have only a fixed time slot to get the shot and we are constricted by safety or other considerations to take off from a certain place, then yes, we do have to make the best of what light there is. We get a good exposure, process it correctly and deliver it to our client or to social media. But the key word there was ‘if’. If we are not constrained by time or other considerations, then surely we plan to take the

shot when the best light is available for that subject – depending on what we pre-visualize or, perhaps, what a client demands. So let’s look at how light can vary and how you can make use of it creatively.

Quality The ‘quality’ of the light is a term you will hear bandied about when discussing anything from wedding to landscape photography. What it means is the harshness or softness of the light. The sun is a single-point source of light and when it is bright it gives a very harsh light with deep shadows (the wedding photographer’s nightmare). If the sun disappears behind a small white cloud, then the shadows reduce, or disappear, and the light is said to ‘soften’. It has effectively been put behind a ‘diffuser’. Portrait photographers use diffusers and modifiers (known as soft-boxes) to increase the size of the light source (usually a flash) relative to their subjects, if they want to achieve a rich, soft light in their shots. You will find different qualities of light at different times of the day – like at sunrise and sunset and throughout the day, depending on the time of year and cloud cover. The key to success is to be able to predict exactly when you could get the best shot for a given subject. Bear in mind, of course, that there might not be one single time and, of course, we haven’t looked at night photography yet!

I had to make a shot of the yacht club in the left of this image. The light was against me, but by using the strong compositional lines of the landscape and Yarmouth pier I was able to make the image work. Shooting into the light wasn’t my choice, but the ‘high key’ effect makes it look very summery and bright. Whilst I was hanging around, trying different light options, the ferry sailed into view and made the shot.

Use strong light to good effect. ‘Flare’ in an image used to be frowned upon but it seems to be fashionable at the moment – so embrace it.

Direction The direction of the light will have a significant effect on its quality. Pointing a camera directly into light will either throw your subject into shadow (silhouette) or ‘blow out’ the background exposure. Either way, you will find that the colour in the scene will vanish and you will be left with harsh tonal variations. Using light obliquely across a landscape will give it depth if you can achieve nice shadows, say later in the day or early in the morning. It will add detail to your scene and a pleasing tonal contrast. That said, you might want to try a shot into light and see how it looks… be prepared for drama.

PRO TIP Start to study the sunlight and watch how it interacts with buildings, and the landscape, at different times of the day (when it is at different heights above the horizon) and in different weather. In time, you will become proficient at predicting when the light quality will change and the effect it will have on your shots.

Sometimes the hour before sunset – the ‘golden hour’ – gives the best light. Here a cityscape is transformed by the rich warmth of the light.

Sunrise and sunset Sunrises and sunsets can offer rich, warm lighting that can be a boost to any scene. Some can become subject matter in their own right. Here though, we are not talking so much about photographing sunsets, rather using the warm light to enhance our photography. Often referred to by photographers as the ‘golden hour’, the hour or so immediately before sunset can provide some of the best light of any day. Conversely, the hour before sunrise is called the ‘blue hour’ as the light is not as warm and often reflects off clouds as it rises.

PRO TIP Remember that if you are airborne, at any reasonable height, the sun will appear sooner than the published sunrise time and set after sunset on the ground. Give yourself plenty of time to get organized. Be aware that the quality, and colour, of the light changes very rapidly, so you might want to capture images over a period of thirty minutes or more.

Shooting in the evening is often less of a gamble than getting up at 4am and climbing a mountain in the hope of a decent sunrise. Shooting at sunset means you can usually monitor

the weather and light as the sunset develops.

Ironically, night shots need to be full of light to be interesting. If there isn’t enough light you can create your own – this floodlit foreground is the perfect filler for a dramatic night shot.

Night time Photographing at night will offer you a transformational view of your scene. Sometimes the best ‘night’ light is actually found before it gets pitch black and there is still some definition in the sky. Try to avoid big, black areas of darkness in your shots, as they are unlikely to add anything to the quality of the overall image. Try to fill the image with light. Generally speaking you can’t add your own light to a landscape, so look for locations where someone has done it for you. Floodlights and building lights tend to be switched on only in the evenings – don’t expect them to be lit at dawn.

NIGHT FLYING – BEWARE! • • • •

Night flying can be hazardous and may be prohibited. Check local regulations before you fly. Familiarize yourself with the terrain and obstacles in daylight before flying at night. Fit your drone with ‘conspicuity’ lights so that you can keep it VLOS at all times. Illuminate the take-off and landing area.

YOUR CAMERA Your drone camera, like any other, will consist of several components and have a number of controls. The digital camera body essentially consists of: 1 2 3

A sensor that collects the light (this used to be light sensitive film). An aperture, the ‘hole’ through which the light enters the camera. A shutter that opens and closes to let the light hit the sensor.

The mechanics of capturing an image are as follows: activating the shutter allows light to enter the camera, through the aperture, to be collected by the sensor. These variables can all be controlled by ‘modes’ and other functions. On ground-based cameras, the controls are physical buttons and dials on the camera body, with perhaps some menus shown on a screen. On an integrated drone camera, the lens, shutter and sensor will be condensed into a tiny camera fitted to the drone, whilst all of the control functions will be in your hands on the ground, most likely within the controller app menus. This offers the double advantages of huge weight savings, meaning longer flight times, and the ability to remotely control the camera and to change variables during flight.

Cameras come in all shapes and sizes. These early German aerial reconnaissance cameras were a far cry from today’s technology.

Exposure triangle Were all of the physical parameters of the camera to be ‘fixed’, then every time you activated the shutter it would open for a set amount of time, allowing light in, through a fixed size hole, to be gathered by the sensor, which had certain sensitivity to light. What would be the effect of that? Well, on a good day, exactly the right amount of light would be collected on the sensor and give you a perfect ‘exposure’. But, when it was dull the picture would look dull, or under-exposed, and if it was very bright then the image would also be very bright, or over-exposed. (The terms ‘under-exposed’ and ‘over-exposed’ simply mean that you have let too little or too much light into the camera.) To obtain the ‘correct’ exposure (i.e. the one that you had pre-visualized) you need to use

the controls on your camera to achieve the right balance. The ‘exposure triangle’ is the relationship between the three variables of exposure: 1 2 3

How ‘open’ the aperture is, to let in the light – the aperture ƒ-number. How long the shutter stays open for – the shutter speed. The light sensitivity of the sensor – the ISO number.

So, in our previous example, on a dull day, we under-exposed the image. The image was dark so to correct this we need to let more light in. We can use the camera controls to: 1 2 3

Make the aperture wider (aperture numbers run from, for example ƒ2.8, wide open, to ƒ22 ‘stopped down’). Keep the shutter open for longer (shutter speeds run from thousandths of a second to whole seconds). Make the sensor more sensitive to light (low sensitivity at, for example, 100 ISO to high at 12,800 ISO).

There are other options, which include using a combination of two, or even all three, of the above. If all else fails, and we are still under-exposing, then we can add light to the scene by using a flash, or, in the case of drone photography, waiting for more sunlight. As a rule, doubling the value of the variable doubles the amount of light entering the camera (and vice versa). So, going from ƒ16 to ƒ8, 400 ISO to 800 ISO, or 1/250th to 1/125th shutter speed, will all double the amount of light captured by the sensor. The doubling, or halving, factor is called ‘one stop’. So, if your image is said to be ‘one stop under-exposed’ then you need to double the light by adjusting one or more of the variables accordingly.

EV +/− On a lot of camera drones there is an ‘EV +/−’ toggle control, which allows you to increase, or reduce, the exposure of the scene in ‘stops’ – usually by increments of a third of a stop. Learn to use the toggle switch instinctively, and you will find that it is more convenient to use than fiddling through the sub-menus on your monitor.

Light metering

Looking through the viewfinder gives you no visual clue as to what settings you will need to apply. All digital cameras have light meters built into them to make the job much easier.

Don’t trust light meters to get it right every time; always take bracketed exposures. Here you can see the difference between the normal, under-exposed and over-exposed shots. Nine times out of ten you’ll end up using the normal exposure but on that other occasion you’ll be glad you had a choice.

A light meter will measure light across a scene, or in a small area, depending on your camera and settings, and will work out an Exposure Value or EV. The EV can be arrived at by the combination of the three exposure variables of ISO, shutter speed and aperture. Always use Auto Exposure Bracketing (AEB). Light meters are unintelligent and will simply give you an EV based on the light reflected off the object you pointed it at. All light meters are programmed to convert the reflected light into what is known as ‘18 per cent grey’. For example, if you meter off snow then the camera assumes it is 18 per cent grey and adjusts your exposure accordingly, the result being a dull, under-exposed image. Conversely, if the meter reads off a black object in your scene, say a nice dark shadow, it will also tell the camera to make it grey – and your image will look over-exposed. The easy way to overcome this, automatically, is to always take ‘bracketed’ exposures. The AEB function on your camera will take three (or in some cases, five) exposures simultaneously of the same scene. The first frame is the ‘normal’ exposure; it will then take over-exposed and under-exposed frames. For the most part, the normal exposure will be just

fine, but on the occasions that you inadvertently metered off a white building or a dark shadow, you will, at least, have the choice of another exposure. Bracketing is also useful when shooting into light as the results can be very unpredictable and you never know which one will come out best. This is the reason a lot of ‘amateur’ sunsets look good – the camera, set to auto, and metering off the sun, will automatically under-expose the scene, bringing out the colours and detail in the sky.

In ‘shutter priority’ mode you choose the shutter speed and the camera takes care of the rest. High shutter speeds mean you don’t run the risk of ‘motion blur’.

In ‘aperture priority’ mode you can set the aperture and let the camera work out the other parameters. This is a great feature for normal cameras where you’re trying to achieve shallow depth of field effects. It’s not really a ‘go to’ mode for drone photography.

Camera modes To help you to narrow down your choices, you can make use of a number of camera ‘modes’ which will apply different processes to get to the right exposure. In ‘full auto’ mode you would normally set the ISO (and rarely change it) and the camera will work out an appropriate combination of shutter speed and aperture. In ‘shutter priority’, or TV mode (Time Value), you would set the shutter speed and the aperture would be calculated and set automatically. The ISO should always be set to its lowest setting to start with, to ensure maximum image quality. In ‘aperture priority’ or AV mode, you set the aperture and the shutter speed is set by the camera. Again, set the ISO to its lowest setting to begin with. In ‘full manual’ mode you have total control over all of the functions and the camera makes no attempt to get a correct exposure for you. It will give you an indication of what it thinks, by telling you ‘you’re over-exposing’ or ‘you’re under-exposing’ by displaying warnings in the form of ‘zebra stripes’ or warning triangles on histograms.

In ‘manual’ mode you take full control of the camera. I would normally only use this mode in very tricky lighting situations or when doing an aerial 360.

Histograms display the distribution of the light across the tonal ranges from shadow to highlights. Distributions to the left mean the image may be ‘low key’ and to the right will look bright. For an accurate capture you should ensure that all of the light is distributed within the left and right extremes without ‘clipping’. This will give you the maximum latitude for creativity in post-production, especially if you have shot in RAW.

If you have to make a choice, it is always better to be on the slightly under-exposed side of the histogram; shadow detail can be recovered more easily from an under-exposed RAW image, in post-production, than blown-out highlights. Detail lost in ‘blown-out’ highlights is gone forever.

Lenses I haven’t forgotten about lenses, they’re just nothing to do with getting a correct exposure! In simple terms, the purpose of the lens is to ‘focus’ the light reflecting off your subject onto the sensor plane so that the resulting image is sharp, or in focus. Lenses can be ‘fixed’ or ‘zoom’ where the hyperfocal distance of the lens can be varied. The effect of a zoom lens is that you can effectively ‘magnify’ the view.

PRO TIP The heavy work rate of a drone pilot is likely to be taxing, to say the least. Taking the camera into full manual mode might be a step too far and even counter-productive for a one-man operator. Normally, shutter priority, with AE bracketed shooting, will be more than sufficient to keep control of your exposure and allow some creativity at the margins.

Focusing Some budget lenses are ‘fixed focus’, meaning the lens is focused at infinity and you can’t change it. For drone photography that is not usually a problem, unless you want to get close to an object in the foreground. Higher spec cameras will have an ability to focus on where you decide the subject matter is. In most cases, tapping the screen of your device with your finger will set the focus point. (If you have been doing ‘close-up’ photos, remember to reset the focus to a further point on completion or the rest of your shots will be out of focus.) With longer lenses, setting the focus point can be more critical as they introduce ‘depth of field’. Professional crews, in dual mode, can have a camera operator assigned specifically to ‘focus pulling’.

HYPERFOCAL DISTANCE The lens on your drone will either be permanently fixed, or you will be able to change it. Interchangeable lenses are normally used for specific commercial purposes like inspection work, or movie-making, where creativity can be enhanced with the use of so-called ‘cinematic lenses’. For regular, amateur use then the fixed option is good and affordable. Remember that you don’t necessarily need a zoom lens to get a shot of that lighthouse anymore – you can just fly closer!

‘Creativity’ or ‘the unintended consequences of the exposure

triangle’ Just as in Newton’s third law – ‘For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction’ – in photography we have a similar rule: ‘For every variable you change in the exposure triangle there will be a knock-on effect on the others.’ Not as elegant, but you get the idea. Simply put, the variables of shutter speed, aperture and ISO must always add up to 1EV for a correct exposure. So, if you increase the amount of light coming into the camera by opening up the aperture, say, then the shutter speed has to be increased (i.e. the shutter is open for less time) and/or the light sensitivity (ISO) needs to be reduced to bring the equation back into equilibrium. The camera can handle these variables very easily, so you might ask, ‘What is the issue?’ Each variable component of the exposure triangle can have positive (let’s call it ‘creative’) or negative (perhaps ‘unintended’) consequences. Let’s look at the parameters in more detail.

PRO TIP Don’t be tempted to set the focus of your camera on the ground before take off as it will usually focus on something close. Setting your camera focus to infinity on a wide lens will normally ensure that everything from c.15m to infinity will be in focus.

Aperture The aperture is a variable-sized ‘hole’ that the light passes through and it can either be ‘wide’ (or ‘open’), to allow the maximum amount of light pass through it, or ‘shut down’ (also referred to as ‘stopped down’) to restrict the amount of light getting to the sensor. F-stop numbers of, say, ƒ2.8 or ƒ4 are referred to as ‘low’, but actually mean the aperture is ‘open or wide’. A high ƒ-stop number, like ƒ16 or ƒ22, means the aperture is narrow and lets less light in. The creative possibility, or problem, associated with different aperture values, is something called ‘depth of field’. Depth of field is the ‘zone’ within which your image appears sharp, or in focus. Depth of field is said to be ‘shallow’ at low aperture values, say ƒ2.8, and increases as you ‘stop the lens down’ and the ƒ-stop number increases. Depth of field is determined by a number of factors, not just the ƒ-stop, such as the distance to the subject and the focal length of the lens. Whether depth of field is likely to be an issue for you really depends on the quality of the lens you have and how far away from your subject matter you are flying. Prosumer drones, with wide-angle lenses, normally flown at a distance from the subject matter, will give a deep

depth of field and everything should be in focus.

PRO TIP Most lenses produce their sharpest results in the mid-aperture range, say, ƒ5.6–ƒ11. If you have plenty of light available, and you are using a decent quality lens, then try to keep the aperture in this range by using the AV priority mode. Keep an eye on the shutter speed and if it starts to get into ‘camera shake’ territory then you might want to ‘bump up the ISO’ a notch to keep the image sharp.

Shutter speed We already know that to get more light into the camera we can leave the shutter open for longer, and that shutter speeds can be selected between thousandths of a second and whole seconds. High shutter speeds can be used to ‘freeze’ action. At slower speeds, even a tiny movement of the camera will lead to something called ‘camera shake’ or its creative cousin, ‘motion blur’. There is very little obvious use for motion blur in most drone photography. I like to keep my camera in shutter priority mode with a shutter speed at about 1/500th for daytime drone work. I also ensure that I am never using ND filters, and I won’t use CP filters if poor light is an issue. Be aware that, especially in low-light conditions, you may get motion blur if you are using a shutter speed below 1/125th of a second. Experiment and take a lot of shots; if the drone is kept still you can actually get surprisingly good results at fractions of a second, but if it is windy you might have to ‘bump up the ISO’ to keep your image sharp. ISO ISO is the number given to the light sensitivity of the sensor. In the good old days of film it was also referred to as ASA and you normally had a choice of 200 ASA film, or 400 ASA film for dull conditions. The ISO settings can be varied from its base, low sensitivity (say, 100 or 200 ISO) all the way up to many thousands where even the faintest light can be captured and recorded. The ISO can be set for a whole shoot or can actually be changed, on the fly, as the light changes. The importance of knowing the base ISO number of your camera is that for any increment above that base number there will be a corresponding reduction in the quality of the image. In film this was manifest as ‘grain’; in digital cameras it is called ‘noise’. In your image, noise will look like little flecks or digital ‘artifacts’ and you will see a reduction in the overall sharpness.

‘Noise’ results from using high ISO values in low light. Sometimes you have to bump up the ISO to get a shot. You can certainly reduce noise in post-production but at extreme levels it can render the image unusable. This image, which is unedited, would be on the borderline of acceptability for commercial work but would make a perfectly acceptable shot for any other use.

In well-lit scenes, noise can often go undetected and so it isn’t necessarily a problem. Beyond 800 ISO, however, you can normally expect some visible degradation. Of course, you may have to accept some noise as a compromise for getting a sharp image. In a worstcase scenario, there is always ‘noise-reduction’ software that you can use in postproduction to minimize its detrimental effect. Night photography can be very ‘hit and miss’ so you are probably best advised to experiment and work out the settings that work best for your camera. Start with a low ISO number and work your way up the scale until the noise is unacceptable. Shoot in shutter priority mode and if your camera has it, try the ‘hyperlight’ mode, now a feature on some DJI drones.

File formats – RAW or JPEG? In the camera settings menus you will find options for selecting the quality of your shots. Normally, on prosumer drones, you will either have no option, and you’ll get JPEG, or you’ll be able to choose between RAW and JPEG. Some allow you to shoot both simultaneously. The differences between RAW and JPEG are as follows: a RAW file contains all of the information that was captured by your camera sensor when you activated the shutter. A RAW file is much bigger than a JPEG file and, importantly, requires you to do some basic editing to the file to get the best out of it. A JPEG file, on the other hand, is pre-processed by the camera and certain information is discarded (this format is also known as ‘lossy’). You end up with a ‘nicer-looking’ image, right out of the camera, at a more manageable file size. If you are serious about your photography (and I assume you are), then you will always want to have as much of the information in the file as possible so that you can edit it more accurately and creatively. For that reason nearly all pros shoot RAW. The exceptions may be sports photographers who need to keep the ‘buffer’ clear for extended burst sequences.

If you have a choice then you should shoot in a RAW file format – you will have much more creative latitude when it comes to editing your shots.

Shooting RAW has a few drawbacks: •

Large file sizes mean that the camera ‘buffer’ can fill up quickly, preventing you taking large ‘bursts’ of images. This is not normally an issue with drone photography but can mean that you have to pause between taking sequences of bracketed shots, for example.

• •

You will need to edit the images in post-production software to get the best out of them. The resulting file sizes are often far too big to email or post on social media.

If you have the option to shoot both RAW and JPEG files at the same time then you can get the best of both worlds: nice-looking shots that you can immediately email to your friends, plus heavy-duty files rich with data that you can fully edit later.

High Dynamic Range or ‘HDR’ photography The human eye, by constant movement of the iris (the equivalent of our camera’s aperture) can receive and interpret a very wide range of light intensities, enabling us to see in anything from bright sunlight to almost total darkness. At any one time, though, it can only see a partial segment of this range. This is called the ‘dynamic range’. So, for example, if you are looking at a strong sunset, you might not be able to pick up detail, or colour, in the shadows in the landscape at the same time. Cameras also have a dynamic range, and it usually follows that the more expensive the camera, and the larger the sensor, the greater the range. Images that resemble, or replicate, what our eyes can see, tend to be more pleasing to look at; they look richer and more ‘natural’. Advances in software capabilities mean that images with different exposures can be combined, in editing, to extend this range. This is called High Dynamic Range or HDR photography. The HDR technique requires that you take a number of exposures, three or five say, with one or two stop differences between them. You run the images through an HDR processor and it renders out a single image that captures the full gamut of luminance right the way from the shadows to the highlights.

By combining three bracketed shots you can extend the ‘dynamic range’ of an image. It is useful in poor light conditions but has limited use in drone photography. In this comparison I am happier with the final result from the RAW image than the HDR composite which looks ‘other-worldly’.

Shooting panoramas Occasionally you will need to shoot a scene that is wider than your lens will permit. There are also times when you are constrained to fly closer to a scene than you’d want – because there is a motorway behind you, for example, and so you end up with a narrower field of view than you’d ideally like for your composition. In these cases you will normally have the option either to shoot a scene in ‘Panorama’ (Pano) mode or to shoot a number of overlapping shots and ‘stitch’ them together yourself in post-production.

PRO TIP Some cameras have a digital HDR function which electronically ‘cheats’ to achieve the result. For best results you should take a number of separate exposures and combine them yourself in post-production. Be aware that any slight camera movement between the exposures will lead to a misalignment of the images and you may get what is known as ‘ghosting’. I use HDR a lot in low light for interiors photography where my camera is on a tripod. For drone work, skilful processing of a RAW image can give just as good, if not better, results.

Modern integrated camera drones will normally have a panorama mode. Panorama modes will usually give you a number of options, from a straight level panorama to a full spherical sequence that gives an immersive 360 view when used in conjunction with a 360 viewer. It is critical that during the taking of the panorama you do not move the drone from its geo-spatial position or the resulting images will be difficult, or impossible, to stitch together due to parallax errors. If you are shooting manually then aim for a good 30 per cent overlap on each image to give yourself the best possible chance of getting a good final image.

PRO TIP Remember that the ‘longer’ your lens, the more shots you are going to have to take to capture the full ‘pano’ and so the more potential there is for errors to creep in. I use a 15mm fisheye lens on my SLR to give me good coverage in 360 panoramas. I also use manual exposure settings to ensure an even exposure of the ground below.

Search in your camera settings for Pano mode – you should find a variety of options including full spherical 360.

Flying limitations restricted the maximum field of view I could achieve in this shot.

To get a better ‘landscape view’ I shot a number of overlapping images across the horizon and stitched them together in Lightroom for a very pleasing panorama. Notice that you lose pixels at the top and bottom of the images so shoot wide to allow for this.

Hyperlapse photography Most will now be familiar with ‘time-lapse’: a sequence of still images shot over a period of

time that when edited into a video show ‘speeded up’ action. They were first used in very controlled situations, where the light could be kept constant and the camera kept very still – such as a seed growing into a flower in early nature documentaries. Since the arrival of digital cameras, time-lapses have become much more mainstream. It is possible to shoot time-lapse sequences on drones by simply setting the controls for a specific interval between shots, say two or five seconds, then rendering the sequence in a video editing program. The drone will, more often than not, move slightly during the capture meaning the resultant video seems to wobble. This can be overcome to some extent in the editing process but it’s not ideal. A ‘hyperlapse’ is the logical sequitur from the time-lapse, as it takes advantage of the drone’s ability to move by flying a set path through the scene, while the camera captures the stills sequence. The hyperlapse videos are far more compelling than time-lapses as they introduce dynamism into the sequence. Some drones have ‘intelligent’ hyperlapse modes, allowing you to fly a number of different manoeuvres, or waypoints, while making your sequence.

Chapter Summary WHAT MAKES A GREAT PHOTO Part Two began with an in-depth look at how to ‘see’ and take a great photo. A great shot We learned that the components of a good photograph boil down to only two essential ingredients: 1

2

Composition: what you include and where you put it in your shot. You need to decide what the subject matter is and then place it in the frame. Learn some composition rules, try them out and be prepared to break them! Study other people’s work and see if you can work out why you like their compositions; which rules have they employed? Lighting: how the subject matter is lit is critical to achieving the ‘Wow!’ factor; the quality and direction of the light means you have to try different times of day, or year, and you need to get that drone mobile, around the scene, to get just the right direction.

A good ‘technical’ exposure Different from a ‘great shot’, a good technical exposure means capturing the scene as you had pre-visualized it. We learned that there are three elements to the ‘exposure triangle’: 1 2 3

Aperture – the ‘hole’ through which light enters the camera and hits the sensor. Shutter speed – the length of time the sensor is exposed to light. ISO – the light sensitivity of the sensor itself.

We also learned about the creative possibilities – or unintended consequences – of each parameter of the exposure triangle: 1 2 3

Aperture affects the depth of field; what is in, or out of, focus in your shot. Shutter speed can introduce blur or freeze action. Increasing ISO will allow you to capture light, even in very dim conditions, but will

cause the image to degrade as you increase its sensitivity. Mastering the camera Once we learned the rules, and the technicalities, of a well-exposed shot, we set about exploring the controls that vary those input parameters. Cameras are highly sophisticated and can do a great job of managing the process, most of the time. We explored how to take your skill to the next level, by taking the camera under your own control and moving away from the Full Auto mode. We explored: 1 2 3 4

Semi-automatic modes, where the camera does most of the heavy lifting. Aperture Priority – where you set the aperture and the camera works out the rest. Shutter Priority – as above, but where you set the shutter speed. Full Manual mode, where with help from the camera’s light meter, you take control of all of the exposure parameters. Here, you’re at your most creative, but it might be considered ‘overkill’ for drone work.

For tricky lighting situations we looked at a couple of ‘tricks of the trade’: 1 2

AE Bracketing – where you shoot several frames of the same scene at different exposures and choose the best one. HDR – where you shoot several exposures of the same scene and combine them.

Finally, we finished on file formats and the pros and cons of RAW files over JPEGs. For drone photography I recommended that you always shoot in RAW, being aware that the pitfalls include large file sizes and the requirement for some post-production editing to get the very best results.

Chapter 7

Basic stills editing

f you’re still following the programme, you should now have some beautifully captured RAW file images on an SD card! Capturing the shots accurately was just the first step of the pre-visualization process – an important step, nevertheless. To achieve the image that you ‘saw’ when you activated the shutter might need a bit more input and creativity in what is called ‘editing’, ‘postproduction’ or ‘post’. On the other hand, you might not have some beautifully exposed images, and you might need some help fixing them in ‘post’!

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DEVELOP A WORKFLOW

Being a good photographer isn’t just about being creative and capturing a good image. Being a good photographer is also about being a good planner, being organized, being efficient with your time and being able to work consistently to achieve good technical results every time. Practice and experience are the making of really good photographers. Practice and experience teach you how to learn from your mistakes. They also teach you how to approach a task the same way every time for the same results. In short, practice and experience give you a ‘workflow’. Every photographer will have a workflow that works for them. They know, from experience, if they do things in a certain order, they will get to a similar result, consistently. If you are new to editing photographs, then you will need to learn how to navigate through the various processes efficiently; not an easy task when the software interface, alone, can send you into a sweat.

PRO TIP For best results, shoot in RAW and spend the time to get the shot as good as you can make it in camera. Retake it if necessary. Editing can help you fix problems and mistakes, but you may lose some quality in the editing process. Reviewing your shot, or ‘chimping’ as it is called, is a luxury that was not afforded our predecessors – make use of it.

Editing programs are so comprehensive that it can sometimes be difficult to know where to start.

In the following sections I will guide you through the process of post-production in a simple and logical way. This is my workflow, which works for me; it might work for you, it might not – but if nothing else, it will be a good starting point, which you can subsequently tweak for yourself. If you are new to photography and don’t have a lot of experience then borrow someone else’s experience! My workflow has been developed over many years of trial and error, much research and expense, and a fair dollop of heartache. Borrowing my workflow will give you a head-start and you won’t need to spend as much money or make all the mistakes that I made! I am not going to teach you what every single slider or button does in Lightroom, or what every sub-menu contains and the parameters of every tool in the box; you can refer to the technical specs for that. What I aim to explain is how to get that image off your SD card, edit it and prepare it for viewing. I’ll also relentlessy reiterate the importance of saving your work, backing it up and archiving it.

EDITING SOFTWARE ‘Post-production’ is the manipulation, or editing, of an image, in a bespoke software package.

You would usually expect to use a laptop or desktop computer, as the file sizes are large and editing programs can be very ‘processor-hungry’. Some basic edits to JPEG files can be done on apps and tablets, but this is not the type of editing that we are concerned with here.

A quick online search reveals a plethora of photo editing solutions. You need to find the package that suits your needs and your budget; not as easy as it sounds if you don’t know what your precise needs are.

There is a vast array of editing software available. Some is ‘brand specific’ and might even come with your camera; others are generic and vary in price depending on their complexity. The best-known editing software is Adobe’s Photoshop; the word itself has become a verb, synonymous with ‘edit’, in the international vocabulary. To say an image has

been ‘photoshopped’ simply means that it has been edited in some way or another, not necessarily using Photoshop! Choose an editing software program that will do what you need it to do: • • •

Choose a program that has the features you need and suits your budget. Don’t necessarily get the ‘pro’ package if you are only ever going to perform basic edits. There are plenty of options on the market, many of which offer a trial period – ideal if you are unsure which suits you best. Some programs come ‘bundled’ with other products and make them more cost effective if you do video editing, for example. Some of the more expensive offerings may have subscriptions to spread the cost.

Most developers will have different versions of their programs at different price points. The entry-level Photoshop program, for example, is called ‘Photoshop Elements’. When buying some of the more expensive programs, you can usually either buy them outright, and pay for upgrades, or subscribe monthly for a cloud-based offering with regular updates included in the price. If you’re starting out, you will want to find a mainstream program to match your budget. If your needs are more complex then you will want to look at the more complex, and expensive, offerings. I subscribe to the Adobe Creative Cloud package of products, as it covers all of my editing needs. At c.£40 per month it’s not cheap, but it contains several photo-editing programs, as well as a comprehensive video editing capability. (It also has half a dozen other applications for designers and web creators, which I have never even looked at, let alone opened!) The two programs that I use are Adobe Lightroom, every single day, and Adobe Photoshop, occasionally. For the purposes of instruction, in this book, I will be demonstrating my editing process using Lightroom, predominantly. Most, if not all, of the basic editing techniques will be generic and should be achievable in any other program that you may own; you might just have to do some digging about to find the tools and controls. A basic program’s capabilities can be augmented by the integration of third-party developed ‘plug-ins’. These plug-ins normally take you to the ‘next level’ in specialist areas of photography like HDR, timelapse or 360 degree panoramas, for example. If you end up venturing into specialist areas, then you will almost certainly come across them. Available for tens of dollars (usually), they can be downloaded from the Internet. There will normally be a ‘try before you buy’ period for you to assess the capabilities of the program before you purchase it. The resulting images are normally branded with watermarks so that you’re not

tempted to ‘try and not buy’!

BACK-UP STRATEGY If you are new to digital photography then you are at a distinct advantage: you can learn a simple method of storing your photos that you can use for the rest of your photographic career. Everything will be neat and structured, and you’ll always be able to retrieve an image at the drop of a hat. If, on the other hand, you have dabbled, or have already got a significant archive of images, then the chances are that your photos will be in different locations, have different naming conventions and be a bit of a nightmare to find in a hurry. If you adopt a better approach in the future you’ll need to decide what to do with the back-catalogue and that largely depends on how much material there is. The first principle of digital photography is that you want to have all of your work saved in one location for editing, preferably on an external hard drive; at the same time, however, make multiple copies and store them on different drives and in different locations, for safety.

I would encourage you to develop a healthy paranoia about backing up your photos. I have a ‘three copy rule’. By the way, the ‘£100 reward’ means I’ll always get my £50 disk back.

Here’s a glimpse of my back-up strategy in action. I like order and routine and I have never lost a single digital image in over ten years.

THE ‘THREE-COPY RULE’ I have a self-imposed discipline that I call my ‘three-copy rule’; I don’t rest until I have three copies: • • •

of every image (RAW and edited); on three separate hard drives; in three separate locations.

If you keep all of your photos and your back-ups in the same physical location then you risk losing all of your work in the event of fire, theft, flood, a corrupt drive or a dead computer. Imagine a worst-case scenario and think of the consequences of losing every photo that you have ever taken. Develop a second and third back-up strategy as part of your workflow. Here’s mine: 1 2 3

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If my camera has two card slots then I record images to both simultaneously. I will copy my images to a separate portable drive, or USB stick, before I leave a shoot if I can. If I am travelling, I carry SD cards on my person (in a card wallet, in the front pocket of my trousers), and a separate copy in my hand luggage. I never put SD cards in ‘hold luggage’. If I am concerned about physical security then I upload the images to the cloud, as quickly as I can, before I travel, using a file storage service like Dropbox. When importing photos to my computer they go straight onto my main external drive, a mirrored RAID array, so there are immediately two copies. (RAID arrays combine multiple drives to ensure redundancy in the event of a disk failure.) Each image is labelled with the date, shoot name and a sequence number, which stays with that photo for ever. Simultaneously, on import, I copy the images across to a separate external back-up drive. Three copies.

At this point I might have up to eight copies of every photo. As a minimum I’ll have four. Once I am happy that I have all the files in the drives and back-ups, only then would I delete anything from the SD cards. In reality, I usually wait until just before the next shoot to reformat my cards, just to be extra cautious. I do use cloud storage for some work but it can be slow to upload, and expensive to use so I tend to only use it for my edited work. Not that I’m paranoid, but I have seen SD card failures, external hard drive failures and main computer drive failures; I have had laptops and bags stolen and luggage lost – haven’t we all?

WORKFLOW 1: IMPORT YOUR PHOTOS As well as powerful editing tools, Lightroom contains a cataloguing system. You need to organize your photos into folders so that Lightroom knows where to locate them. You may also want to move those photos at some point in the future, say, to a larger hard drive, so it makes sense to keep them all in one place. To make your life easy, really easy, create a single folder called ‘Jake Lightroom’ (you can use your own name if you prefer!). Inside that folder, create a number of sub-folders. I file everything by date – so my sub-folders are years, 2018, 2019, and so on, and each of these will have twelve monthly sub-folders. These are labelled numerically 19/1, 19/2 and so on. I import my shoots into the appropriate month by using a reverse-order dating convention. Let’s look at an example: On the 8 April 2019 I did a shoot at Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth (you’ll learn more about this in Chapter 10). I will import those images into this folder:8TB Raid/Jake Lightroom/2019/19/4/2019 0408spinnaker_tower As I import them, Lightroom will rename them according to my instructions (by the use of a customizable template). The first image in the sequence will be 20190408spinnaker_tower_001. DNG, and the last will be 20190408spinnaker_ tower_350.DNG, for example. The first part of the file name is the date in reverse (YYYYMMDD), the second is custom text which tells me the name of the shoot and then there follows the sequence number. Finally, the file type – DNG – which is a generic RAW format. What would have happened if I’d just dropped the photos into a folder called Spinnaker Tower? Well, they would end up somewhere near, or amongst, other folders beginning with the letter ‘S’. These folders could be from shoots yesterday, or from five years ago. How would you sort that out when you came to archive this month’s, or this year’s, work? If a customer asked for a specific shot from 2014, as one of mine did last week, where would you even begin to look?

Spend some time understanding the import process. This sets the protocol for file naming and ultimately how and where you keep all of your images.

That all sounds logical, but what are the implications of this? How does this help me? 1

Each and every photo has a separately identifiable name that links it to a particular shoot on a specific date. If you need to find an image from a shoot, say, five years ago you can

go straight to it (and the RAW version of it, if you want to re-edit it) in seconds. The most recent photo that I take is always at the bottom of the list. Every photo I take in 2019 comes after all of the previous years, every photo in June (19/6) follows every photo in May (19/5) and so on. If I need to move my entire photo library to a new location, I now only have to move one folder (Jake Lightroom). If I need to archive all of my work at the end of this year (and I will), then I only need to back up one folder – the 2019 one. When I back up this month’s work I will only have to copy the ‘19/6’ folder. Simple! This makes a lot more sense when you start to use the Lightroom folders menu, as you’ll see shortly.

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Each photo is uniquely searchable. If you keep different versions, during editing, TIFFs, PSDs and so on, then keep the root file name and add ‘copy 1’ and so on, so that you always know which file was the source file for that finished image. An edited photo, relabelled as simply ‘Spinnaker Tower 3’, might look like any one of a dozen RAW files that you took on the same shoot. One other, critical, process that you should do on import is to embed your IPTC (copyright) data into every image. Again, this is an automated process, which can be set up as a repeatable process in the import menu. Now that you have your photos on a hard drive (with a few copies…) you can open up your editing software and take a look at them for the first time.

GET IT RIGHT FROM DAY 1 Setting up a folder structure and a naming protocol for all of your images will set you up for life: • • •

no more lost photos; no more accidentally deleted photos; no more ‘where/when was that taken?’ moments.

PRO TIP Convert your files to the DNG file format. Lightroom allows you to automatically convert to this file type, as you import to your hard drive. DNG is a generic RAW format that was created to store image data in a generic, highly compatible format. RAW files have specific formats based on manufacturer and camera type and could possibly be unsupported in the future, in the event of the manufacturer going out of business.

IPTC DATA Google has introduced a new feature of their ‘image search’ mode. When an image is shown, simply click on ‘Image Credits’ and a pop-up will show the image’s creator, credit line and a copyright notice. This information comes from the embedded IPTC data.

Get ready to edit The Lightroom Catalogue, as it is called, is just a set of instructions that you create for an image that become associated with that image. Very importantly, the underlying image (which is on your external hard drive in your ‘Jake Lightroom’ folder) isn’t actually ‘edited’ or moved. This is known as ‘lossless’ editing. When you ‘save’ an image, once you have finishing editing it, the instructions for that image are married to a copy of the underlying file and they create a new file (which you determine the parameters of) and they are exported to a destination folder, which you create. The genius of this is that you are not creating massive files whilst you are editing, as would be the case in Photoshop, for example. The catalogue of instructions can run to hundreds of megabytes, or even gigabytes, but this is a fraction of the space that the equivalent edits would take up in Photoshop. The catalogue of instructions can be copied and saved as an entity in its own right, as an LR.cat file.

Make sure you add your IPTC data to all of your images as you import them; that way, wherever they finish up, your copyright information is embedded in them. A quick online search reveals my image copyright information at the click of a button.

This catalogue has more than 27,000 images associated with it but only uses 246 MB. This is the genius of Lightroom.

Back up your Lightroom Catalogues frequently to avoid losing all of the editing instructions. I usually start a new Lightroom Catalogue at the beginning of every year to prevent them becoming slow and unwieldy. If you save copies of your edited images then this is not as critical.

Lightroom modules Lightroom is divided into several modules, which make the workflow… well, flow.

There will be a number of modules in your editing program.

The Library module This module is where you select the photos which you are going to go on to edit. Essentially the Library module displays your photos in a grid – a bit like an old-school ‘contact sheet’. Controls will allow you to change the size of the thumbnails and select the information that you want to see alongside that image – like filename, camera settings and so

on – that might be useful in the selection process. On the left-hand side of the screen are your neatly laid out folder directories, all in date order. By selecting an image, and double-clicking on it, you can zoom in and preview the whole image at any magnification of your choosing. You can filter images in the Library module by star-rating them, flagging them or by metadata – by camera, by lens or aspect ratio, for example.

Lightroom’s Library module shows you all of your folders and their associated images at a glance. This is where you are going to sort out those images that you want to edit in the next step of the workflow.

The Develop module This is where you do all of your editing and prepare your images for export. Other modules There are a number of other modules, which help you with preparing images for photobooks, printing and social media. These are beyond the remit of this book, but worth a look if you have the time.

SELECT YOUR IMAGES BEFORE EDITING Don’t rush in and start editing images randomly; get the number of images down to a manageable number before you start editing. And never, ever, delete anything. ‘Pixels are cheap,’ as my old lecturer used to say.

WORKFLOW 2: SELECT THE PHOTOS FOR EDITING The very first task in the editing workflow, once you have imported everything into Lightroom (and secured your back-ups), is to work through the images and decide which ones you want to edit. Depending on the nature of the shoot, you might want to edit a few, or a few hundred. If you have followed my advice and shot AE bracketed shots you will end up with three shots (albeit with different exposures) of every scene. In the top navigation menu go to ‘Photo-Stacking-Auto-Stack by Capture Time’ and select a short duration of, say, one second and all of your bracketed shots will appear in stacks of three. Go to ‘Edit-Collapse All Stacks’ and your visible screen thumbnails have reduced by a factor of three. If the lead image in a stack isn’t correctly exposed then you have another two choices behind it.

There are a number of ways to grade and select your images depending on what you want to do with them. Personally, I prefer to ‘flag’ the ones I’m going to go on and edit. I narrow down my selection in a first, then second ‘pass’, culling the numbers until I have a manageable number at the end of the process.

I have different methods of finally narrowing my selections down. This is Lightroom’s ‘survey’ mode. Here I will look at a number of similar images and decide which one I want to take forward to edit. The others are culled – de-flagging them; never, ever delete images.

There are a number of ways that you can select, and mark, these images: the main ones are to add a colour rating, flag an image or assign a 1–5 star rating to it. You will have your own preference; personally I use the flagging method, i.e. I ‘pick’ an image (keyboard letter ‘P’) and this assigns a white flag to it. To ‘unpick’ an image use the keyboard letter ‘U’ and the flag disappears. I do a rough or ‘first pass’ selection to start with. This will narrow down the selection to, hopefully, a small percentage of the original number. I then filter the folder on ‘Attribute’ then ‘Flag’ so that only the flagged images remain on the screen. From there it is simply a matter of refining your choice by removing the flags from the images you want to cull (keyboard letter ‘U’) which leaves the best of the bunch for further attention. After your first pass selection you might have several, say five, similar-looking images, from which you want to pick the best one to edit. Select all five, then go to the ‘Survey Mode’ (keyboard shortcut ‘N’). Only these five images are now visible. Then deselect those that aren’t as good, for whatever reason (keyboard shortcut ‘U’) and they will disappear until you are left with one. Go back to the Grid mode (keyboard shortcut ‘G’) to carry on working through the rest of the shots until you are left with only those images that you want to edit. If you want to do a forensic comparison of two almost identical shots use the Compare mode (keyboard shortcut ‘C’), and again, unpick the loser (keyboard shortcut ‘U’).

WORKFLOW 3: BASIC EDITS So, here we go! Select a single image and switch to the Develop module (keyboard shortcut ‘D’). On the right-hand side of your screen you will see a number of panels, such as Basic, Tone Curve, Calibration and so on. When you are editing you are going to be working, almost exclusively, with the tools in this right-hand panel.

This is where the magic happens.

Each of these panels has a ‘disclosure triangle’ adjacent to it. Clicking on the triangle will open the panel and reveal the tools within. Some panels will become your best friends; some you may hardly ever visit; and some you will never find any need for at all (so you can remove them). Right-click on any panel and select ‘solo mode’ to ensure that only one panel is open at any one time. It’ll save you hours of scrolling up and down, trust me! Before we look at editing an image, there may be times when we need to actually construct the image first. Although Lightroom can do a good job of panoramas and HDR, I use plug-ins: for example, I use Photoshop for major ‘cloning’ work and for panoramas; Photomatix Pro for HDR processing. I like to get that processing done first, so that I can go through the rest of the editing workflow afterwards.

You are going to become best friends with the Basic Edits panel – get to know it well!

The crop tool offers you a number of options. The spirit level can be dragged out across a wonky horizon to level it out effortlessly. By ‘constraining the crop’ Lightroom will automatically delete the unwanted parts of the image. Try it for yourself.

Cropping is a very powerful tool; think of it as your ‘composition in post’ tool. There are a number of presets to try but ultimately you can go off-piste and make up your own.

Below is a list of the basic edits that I perform on most of my aerial shots. 1 Level the Horizon My number one edit, before I do anything else, is to check that the horizon (where there is one) is level. Sometimes, with gimbal drift the horizon might be a little bit ‘off level’ or downright wonky. Go into the cropping tool (keyboard shortcut ‘R’) and either rotate the image until it is level, or drag the ‘spirit level’ tool out along the horizon and it will level itself. Levelling the horizon will mean that you lose some pixels; it will also limit the amount you can crop an image, or correct verticals later, so it is crucial to do it first. 2 Correct verticals Where necessary, and it isn’t always, it’s a good idea to correct verticals at this early stage. Converging verticals are normally present where you have buildings or a vertical element in the foreground. Use the Transform tool to correct them. Again, you’ll see that you will lose a portion of the image by doing so, (hence my earlier advice to ‘shoot wider’ to accommodate this).

Check your editing progress in the ‘before and after’ mode.

3 Crop the image The crop tool (keyboard shortcut ‘R’) is one of the single most powerful tools that you can use. By cropping an image you are effectively changing the composition ‘post-event’. You are changing the emphasis of the image so that you direct the viewer exactly where you want them to look. You can zoom in, remove distractions, change an image from landscape to portrait, pretty much anything you like. Take a look at the ‘preset aspect ratios’ and try them on your images to see what effects they have on their appearance. Remember that cropping an image removes pixels and decreases the quality of the image. The ideal scenario is to get it right in camera, which would mean that, apart from changing the aspect ratio, you might not need to crop at all. 4 Basic exposure and tone adjustments In the basic panel, you can now make adjustments to the overall exposure, tone and colour

temperature using the sliders. Move the sliders to their extremes to see the effect that each has and then settle on a setting that looks good. The ‘Presence’ group allows you to add ‘punch’ to your images. All of these adjustments are subjective, based on the look that you pre-visualized for your image.

PRO TIP If you are stuck for somewhere to begin, the ‘auto’ button normally does a good job of getting you started.

5 Local adjustments Once you have the overall look for your image dialled-in then you can deal with any areas that need separate attention. For example, there may be an area that is deep in shadow. You can use the ‘Local Adjustment Brush’ (keyboard shortcut ‘K’) to target that area and bring up the shadows. The brush will allow you change a whole range of effects from exposure through to localized noise.

The Local Adjustment Brush allows you to brush in a whole range of effects into very precise areas of your image.

6 Skies I normally find that the skies in my images are slightly over-exposed as I expose for the ground when I’m shooting. Use the Graduated Filter (keyboard shortcut ‘M’) to drag down a filter over the sky and reduce its exposure. 7 Noise

If there is any noise in the image then you can target that within the ‘Detail’ panel.

This is where you reduce ISO noise and apply the final ‘sharpening’ to your images before you export them.

8 Tidy up Use the Spot Removal brush (keyboard shortcut ‘Q’) to remove any obvious sensor spots or distractions. 9 Sharpen When you have finished all of the edits to an image then you can sharpen it. The amount of sharpening you’ll need to apply will depend on the quality of the camera and lens (and the ƒstop) that you used. Always zoom in to 100 per cent before sharpening. Always review your final edits in the Library mode. Make sure that they have similar tonal values when you look at them as a group. You can single out errant shots for ‘tweaking’ or you may even cull them altogether at this stage.

Cropping: remember to try to get the composition right in camera, as even straightening a wonky horizon will lose pixels and reduce the quality. Here I have selected a 2:1 crop, one of my favourite aspect ratios; notice the dark areas at the top and bottom that are going to be lost.

‘GLOBAL EDITS’ AND VIRTUAL COPIES To apply the same edit to all, or a number, of your images at the same time, select those images, and click on the ‘synchronize’ button before you apply the effect. Alternatively, you can copy and paste effects from one image to another. If you want to try different effects on different versions of the same image, then create a virtual copy of the image in the library mode (keyboard shortcut ‘ctrl, or cmd, apostrophe’) and you can create as many versions as you like, safe in the knowledge that the underlying image has not been changed. If you don’t like the effect then simply delete the virtual copy.

Presets If you find that you develop a ‘style’ that you like, for example, you apply the same adjustments to all of your ‘golden hour’ landscapes. You can save those adjustments as a preset. Simply identify future shots that need the treatment, and click on the ‘Jake Golden Hour’ preset to apply them.

WORKFLOW 4: EXPORTING YOUR IMAGES On completion of editing, you will have a grid with only the final edited images on display

(in Library mode). Remember, at this point, that all that you have created is a list of instructions setting out what you would like to happen to those images. As there is no ‘Save’ command, these instructions need to be ‘married up’ with the underlying file to create the JPEG files, or whatever file format, that you need. This takes place during the ‘Export’ process. Follow the next steps for the ‘Export’ workflow: 1 Select all of the images (keyboard shortcut ‘ctrl, or cmd, A’). 2 Click on the ‘Export’ button (keyboard shortcut ‘ctrl, or cmd, shift E’). 3 At the very top of the panel check that it says something like ‘Export twenty files’, and not just one. 4 Select ‘Export to Hard Drive’. 5 Select ‘Export to a Specific Folder’ and choose the location from the dropdown box. I recommend you export them to your ‘Back-up’ external hard drive, into the same folder that contains copies of the RAW files for that shoot (that you created simultaneously on import). This is not your main drive – we want to keep the main drive exclusively for the RAW images, not copies and edits. You’ll see the advantage of this shortly. 6 Tick the box ‘Put in Subfolder’ and label it ‘High Res Edits’. 7 Under the ‘File Naming’ tab, keep the file name exactly as it is. You’ll see an example. Check that it’s correct. 8 Under ‘File Settings’ you now need to choose your file format. Choose JPEG, and drag the quality slider to 100. Colour space sRGB. 9 Under ‘Image Sizing’ choose 300dpi (suitable for print). 10 Under ‘Metadata’ I tick the ‘Copyright Information Only’. 11 Click the ‘Export’ button. 12 Repeat the process from stage 6 – Tick the box ‘Put in Subfolder’ and label it ‘Low Res Edits’. 13 Under File settings you now need to drag the quality slider down to 25 and export.

There are a number of decisions you need to make before you export (or save) your images. I have highlighted the ones that you definitely need to address every time.

Let’s review what we have just done: • •

We have created a folder of high-res JPEGs, at 100 per cent quality, in the original ‘shoot’ folder in the back-up drive. We have created a separate folder of low-res JPEGs, at 25 per cent quality, in the same folder in the back-up drive.

•

If you now go to the folder for that particular shoot there will three subfolders: • RAW • High Res Edits • Low Res Edits

So, to summarize: what have we achieved? • • •

•

All of the images for that particular shoot are in a single location and are easy to find. To back up, or archive, you can simply copy the entire folder and everything copies over into a date ordered back-up, where you can easily locate it. If you need to retrieve a high-res, or low-res, copy for a client, say, then you don’t have to go back into Lightroom and re-export or re-edit, if you have lost the catalogue – the images are right there, in the right format and size. All of the original RAW files are on the main drive, uncluttered by edits, and linked to the Lightroom Catalogue.

There are other options in the ‘Export’ dialogue, which you should familiarize yourself with, such as watermarking. The settings that I have described above are what I generally use in my workflow. You may need to change them for your own purposes.

So what did we achieve? In a well-structured filing system everything has its place and can easily be found, and backed up. Now you can breathe!

Generally speaking, once you have set up the preferences, apart from changing file destinations and quality, there is nothing else to do.

PRO TIP As a final check, always go to the destination folder and check that all three folders are there, and that they all have the correct number of files inside them. At this point I copy the High Res Edits folder to the cloud, so that I at least have the best version of the best photos from a shoot, should my studio burn down before I get a chance to get a full backup off site! (As I told you, there’s no rest until I have secured my back-ups!)

WORKFLOW 5: BACK UP YOUR PHOTOS Now that you have everything exported, and tidied away, the next bit is straightforward. You need to create your back-ups to keep all of your hard work, and money-earning potential, safe. My strategy is as follows: 1 2

3 4

On completion of editing I keep a copy of the ‘High Res Edits’ folder in a cloud storage facility. At the end of every month I back up my ‘Back-up Drive’ onto a separate external drive. This drive will just have this year’s work on it. This drive goes into a fireproof, waterproof safe. At the end of every month I also create a separate back-up, on another external hard drive, which goes ‘off-site’ into another fireproof, waterproof safe. At the end of every year I archive that whole year’s work. I check, first of all, that the disks are functioning correctly (I have had plenty of failures), and then copy the folders onto two separate archive folders – kept in the same fireproof, waterproof safes.

So that, in a nutshell, is my workflow. If you don’t know where to start, then try to follow my steps. This way you will do everything in the right order and, hopefully, end up with a good set of images that you can now share or sell.

Chapter 8

Finishing your work and sharing it

ou will, no doubt, want to share your work in some form or another; whether with family and friends, social media or with customers and potential clients. There is an overwhelming number of formats, and options, available for the onward transmission and publication of your photos. Here is some of the terminology, and descriptors, that you might come across:

Y • • • •

A specific ‘file type’, for example must be JPEG or TIFF A specific ‘resolution’, for example 300dpi for print A maximum or minimum ‘file size’, for example 1 MB A maximum or minimum ‘image dimension’, for example 1,000 pixels along the longest edge

These are all examples of the type of requirements that you might need to be aware of, before you publish, or send, images. Luckily, if you use Lightroom, they are all instructions that you can set when you export your photos to your hard drive. In some cases you can export to a platform, or email, direct from Lightroom. Personally, I prefer to have more control and do it long hand, saving copies as I go!

Email Generally speaking, you can email files of a combined size of about 10 MB – so twenty 500

KB files, for example. For sharing with friends, and social media, a file size of around 500 KB is more than adequate – you’ll find these conveniently located in your ‘Low Res Edits’ folders!

Different sharing platforms will have different requirements. If you use any regularly then you can set them up as an export preset preference and it’ll be done at the click of a button.

SHARING AND PUBLISHING YOUR PHOTOS There are many formats, and many ways, to share your photos: • • • • •

Email Social media platforms Printing Web content File-sharing platforms

It helps to have a clear idea about what you intend to do with the photos once you have edited them. Different publication methods will have different file and size requirements.

File-sharing platforms When you need to send large files, or lots of them, then you should use a secure, online, cloud-based, file-sharing platform like Dropbox, or WeTransfer. There are free versions of these platforms, which will impose storage and transmission limits on you, but they are a great start. Regular, and pro, users pay a subscription for more storage and enhanced functionality. Some platforms allow you to share folders and collaborate with your friends, colleagues or clients.

Printing As we have seen, so far, everything that we have done has been electronic and the final images end up on a computer hard drive somewhere. Personally, I like to see the best of my images in print; whether on a canvas, a postcard, in a frame or a photo book. Photos always seem to have more ‘presence’ when printed, and viewers will always take more time to look at and appreciate them. Rules and requirements for printing could fill another book, so, as a general rule, try to use the highest resolution version of the image that you have, to retain as much of the detail and quality that you can.

Publishing for the web Almost the opposite of a physical print, you want to keep the file size as small as possible, whilst still retaining sufficient detail and quality. Large files will slow web pages down and make a site sluggish. When publishing to a platform, like Facebook, for example, you can expect your files to be ‘compressed’ so the final quality is nothing like the image you see on

your own computer.

Watermarks As you export your images to your hard drive you can opt to add a watermark. A watermark is usually a semi-transparent device that sits across your image to prevent it from being copied or stolen, for example ‘© Jake Sugden 2019’. Opinions are divided on whether or not you should watermark your work. Personally, I don’t watermark my images as I very rarely publish them in the public domain. If I send an image to a colleague or client for approval, then I trust that they are not going to abuse my copyright. Having a watermark splashed across an image is very distracting and a sign of a lack of trust. If I publish something on social media I make sure that the image is just a thumbnail, which wouldn’t be worth anyone’s while copying. Whether you use a watermark is a decision that only you can make. It is often better to supply images in a password-protected gallery if you’d rather others didn’t see them.

To watermark or not to watermark? That is the question. There is no definitive answer; it depends on where you publish your photos or how much you trust the person you’re sharing them with.

Building a portfolio You may want to go on to show your work to potential clients if you become professional, in

which case it is a good idea to build a portfolio that shows off your talent to the full extent. Your portfolio may be in the form of: • • •

A gallery on a website A photo book A collection of prints in a binder

Yes, I can fly at airports!

Drones are good for people shots.

When building a portfolio, for whatever medium, you should ensure that every image in it is the best example that you have. Here are a few tips to help get you started. 1 2 3 4

Go for a maximum of ten to twelve images and, if possible, make the subject matter relevant to your intended recipient. Try to include a variety of shots that show what is possible with a drone as well as those that ‘look pretty’ – ideally you’ll have photos that do both! If you don’t have a shot that shows off an element of your talent then go out and shoot it. Make the presentation look professional.

Here are some of the images in my current portfolio and what they say about me as a photographer. But, overall, the impression I want to give is that ‘I am a talented photographer who can turn my hand to anything that you might need.’

I can do overseas work.

I can do beautiful architectural shots.

Drones can capture stunning night shots.

You don’t always need a drone – this was captured from an adjoining building.

Chapter 9

Postscript – other forms of data capture

n this book we have dealt specifically with drone stills photography. Of course, you will not be surprised to learn that drones can be equipped with all manner of data capture devices, to carry out all sorts of missions. Here is an outline of a couple of the other formats you’ll most likely encounter.

I

VIDEO

Whilst the equipment required to shoot video is now essentially the same as for stills photography – a digital camera – the disciplines really couldn’t be more different. Here are just a few of the differences between photography, as we have learned here, and shooting video using a drone: •

•

•

•

•

First and foremost, shooting quality video using drones is a two-man job for all but the most straightforward shoots. The remote pilot will fly the aircraft, keeping it in VLOS at all times, whilst the camera operator carefully moves the camera and operates the controls from a different handset. This ‘dual control’ set-up can be very effective once the crew has worked out how to communicate effectively! Camera settings and the ‘exposure triangle’ are largely identical for both photography and video, but the way in which you capture video, using different frame rates, different file formats and CODECs, is a world apart. Capturing video sequences requires much more flying skill than capturing a basic ‘still’ photograph. Pilots need to be skilled at ‘reveal’ shots, tracking, ‘crane’, POI, close proximity flying and many other manoeuvres to introduce dynamic action to their clips. Of course, with the newer generation of drones, some of these manoeuvres can be automated to an extent but the professionals prefer to trust to skill. In photography, we learned that we need to keep the shutter speeds high, to avoid camera shake or motion blur. Video shooters use ND filters to reduce shutter speeds down to very slow speeds of, say, 1/50th of a second, to ensure that the footage doesn’t jump or flicker. Editing video is a specialist job in its own right. Making a good video will often mean knitting together a compelling mix of music, ground-based work, interviews and dialogue. Mastering all of these techniques, compared to photo editing, is a completely different ball-game! Definitely the subject of another book.

Using a camera capable of ‘geo-tagging’ images, you can produce 3D models and photogrammetry. (© ARC Imaging)

PHOTOGRAMMETRY AND 3D MAPPING The use of drones in surveying and mapping is a relatively new phenomenon. A drone equipped with a stills camera can be deployed to cover a large tract of land in a preset flight pattern. By comparing different geo-tagged photographs of the same subject matter – from

different angles or altitudes – the computer generates a 3D model of the landscape below. Known as ‘photogrammetry’ the uses can be anything from calculating the volume of an opencast mine to giving an architect a 3D point cloud for a development project. Because of the extended flight times that are sometimes required to complete these missions, a lot of the work is better suited to ‘fixed wing’ drones. As well as photogrammetry, drones can carry out very accurate laser surveys using LiDAR equipment. All you need to get started is: 1 2 3

A drone with a stills camera capable of taking geo-tagged photographs. A flight plan that will take sufficient images to cover the area from different angles. (There are apps that will now design, and fly, these missions for you.) A software package that will stitch all of the resulting images for you.

Chapter 10

Case Study The anatomy of an aerial photography night shoot, Spinnaker Tower, Portsmouth, UK

urely for the purposes of writing this book, I set myself a challenge: to capture a great night shot of the iconic Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth harbour. I set out to shoot the photos on one evening in April 2019, recording all my steps, from planning to postproduction, as I went along, so that I could present a practical case study of what I actually did to achieve the final photograph.

P

RESEARCH AND ‘PRE-VISUALIZING’ THE SHOT

I have seen the Spinnaker Tower on many occasions, from a number of different perspectives. A quick online search showed a slew of images, the nicest ones shot from the front of the Tower, over the water. In view of the height of the Tower, 170m, I was not going to get a high shot looking down, so the best bet would be to get out over the water at perhaps 70m altitude, and get the top of the Tower breaking the horizon – accentuating its height. The harbour in front of it would also look nice at night, and with the city in the background it should look colourful. I locked that image into my memory. That is my pre-visualized shot.

Spinnaker Tower is well-known so I took a look at some of the imagery that’s already out there first to see if it could help inform me about which views look promising.

First things first. Can I fly there? Well, there are no airspace restrictions so that’s a good start.

PLANNING THE SHOOT Drone flying considerations and planning

When I first decided to shoot the Spinnaker Tower the absolute first thing I did was to look at my reference sources to see if there were any flight restrictions: • •

Drone Assist app – was clear. The nearest controlled airspace is to the west – Portsmouth Fleetlands ATZ. DJI geo-fence map online. Again, clear, the nearest No Fly Zone was the Naval Base to the north.

With both resources showing that there was clear airspace, I went over to Google Earth, in satellite view, and had a good look at the area. I looked for: • •

•

• •

What was around the Tower – retail and residential, mainly. Where was the best position for the camera – I had already pre-visualized a shot taken from the water as all other views would mean flying over congested areas, which is illegal. I would also be looking more to the south of the Tower to keep away from the Naval Base. I was also starting to think about VLOS distances at dusk. I wouldn’t want to fly more than 200m from the take-off point. The drone would be difficult to see even with additional LED lighting. ‘Note to self: I’d need at least one spotter.’ I also noted that there was a busy ferry lane. I noted a couple of areas of interest, which could make possible take-off locations. From these locations I could fly out approximately 120m out over the water and be approximately 350–400m from the Tower.

Permissions My online recce had shown a few areas that could be suitable for a safe take-off and landing. One was a derelict piece of land that appeared to be fenced off. The chances are it would be difficult to trace the owner, or it might even be a block of flats by now. If I needed to use it then it would certainly require a physical recce first. The second was some open public ground; I noticed a pub quite close by and thought that on a nice evening it might be popular with dog walkers and other pedestrians. Again, if I needed to use it then it would certainly require a physical recce first. I would also probably need a couple of marshals. I filed that in the ‘too difficult’ category. The third was much more promising. It was a business with a large concrete apron out the front, opening up onto the water. It looked perfect to me. Further online investigations, revealed the name of the business. I telephoned them and left a message for the Facilities Manager. In the end he called and suggested I talk to

someone in communications. I did, and explained what I was proposing to do and offered her a photo of their own building, in return for permission to use their land for take-off. She asked about my Licence and about insurance*. I sent her copies of the information. We struck a deal. I just needed to give twenty-four hours notice and check in with security on arrival. *Of course, as a commercial operator, I have an advantage here over amateur drone photographers. However, you can still ask for permission and you should find that, if you approach it in a professional manner, doors can still be opened. Bear in mind that you should have PL insurance as a matter of course, whether professional or not.

Other planning and fixing the date The other two main unknowns were the weather and the time of sunset. I wasn’t concerned about the direction of the light at this point because there was nothing I could do about it. I was bound by the location to take the shot in a particular direction. Luckily for me, that direction wasn’t into the sun. At that time of year sunset was going to be at approximately 20:00. All I had to do now was find a suitable weather window. Looking through my weather apps showed a possible window for the following week.

Apps like ‘Sky Candy’ will help you to predict what sort of ‘light show’ you will get.

LAST MINUTE PREPARATIONS • •

• • •

•

I phoned to give twenty-four hours notice – all good. In the morning I flew my drone at my practice field to ensure that all the systems were good. I didn’t want to be prevented from flying later on that evening by a firmware ‘safety’ update. I had organized a spotter to accompany me. I charged three batteries and the controller, fully. I packed two hi-viz vests, LED lights and a portable floodlight to illuminate the take-off area (as well as the car lights). I made sure to take along a folder containing all of the planning notes and telephone numbers. I also took copies of the email correspondence – many a time I have been blocked at the last hurdle by an ‘un-briefed’ security guard. It would take a couple of hours to drive to Portsmouth, so we left in plenty of time to arrive an hour and half before sunset. Arriving so early meant that I would have time to ‘check-in’ and also complete a full recce in daylight.

ON SITE After parking in the visitor bays, I checked-in with Security. They were expecting me. I asked the guard to show me round the premises, by way of a recce, and I would in turn explain what I was doing. Communication at this stage is vital to demystify the process! I completed a ‘Pre-Flight Site Survey’ as well as making mental notes of visibility arcs, obstacles, possible points of incursion by members of the public, any cables or overhead wires and so on. I pin-pointed my take-off location. Whilst surveying the site, I constantly scanned the skies – keeping an eye out for light aircraft, for example, to see if Fleetlands ATZ was busy!

TEST FLIGHT Another part of the rationale for arriving early, with plenty of batteries, was so that I could do a test flight and ‘nail’ my composition. As sunset approached, and we got into the ‘golden hour’, I launched the drone. I was able to fly and test the composition that I had pre-visualized. I tried a couple of different locations and flew to different altitudes to see the difference it made. I had a good look around to see if

there were any other interesting shots to be had whilst I was there.

Getting there in plenty of time gave me the option of a test flight. As you can see from my flight track, I had a good ferret about trying to find different views and compositions. Nailing a couple of options now would save vital time later.

Having worked out and noted, from the telemetry, where the best position for the drone was, I ended the test flight in plenty of time to change batteries and prepare for the sun to set. Knowing that the light drops off very rapidly, and that I still wanted some colour in the sky, I aimed to be in the air shooting for ten minutes either side of sunset.

Whilst you’re hanging around for the light to develop, or for something to move in or out of shot; take a look around, you might be lucky and capture something else while you’re there.

CAMERA SETTINGS To keep the quality as high as possible (i.e. to keep the noise at an manageable level) I decided to try shooting at a maximum 800 ISO. I varied my shutter speed around 1/40th to 1/10th second in S mode (using the +/- EV button), capturing bracketed RAW shots every minute or so. Occasionally, I spun the drone around and grabbed some other interesting shots. Some way through the shoot, when I was happy I had the shots I needed, I switched the camera to ‘Hyperlight’ mode. I wanted to see if the results were as good as shooting RAW. The output file of the Hyperlight setting is a JPEG image. It was all over pretty quickly!

POST-PRODUCTION

Following through my post-production workflow, the next morning, I quickly imported, and simultaneously backed up the RAW shots.

Selection Process* *NOTE: This process does not involve deleting any files. 1 2 3 4

Auto-stack the bracketed shots. There are twenty-seven images in the folder that didn’t stack – they are JPEGs from the hyperlight settings I tried. Filter by Metadata – to show RAW (DNG) images only. Collapse all stacks.

When doing your ‘selections’ you are narrowing down your selections for full editing. This shot didn’t make it through because the composition didn’t work for me; there’s too much empty space on the left-hand side of the image.

Here you can see my final selection is ‘RAW’ (DNG) files that are flagged. Out of the 375 images I shot I ended up with ten in total to edit.

Ignoring the superfluous test shots from the morning flight I had already reduced the number of shots to be reviewed, from 375 to just under 100 – a much more manageable number. 5

6 7

First pass selects, using the ‘picking’ (flagging) method. I picked about twenty images to look at in more detail. My selection criteria is usually just a combination of composition and exposure – in that order. (Remember at this point I am only looking at the first bracketed shot.) Once again, I filtered the remaining images by going to ‘Attributes’ and ‘Flag’. Only the twenty ‘flagged’ images remained on the screen. Second pass refinement. I went through the remaining images culling those that didn’t quite make the grade (for whatever reason). Here I used Survey and Compare modes and ‘unpicked’ the losers. This left me with ten to edit. I had a look at the JPEGs. They were good, but no reason to choose them over the RAW files.

Overall, I was very happy with the ‘golden hour’ test shots as well as the ‘incidentals’ that I shot on the fly. Because I had shot a large number of shots of the Tower itself, I was able to select the best of the bunch – and as it happened, because the Tower was illuminated with changing light colours, I had a choice of colours: something that I hadn’t planned!

Post-production: editing I spent some time looking at the other exposures of the bracketed shots (of the final selections). I was happy that the ‘normal’ exposures were all fine. Then, I followed through my editing workflow that I have detailed for you. I did need to tweak a couple of horizons – only by about one degree, but it needed to be done! You can see the other basic Lightroom adjustments I made to the image here. On the higher shot I also corrected the verticals slightly, using the ‘Transform’ tool in Lightroom, so

that both the Tower and the high-rise building, to the right of the frame, were perfectly vertical. I had to jump into Photoshop to widen the frame a little as correcting the verticals in the shot taken at a higher altitude had cut off the top of the Tower. Basically this involved filling in absent pixels at the top left and right of the frame using a ‘Content Aware’ repair.

Here’s the result of the editing and export process. All done in less than thirty minutes.

EXPORT AND BACK-UP I exported all of the edited photos as low- and high-res, copies, to my back-up drive. I immediately copied the ‘High Res’ folder over to Dropbox. The whole process took me less than thirty minutes from import to export. I emailed a couple of low-res shots to the Communications manager thirty seconds later.

THE FINAL ‘NIGHT’ IMAGE Here’s the final night shot, not quite obeying the ‘rule of thirds’ discussed in the compositions section, but I was balancing the other tall building on the right and that worked for me! Note the strong diagonals, which again, lead the eye into the shot and make the Tower the star of the show. Remember, I also talked about finding light to fill dark spaces? Well, take a look at the floodlit football pitch on the right. It is a nice addition to the interest in the frame but I felt that it was just a bit too distracting so I reduced its exposure, by about one stop, using the Local Adjustment Brush tool.

A strong composition with the added bonus of the serendipitous arrival of the Isle of Wight Ferry made this my winner.

I picked this final image over all of the other night shots because the serendipitous arrival of the ferry in the bottom left of the image gave it a little more dynamism and filled that dark corner with light. If I’m honest I think that the best shot of the day was the image below. I much prefer the quality of the light but it isn’t a night shot – but hey, that’s often the way it works out!!

My favourite shot of the day wasn’t actually the night shot in the end.

Useful resources and information

FLIGHT PLANNING https://dronesafe.uk/drone-code/ UK Drone Code www.caa.co.uk CAA – UK https://droneregulations.info/ Drone Regulations around the World https://www.dji.com/uk/flysafe/geo-map DJI No Fly Zones https://dronesafe.uk/safety-apps/ Drone Assist App – NATS

MANUFACTURERS AND HARDWARE https://www.dji.com/uk DJI https://www.hubsan.com Hubsan https://www.parrot.com/uk/drones Parrot http://vulcanuav.com/ Vulcan

SOFTWARE https://www.adobe.com Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop https://www.dji.com/uk/support/product DJI Downloads https://www.pix4d.com/ PIX4D Photogrammetry

APPS Dark Sky – rain forecasting and radar DJI Go – controls for DJI drones Flight Radar 24 – live aircraft tracking Light Track – light tracking and sunset/sunrise times

NATS Drone Assist – No Fly Zones and airspace info RainToday – weather corecasting Sky Candy – sunset quality prediction Sun Scout – sun tracking UAV Forecast – weather and Kp index XC Weather – weather forecasting

Appendix

Regulations

WARNING! The Drone Code is a very simplified set of instructions derived from the Air Navigation Order 2016 (the ANO). The Drone Code is a useful guide, but it is the requirements of the ANO, which are binding in law, therefore it is useful to become familiar with them. The referenced documents are correct at the time of writing (summer 2019), but please reference the CAA website (http://publicapps.caa.co.uk) for updated reference documents.

THE AIR NAVIGATION ORDER 2016 The Air Navigation Order 2016 (referred to as the ANO), issued by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), governs UK air law. The CAA has issued several amendments to the ANO since 2016. Some of these

amendments are applicable immediately; some become active at future dates. CAP 1763 – Air Navigation Order 2018 and 2019 Amendments (published 20 February 2019) explain the 2018 and 2019 changes to the ANO 2016. The main items covered by the 2018 and 2019 amendments are: New flight restriction zones for small unmanned aircraft (SUA) near aerodromes that are effective from 13 March 2019 (the 2019 amendment). The new ‘flight restriction zones’ (FRZs) now apply to all small unmanned aircraft of any mass, and are active at all times. A requirement for SUA operators to register their UAVs and do a competency test. This will be effective from 30 November 2019 (the 2018 amendment). To understand the law, you must take the ANO 2016 and merge it with the subsequent amendments to produce a single narrative. Here are some of the important articles that you need to understand. The full narrative is available from the CAA website:

Article 241 A person must not recklessly or negligently cause or permit an aircraft to endanger any person or property.

Article 94 (1) A person must not cause or permit any article or animal (whether or not attached to a parachute) to be dropped from a small unmanned aircraft so as to endanger persons or property. (2) The remote pilot of a small unmanned aircraft may only fly the aircraft if reasonably satisfied that the flight can safely be made. (3) The remote pilot of a small unmanned aircraft must maintain direct, unaided visual contact with the aircraft sufficient to monitor its flight path in relation to other aircraft, persons, vehicles, vessels and structures for the purpose of avoiding collisions. (4) Intentionally blank (articles removed). (5) The SUA operator must not cause or permit a small unmanned aircraft to be flown for the purposes of commercial operations, and the remote pilot of a small unmanned aircraft must not fly it for the purposes of commercial operations, except in accordance with a permission granted by the CAA.

Article 95

(1) The SUA operator must not cause or permit a small unmanned surveillance aircraft to be flown in any of the circumstances described in paragraph (2), and the remote pilot of a small unmanned surveillance aircraft must not fly it in any of those circumstances, except in accordance with a permission issued by the CAA. (2) The circumstances referred to in paragraph (1) are: (a) over or within 150 metres of any congested area (b) over or within 150 metres of an organized open-air assembly of more than 1,000 persons (c) within 50 metres of any vessel, vehicle or structure which is not under the control of the SUA operator or the remote pilot of the aircraft; or (d) subject to paragraphs (3) and (4), within 50 metres of any person. (3) Subject to paragraph (4), during take-off or landing, a small unmanned surveillance aircraft must not be flown within 30 metres of any person. (4) Paragraphs (2)(d) and (3) do not apply to the remote pilot of the small unmanned surveillance aircraft or a person under the control of the remote pilot of the aircraft. (5) In this article, ‘a small unmanned surveillance aircraft’ means a small unmanned aircraft which is equipped to undertake any form of surveillance or data acquisition.

HOT OFF THE PRESS…… CAP 1789 EASA Regulations to be introduced on 1 July 2020 As we go to print, the CAA has announced plans for the introduction of the EU UAS Regulation Package. These European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) regulations will come into force on 1 July 2020. The CAA states that the background to this development is as follows: ‘The concept of harmonisation across Europe is one of the key aims of the European Union (EU), and with this in mind, these regulations are intended to simplify the overall process for UAS

operations, and remove the need to refer to separate regulations within each Member or Contracting State. An additional, but no less fundamental, objective was the desire to foster a greater European market which would promote the growth of the European UAS industry.’ Operations of unmanned aircraft will fall into one of three categories as follows: Open category – operations that present a low (or no) risk to third parties. Operations are conducted in accordance with basic and pre-defined characteristics and are not subject to any further authorization requirements. Specific category – operations that present a greater risk than that of the Open category, or where one or more elements of the operation fall outside the boundaries of the Open category. Operations will require an operational authorization from the CAA, based on a safety risk assessment. Certified category – operations that present an equivalent risk to that of manned aviation and so will be subjected to the same regulatory regime (i.e. certification of the aircraft, certification of the operator, licensing of the pilot). For the purposes of this book we will restrict our detailed explanation to the Open category – where most readers are likely to be operating. For further explanation of the Specific and Certified categories, please refer to CAP 1789. The overall concept of the Open category is that it should be simple for the user to understand; for the consumer this is ultimately the case in that: You buy your ‘drone’, upon which you will find a ‘class Number’. You read the leaflet corresponding to the class of ‘drone’ and note the things you must, and must not do. You fly your drone, while ensuring that you comply with the text in the leaflet.

The Open Category Open category operations are bounded by three main factors: The maximum take-off mass of the unmanned aircraft must be less than 25kg. The unmanned aircraft must be operated within visual line of sight (VLOS). The unmanned aircraft must not be flown further than 120 metres (400 feet) from the closest point of the surface of the earth. All three of these factors must apply for an Open category operation. If not, then the operation must be conducted under the requirements of the specific category instead. The Open category is then further divided down into three operational ‘subcategories’, in order to allow different types of operation without the need for an authorization, as follows: A1 (fly ‘over’ people) – operations in subcategory A1 can only be conducted with

unmanned aircraft that present a very low risk of harm or injury to other people due to their low weight (less than 250g), their type of construction, or because they are a ‘toy’ (i.e. they are ‘inherently harmless’). However, flight over open-air assemblies of people is not permitted. A2 (fly ‘close to’ people) – operations in subcategory A2 can only be conducted with an unmanned aircraft that is compliant with a specific product standard (and a maximum mass of less than 4kg), but this unmanned aircraft can be flown to a minimum safe horizontal distance of 30 metres from uninvolved people, or down to 5 metres horizontally when its ‘low speed mode’ is selected. In addition, the remote pilot must have successfully completed an additional competency examination in order to operate in this subcategory. A3 (fly ‘far from’ people) – this category covers the more general types of unmanned aircraft operations. The intent is that the unmanned aircraft will only be flown in areas that are clear of uninvolved persons and will not be flown in areas that are used for residential, commercial, industrial or recreational purposes (roughly equivalent to what is currently referred to as a ‘congested area’). A key element of the Open category is that any unmanned aircraft that are sold for use within this category will also be subject to a set of product standards, similar to the ‘CE’ marking scheme. In order to achieve this standardization, unmanned aircraft that are intended to be sold within the ‘EU market’ have been further subdivided into five ‘classes’. All remote pilots operating in the Open category are required to complete an online training course and successfully complete an online theoretical knowledge examination before they can fly. This test is also viewed as the ‘foundation’ upon which all other levels of remote pilot competency are built; it is a multiple-choice examination and there is no requirement to undertake any practical flight test. The referenced documents are correct at the time of writing (summer 2019). Please reference the CAA website (http://publicapps.caa.co.uk) for updated reference documents.

Index

Air Navigation Order 2016, The (ANO) 141–142 air traffic 33 airline policy, batteries 68 airspace (privacy) 37 aperture 93 aperture priority (AV) mode 90 apps 22, 45–46, 130 attitude (ATTI) mode 54 Auto Exposure Bracketing (AEB) 89 back-up 103, 117 batteries 25, 49 beginner mode 54 camera modes 90 cameras 88 CAP 1763 141 CAP 1789 EASA 142 checklists 56 Circular Polarizing (CP) filters 24 Civil Aviation Authority, The (CAA) 33 collision avoidance 50 commercial work 38 compass calibration 48 composition 75 controller 22 Course Lock mode 55 cropping 113, 115 depth of field 93 DNG files 106 Drone Code, The 34 editing stills 101 emailing images 119 European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) 41 exporting images 115 exposure triangle 88 exposure value (EV) 89 failsafe settings 50 filters 24 firmware, updates 47 First Person View (FPV) drones 16 fixed-wing drones 18 flight modes 53

Flight Restriction Zones (FRZs) 34 flying controls 51 focusing 92 follow me mode 55 gimbals 21 GPS mode 54 heavy-lift drones 17 High Dynamic Range (HDR) 95, 111 histograms 90–91 Home Lock mode 54 horizon level 112 hyperlapse 98 import photographs 105 Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) calibration 49 insurance 40 intelligent flight modes 54 IPTC data 107 ISO 93 JPEG v RAW files 94–95 Kp index 32 landing 52 landowner’s permission 61, 65, 130 leading lines 79 lenses 22, 91 light metering 89 Lightroom modules 102, 108 lithium polymer (LiPo) batteries 25–26 location scouting 60 maiden flight 51 manufacturers 139 micro-drones 15 monitors 22 Neutral Density (ND) filters 24 night flying 87 No Fly Zones (NFZs) 35 noise 93, 114 operations manual 40 optical (Opti) mode 54 panoramas 96, 111 Permission for Commercial Operation (PfCO) 38–40 permissions 61, 65, 130 photogrammetry 127 Photoshop 102 Point of Interest (POI) mode 55

portfolio 120–123 pre-visualization 59, 73, 129 privacy ‘prosumer’ drones 1636 Quick Reference Cards (QRC) 56 RAW vs JPEG files 94–95 rule of thirds 76 safety 29, 65 separation 35 sharpening 114 shutter 93 shutter priority (TV) mode 90 site visit 62 software, editing 102, 139 take-off 52 timelapse 98 top-down composition 80 travelling abroad 66 ‘under your control’ 36 Vertical Take-off and Landing (VTOL) 18 verticals, correction 112 video 125 virtual copies 115 Visual Line of Sight (VLOS) 30 watermarks 120 waypoints 55 weather 31 workflow 101 zebra stripes 90