Cloudy day and sand dunes

[Aaron24]

Today I tried filming my family sand boarding. The weather was cloudy and overcast and the sand dunes are of course a brilliant white colour.

The footage from the M2 Zoom did not come out so good and in a little unsure what I should have done before flight to make it better. The camera could not tell where the sand dunes ended and the cloudy sky started so a lot of the footage is basically bright white with no details.

My camera settings are manual. 4K 30 frames per second. Shutter showed 60. I did have an ND16 filter on.

Can someone please let me know in laymen's terms how I should have started it to make perfect video? If the histogram is on the screen and it's showing over or under exposed where to go in the camera settings to fix it?

Anyone know a good YouTube tutorial?

 

[supernicko]

Hey dude - im no expert with the drone but in photog i know a thing or two... not sure your location but im in Perth Western Australia and so far (not yet summer and it gets bright here) during the day the m2z in manual 4k 30fps and 1/60 shutter has needed nd32 during day (not bright sand dunes - more like trees and grass scenes) but i imagine the dunes would at least double this(n64)... if you set M settings as described (and iso 100) you need to check your EV setting - if its +1-2-3 etc you need a darker filter.... try setting auto even if for a check - if it increases your shutter speed (ie it goes up in numbers/faster - to say 1/100 etc ) it means you need a darker filter... or flick to auto as missing the shot may be worse than not setting the double shutter rule.... There is a really fast app (polar pro) free - that you can dial in 1/60 set point - and dial in what you are seeing and it spits out what ND to use.. may be helpful

 

[Aaron24]

Hey mate I am in Perth too, Joondalup area. The sand dunes I referred to above were at Lancelin. Since posting the above I have read up on EV and how the settings work. Have added them to the 5D button to increase or decrease and having better luck now.

It's all a learning process.....

 

[supernicko]

Hey mate I am in Perth too, Joondalup area. The sand dunes I referred to above were at Lancelin. Since posting the above I have read up on EV and how the settings work. Have added them to the 5D button to increase or decrease and having better luck now.

It's all a learning process.....

Small world - yeah im in Woodvale Love Lanno dunes

the ev +/- is a quick way to tell in manual if you are over or under exposed.. if its +1 you need to add a darker filter, -1 go lighter.... though in manual mode (M) the 5d quick setting shouldnt work i dont think as it usually adjusts the shutter speed when in auto mode, + being a slower shutter for more light and - faster for less light - not what you want in manual... so yeah the only manual way to do it is either drop iso OR ND... a polarised ND may help in the dunes too - cut the glare/reflection off the sand. Ive been shooting in the late afternoon so ive tended to set the exposure for the start of the flight with iso 100 - and as it gets darker i can flick up to iso 200 without landing and switching the ND to a lighter one.

Another way if you are looking for new things is enable the histogram - its a really fast way to see the exposure of the image once you get used to it.... Peaks on the left mean its too dark, peaks to the right mean the image is too bright and a hump around the centre is about correct. (quick read out of the bright spots vs the dark spots averaged across the whole image.)

Im definitely keen to get out into the dunes with the 4x4 and shoot some dune bashing bring on summer!

 

[Aaron24]

Yeah mate, sometimes I fly around the WoodVale open space area beside Ocean Reef Road. We could fly together one of these days if you're up for it?

 

[supernicko]

Yeah mate, sometimes I fly around the WoodVale open space area beside Ocean Reef Road. We could fly together one of these days if you're up for it?

yeah dude cool - i actually went down for a fly there yesterday evening its nice andopen and theres lots of water in the pond at the mo Drone is shiny new so ive been trying to fly it most evenings ill pm ya if im headed out there