Light Painting - On Board Waypoints vs Virtual Sticks

[IronSky1]

Very creative. Seems like your lake stays calm during these shooting sequences

 

[Chrislaf]

Very creative. Seems like your lake stays calm during these shooting sequences

Thanks. Actually there was a 30km/h wind coming off the lake but my old P3S was able to handle it well.

Chris

 

[RAC DJI]

Hi, I’m in the process of trying several of my light painting missions. They are all setup and I’ve run them during the day to make sure they will do what I want. I was able to run them on all four of my drones with no issues. Now I need a moon less night to try them out. I have a grizzly and an eagle ready to go. I’ll post the results when I get a chance to run them. Can someone share your DSLR settings so I have a starting point?

Thanks Russ

 

[IronSky1]

Looking forward to seeing

 

[Chrislaf]

Hi, I’m in the process of trying several of my light painting missions. They are all setup and I’ve run them during the day to make sure they will do what I want. I was able to run them on all four of my drones with no issues. Now I need a moon less night to try them out. I have a grizzly and an eagle ready to go. I’ll post the results when I get a chance to run them. Can someone share your DSLR settings so I have a starting point?

Thanks Russ

Hi Russ,

Those sound like they will be interesting missions. I'm looking forward to seeing your results.

For my light painting I am using a basic DSLR setup. I use my Nikon D3300, a 10-20mm DX lens and tripod. Although I have better equipment (a full frame camera and a professional wide angle lens), I use this setup because it is light and easy to carry along with my drone equipment.

Here is how I set up my camera. I get my camera set up on my tripod, set it to 100 ISO, camera to manual, Manual Focus, Bulb, and the exposure will vary between f11 and f14 depending on the light. I set my lens to the widest focal length possible (10mm, 15mm equivalent) and I use a remote trigger and take a few test shots to make sure I have the proper exposure and the horizon is level (my basic DSLR doesn't have a virtual horizon). Usually I do this when I am getting my drone set up. When I am ready, I launch my drone and when it turns around to face my POI which is where my camera is, I trigger the long exposure. I stop the exposure when Litchi announces that the mission is complete.

Although a moonless night is ideal, more important is a night where the wind is calm especially if you are capturing over water. Although larger drones are quite stable even in a fairly strong wind, a calm night will give better results and also the lights from buildings, etc. reflecting off the water add to the photo.

Here's one from a few nights ago.

View attachment D3300-7191-Edit.jpg

Good luck with your missions.

Chris

 

[RAC DJI]

Hi Russ,

Those sound like they will be interesting missions. I'm looking forward to seeing your results.

For my light painting I am using a basic DSLR setup. I use my Nikon D3300, a 10-20mm DX lens and tripod. Although I have better equipment (a full frame camera and a professional wide angle lens), I use this setup because it is light and easy to carry along with my drone equipment.

Here is how I set up my camera. I get my camera set up on my tripod, set it to 100 ISO, camera to manual, Manual Focus, Bulb, and the exposure will vary between f11 and f14 depending on the light. I set my lens to the widest focal length possible (10mm, 15mm equivalent) and I use a remote trigger and take a few test shots to make sure I have the proper exposure and the horizon is level (my basic DSLR doesn't have a virtual horizon). Usually I do this when I am getting my drone set up. When I am ready, I launch my drone and when it turns around to face my POI which is where my camera is, I trigger the long exposure. I stop the exposure when Litchi announces that the mission is complete.

Although a moonless night is ideal, more important is a night where the wind is calm especially if you are capturing over water. Although larger drones are quite stable even in a fairly strong wind, a calm night will give better results and also the lights from buildings, etc. reflecting off the water add to the photo.

Here's one from a few nights ago.

View attachment 174629

Good luck with your missions.

Chris

Hi, thank you for detailed response. The info is very helpful but one last question is how long was this mission flight time and at what speed was the drone flying. My Grizzly mission is about 4 minutes and the Eagle is about 7 minutes. I’m hoping that they are not too long.

Russ

 

[Chrislaf]

Hi, thank you for detailed response. The info is very helpful but one last question is how long was this mission flight time and at what speed was the drone flying. My Grizzly mission is about 4 minutes and the Eagle is about 7 minutes. I’m hoping that they are not too long.

Russ

All of my missions have been flown at 5km/h. The Lily mission was 3 minutes but the exposure was only 127s. The exposure time varies depending on when the exposure is triggered and then stopped.

Also note that your aperture will vary depending on whether a full frame vs an APC camera is used. You will likely have to run a number of test missions at night to find your ideal settings for your camera.

Chris

 

[Chrislaf]

Also note that if your missions have more than 99 waypoints, your drone will pause while it uploads the next batch. You can see where that occurred in the lily mission and my earlier goose mission. I’m assuming you are using Litchi.

Chris

 

[RAC DJI]

All of my missions have been flown at 5km/h. The Lily mission was 3 minutes but the exposure was only 127s. The exposure time varies depending on when the exposure is triggered and then stopped.

Also note that your aperture will vary depending on whether a full frame vs an APC camera is used. You will likely have to run a number of test missions at night to find your ideal settings for your camera.

Chris

Hi, looks like I’m in the ballpark as my speed is also set to 5 kph and the Grizzly mission is similar at 4 minutes. I’m using a Canon 80D with a 24mm prime lens. The lake I have chosen is secluded and there will be no lights in the background but I will undoubtedly be getting some star trails.

Thanks and stay tuned as May 7th is the next new moon.
Russ

 

[RAC DJI]

Also note that if your missions have more than 99 waypoints, your drone will pause while it uploads the next batch. You can see where that occurred in the lily mission and my earlier goose mission. I’m assuming you are using Litchi.

Chris

Yes I’m using litchi and the Grizzly 84 WP’s and the Eagle is 110. I’ve also converted the mission's to run on my Mavic 3 Pro thanks to DJI Wes’ work. By the way they run great on my Mavic 3 Pro after conversion.

 

[Chrislaf]

Sounds like you have a nice location to fly at. If you can get some star trails that will be a beautiful background.

Do you have light mounts for your Mavic 3 pro? I have considered using my Mavic 3 pro too but right now my P3S works great and light painting has breathed new life into an old drone. I also use my Mini 3 pro. Waiting on some lighter lights.

Chris

 

[RAC DJI]

Sounds like you have a nice location to fly at. If you can get some star trails that will be a beautiful background.

Do you have light mounts for your Mavic 3 pro? I have considered using my Mavic 3 pro too but right now my P3S works great and light painting has breathed new life into an old drone. I also use my Mini 3 pro. Waiting on some lighter lights.

Chris

I have strobes for my drones that I mount on the nose with the drone pointing at the POI. But have ordered a light for my Mavic 2 Pro that will work with my Mavic 3 Pro as well. I’m going to try and use the landing lights and see what effect it will have.

This is what I ordered. Not sure how I managed to get it $16 CND. Very similar ones going for $35 and up.

 

[Chrislaf]

I have Ulanzi cube lights similar to these. You can change the colour and they have 3 brightness settings.


Here’s what they look like on my P3S.

 

[RAC DJI]

I have strobes for my drones that I mount on the nose with the drone pointing at the POI. But have ordered a light for my Mavic 2 Pro that will work with my Mavic 3 Pro as well. I’m going to try and use the landing lights and see what effect it will have.

This is what I ordered. Not sure how I managed to get it $16 CND. Very similar ones going for $35 and up.

 

[Chrislaf]

Here's my first attempt at doing a two colour light painting. Had to run the mission for the stem and leaves then run it again for the flower. The two images were combined in post.

View attachment D3300-4.jpg

Chris

 

[RAC DJI]

My first one. More tweaks to do before the new moon.

 

[Chrislaf]

My first one. More tweaks to do before the new moon.View attachment 174731

Well done! The clouds in the background add to the shot.
What drone did you use?

Chris

 

[RAC DJI]

Thanks for you advice the other day. It help me tremendously. I attached two more photos. The first one I thought was too under exposed but a little adjustment in post and you see what’s hiding underneath.

 

[RAC DJI]

I used my Mavic 2 Pro & Mini 3 Pro. The better ones are with the M2P as I had a spot light on it and it made the outline thicker.

 

[Chrislaf]

Thanks for you advice the other day. It help me tremendously. I attached two more photos. The first one I thought was too under exposed but a little adjustment in post and you see what’s hiding underneath.

Your welcome. It’s all about trail and error to find the best settings for your camera and lens.

Chris