OK Pilot; terrible photographer

[Martysticks]

I've had my MA for several weeks now and I have completed multiple flights. According to the flight log on my IPAD log it says 2hrs 41min, 143K feet, 13 flights. I have another 14 flights on my iPhone 7 (1hr 31min, 41K feet). My farthest flight so far (today) was 18225 feet.

Anyway, I'm getting pretty comfortable with this little guy, meaning I'm trusting it more and more, but my video's need a lot of work. I watch the videos I've made and they have no real structure. Meaning, I'm just flying around, turning, fly some more, etc. I tend to just turn on a whim, turn the camera gimbal up and down as I look around while flying. Makes for really bad videos

Any suggestions on how to take some truly memorable shots and videos while flying.

Thanks;

Marty

 

[Mossiback]

Quality video starts with smooth flying and gimbal control. Slower, gradual movements are much more pleasant to watch than jerky sudden movements. You might try cinematic mode but be aware that it will increase stopping distance and turning radius. You could also adjust the sensitivity of the sticks and gimbal wheel.

Once you have your flying under control, you will need to work on your editing skills. Long, continuous videos will quickly bore your audience. Learn how to merge shorter clips together to tell a story.

Personally, I rarely record video unless something really interesting presents itself.

 

[ZX14-R]

ND or/and ND/p Filters. Watching plenty of YT Videos.

Onward and Upward

 

[BuffaloAir]

Many of us, I assume, do the same. Just strap on the aircraft and fly around. I found my videos improved when I had a predetermined subject with a predetermined flight plan with a plan for the photography /video settings and or technics to use to capture the planned subject. Most specifically in real estate work. Videos and photographs turn out much better when I determine a specific plan for covering the property. Usually it requires at least a couple of takes for each segment of the plan to get what I was hoping to accomplish. For example my plan notes for a specific property might be (after walking the property and understanding what I and the client see as important parts) ... Start at west side of driveway about 10', video on with gimbal level, slide sideways perpendicular to the house until intercepting driveway with the gimbal level, move forward with gradual climb to be at 50 ft over the roof with gradual gimbal moving down keeping front of house in focus level slide gimbal up level and turn east (right in this case) maintaining altitude until etc and etc.I know it seems like a lot of work but was best step to improving my work. The important step is having a plan and trying to follow it. It is less tedious after you do a couple times.

 

[Deleted member 94047]

I've had my MA for several weeks now and I have completed multiple flights. According to the flight log on my IPAD log it says 2hrs 41min, 143K feet, 13 flights. I have another 14 flights on my iPhone 7 (1hr 31min, 41K feet). My farthest flight so far (today) was 18225 feet.

Anyway, I'm getting pretty comfortable with this little guy, meaning I'm trusting it more and more, but my video's need a lot of work. I watch the videos I've made and they have no real structure. Meaning, I'm just flying around, turning, fly some more, etc. I tend to just turn on a whim, turn the camera gimbal up and down as I look around while flying. Makes for really bad videos

Any suggestions on how to take some truly memorable shots and videos while flying.

Thanks;

Marty

I was like you, I am still like you; so you are not alone in this. But I am trying to get better. Mainly, I have come to realize that making good videos is a lot more than just flying smoothly. You need to have a subject and a story; then you can plan what to film, how to film, even what time of day will provide "the perfect" lighting and ambiance, etc. I was writing this when @BuffaloAir posted above; he said it all and he said it much better than I can. So no need to repeat.

Perhaps one tip I can add is to look into Litchi. The ability to pre-plan a mission around a subject and the ability to see a virtual rendering of the flight including the camera angles and transitions is one I have found immensely helpful. You can tweak your flight path, speed, camera angles over and over again till they are to your liking and fly the actual mission when you are satisfied with the plan. It also will allow you to film with all the smooth movements and perfect angles without you ever needing to worry about your control. I have spent several flights and several battery charges trying to hone my control skills, learning to execute reveal shots and what not. I did get better but I am in no way as precise and as smooth with the movements I get from Litchi's waypoint missions. There is simply no way I can ever get that good. This is not to say that you should not learn to master manual flying and filming but only to point out that there is a second option that will deliver far superior results when you need them. But if you take up Litchi, remember that everything is in the planning; you might need to spend hours planning, reviewing, and fine tuning your mission for good results which I think is totally worth it.

 

[dannybgoode]

I’m not great at video but in terms of stills exactly the same rules apply as for terrestrial photography.

Light and composition are what need to be nailed. An interesting photo can be taken with any camera, however basic. Similarly a really boring photo can be taken with the world’s best photography equipment.

Just practice taking photos anywhere; with your phone, your drone, your camera if you have one and post them in photography forums and as for a constructive critique.

Look at the photos on here and elsewhere also and try and work out what makes it a good photo to your eye. Is it the way the light plays with the colours, is it the angle that makes the shot so appealing, is it a really interesting subject or a combination of these things.

The more you look and observe the better you’ll get. These days I am often in ‘photo mode’ - even when walking about or driving somewhere I am spotting potential scenes to photograph - it can be difficult to switch off!

 

[WithTheBirds]

When you get home from one of those outings where you just let the camera run while flying around grab a coldie and watch your footage. Make a mental note of which elements really get your attention and think about how you might fly to best feature them. Go out again and make a deliberate effort to create what you had in mind. Don’t forget the lighting- picking the right time is also a big part of it.

 

[Martysticks]

All great advice, so thank you. Next trip out I'm going to try and plan a strategy and a subject, along with what I want to capture about it.

I'm sure I'll still make mistakes, but that's OK. For example, on yesterdays outing I flew out over water, got about 2800 feet and then hit return home. My plan was to have the thing capture me waving to it as it came back to the landing pad. Thing was I was 220 feet up and the camera was pointing straight ahead. see, stupid things

Oh, and I forgot to clear out my SD card (64G) so that filled up after the 2nd battery

 

[RickinWaST]

As a new drone owner I've found YouTube videos the best resource pertaining to your post. The number of YouTube videos is overwhelming when it comes to Cinematic image settings, or Gimbal/Exp settings. Here's one cinematic tutorial that provides some very good techniques. Oh, then there's learning to edit video!

Good luck!

 

[Dave Maine]

All feature films are preplanned starting with a concept or narrative. That leads to a script, and finally a shot list that lists every shot needed for the finished work. This still doesn't lead to something the critics like.

The classic film is made up with a number of sequences, which in turn are made up of the individual shots. The classic sequence starts with a wide shot to establish the setting, followed by a medium shot much closer. The guts are a series of close shots providing a series of details that adds the emotional power for the sequence.

This thinking works for drone movies as well.

 

[rainystateguy]

Learning to tell a story with cameras is a skill that some folks go to school to learn and others manage to pick up on their own. I have stumbled across a YouTuber who has learned how to do this so well that he is gaining about 1,000 subscribers a day. He has people, including me, binge watching the videos that he has made. He went from nearly 0 subscribers in 2017 to 100,000 subscribers 8 months ago, and today has 318,000 + As of a few minutes ago his videos have been viewed 92,549,649 times. (Not a typo - 92 and a half MILLION views).

This man videos the work he does at his daytime job. He almost always does the videoing by himself, but manages to have so many camera angles and POV that it grabs the viewer and makes you want to watch more and more. He incorporates drone footage in almost every video, but has plenty of footage from tripod and hand held cameras too.

I highly recommend checking out this guy and his story telling skills. Here is a link to one of his videos which runs about 35 minutes and gives a great demonstration of his work. If you like it, just click on the "videos" link on his YouTube page and check out some of his other vids. I find reading the comments from his viewers interesting as all heck. We almost all realize that we have found a truly talented film maker.

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His first drone footage starts at about 10:43, Be sure and watch it through that. I hope you find his videos helpful in learning to tell a story with video. I know that I have.

 

[freightshaker]

Try setting your gimbal speed to give that cinematic effect. Then set your function button to have the gimbal switch between aiming straight down & normal.