How to operate a drone for aerial photography?

The methods for operating aerial drones are:

1. Preparation before shooting. Understand local laws and regulations and choose a legal flight location that meets the conditions. Use maps and other online resources to choose where to fly and make sure you have enough battery for every aerial shot—and practice makes perfect. Plan the photos you want to take in advance, but don’t resist improvising. Sometimes the most perfect photos come from the most unexpected moments.

2. Settings. Rather than setting camera parameters according to DJI GO again and again, it is recommended to refer to this tutorial in conjunction with the manual so that the parameter adjustments can be purposeful. Before taking aerial photography, make sure you are familiar with the various parameter settings of DJI GO.

3. Shutter speed. Shutter speed (a parameter that indicates how quickly the camera shutter opens) is one of the most essential and important parameters for controlling a drone, and it can bring out a lot of creativity. Changing shutter speed can capture instant movement and control light. There are two issues to consider when adjusting shutter speed. First, the aircraft is affected by airflow in the air, and the camera will inevitably shake. The stronger the wind, the more the camera shakes. The second is to avoid overexposure. When using a fixed aperture of f2.8 in strong light conditions (which means a lot of light enters the sensor), be sure to increase the shutter speed, otherwise the photo will be easily overexposed.

4. White balance. The indicator that reflects the camera's ability to restore color is called white balance. If you take RAW photos, the white balance can be adjusted through post-processing. But if you want to take photos in JPEG format, it's best to familiarize yourself with the camera's various templates in advance to capture different content.

5. Exposure bracketing. Exposure bracketing is one of the best features of the DJI Phantom series, and it’s proven to be a huge help in taking stunning photos (and correcting underexposure). Exposure bracketing means taking different exposures at the same time and choosing the best one to avoid ruining your efforts on exposure. You can even overlay these photos together in post-production to create high dynamic range (HDR) photos that bring out highlights and shadows to their fullest potential.

6. Nine-square grid composition. The nine-square grid composition method is a long-established golden rule in photography, and it is also the first lesson for every photographer. The nine-square grid composition method divides the picture into nine equal parts with two horizontal and vertical straight lines. If you want the photo to look natural and interesting, it is best to place the scene at the intersection of the nine-square grid or compose the photo along a straight line.