drone flying mountains

October 7, 2020 2 min to read

A brief guide to drone photography

Category : Hobby

Drones are the current technological fad among the youth for obvious reasons. No, we are not taking about the ones that drop bombs on you from thousands of feet up in the air.

We mean the small gizmos with a rotating fan that buzzes like an overgrown fly while waltzing through the air.

We may remember the times when our cameras had timers on them so we could get the whole family in the picture.

Yep, technology has come far and drones, which were once considered to be high-end equipment, have now become common in households. Every neighborhood has a child or two wielding a remote controlled drone.

Perhaps the greatest commercial application of these drones is photography. We see them often in political rallies and sporting events, recording the event from a vantage point that can document the full scope of the occasion.

Let us get acquainted with how a drone works before we get into the photography aspect.

A drone is categorized as an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) which have their own designated laws. Manufactured from lightweight materials such as aluminum, drones come in varying shapes and sizes.

Most commercial drones are small and can be launched directly into the air while other, larger ones, may require a runway. The larger ones are typically used for military applications such as spying and reconnaissance.

Some of the smallest ones can even fit into the palm of your hand and launched directly from there. The height of flight depends upon the size of the drone and the range of communication with the remote which is typically in the form of Wi-Fi.

The remote is used to launch, maneuver and land the drone. In the past, drones used to have separate designated remote controllers but now they are being slowly incorporated into Smartphones and Gamepads.

It is embedded with Global Navigation Satellite systems which allows the GPS on the drone to transmit information about its location and therefore it can be programmed to return to its initial launch site even if it is not being remotely controlled by someone.

The drone is equipped with an altimeter, which measures the altitude of the device. Multiple propellers allow the drone to progress rapidly and change directions with relative ease while the visual positioning system which uses inbound sensors measures its distance from the ground.

If programmed correctly, the drone will be able to land with minimal human intervention in the safest place possible.

Flying a drone may seem easy, but it’s fairly complicated if you have never flown one before. Keeping the drone airborne, while maneuvering and navigating in free space is a lot more challenging than driving a vehicle on a flat surface.

To that end, you can try to practice on a simulator before trying the real thing. This will allow you to acquaint and familiarize yourself with the control handling.

When attempting it for real, try to ensure that the wings are properly spread and the battery fully charged: you don’t want it running out mid flight.

Expect to crash the first few times, so it’s recommended to use a smaller, low flying drone for your first outing. If you do happen to crash, turn off the…
 
Continue reading the article and learn more about drone photography on James Watt’s blog.
 
 

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