While taking photographs with your drone is very similar to taking them from the ground, it's also very different. For me, the difference lies in two main areas. One is in the new perspective a drone offers by being in the air above everything. The other is the ease with which you can change your position from a few feet to thousands of feet from the initial launch point. Your camera can be raised or lowered in altitude, it can be moved forward, backward, right and left. You have 360-degrees of flexibility with your camera that you didn't have … [Read more...] about 360 degrees of flexibility and a new perspective: Taking photographs with a drone
Drones
Quick Tip: Learning to fly a drone takes practice and a plan
To begin your practice, find an open field without tall obstacles, such as trees and buildings. If you can start practicing on a light or no wind day. As you get better, begin flying in windier conditions. Flying in windier conditions will improve your flying abilities. Check out the full article here, Becoming A Better Drone Pilot – Part 1 Fly safe and have fun! DJI Mavic Air at B&H DJI Mavic Pro at B&H DJI Mavic Pro 2 at B&H DJI Mavic Pro Zoom DJI Phantom 4 Pro at B&H BJI Inspire 2 at B&H … [Read more...] about Quick Tip: Learning to fly a drone takes practice and a plan
Free Perfectly Clear Webinar | Tuesday, January 29, 2018
Join Chris Anson as he shares some of his insights for making the best pictures while piloting your drone. He'll also show some powerful techniques for finishing them in Perfectly Clear Complete. Everything is a little different when your camera is flying, so don't miss this webinar to help you become a better drone photographer. Tune in live at 12 p.m. Eastern, 11 a.m. Central, 10 a.m. Mountain and 9 a.m. pacific to participate in giveaways and ask questions. The webinar will be recorded for those who can’t join in live. Register for this … [Read more...] about Free Perfectly Clear Webinar | Tuesday, January 29, 2018
First look: ProGrade Digital UHS-II SDXC II V60 and V90 Memory Card and MICROSDXC DUAL-SLOT USB 3.1 reader
While ProGrade Digital is a new player on the scene, the founders of ProGrade Digital are veterans in the industry, from companies like Lexar and SanDisk, bringing their extensive expertise in design, development and manufacturing in creating top products. Their focus as a company is on memory cards, card readers and workflow software. ProGrade Digital's mission is to provide the highest quality professional grade digital memory cards and readers in the industry with a focus on imaging professionals. In this article, we'll take a first look at … [Read more...] about First look: ProGrade Digital UHS-II SDXC II V60 and V90 Memory Card and MICROSDXC DUAL-SLOT USB 3.1 reader
Getting a Drone Airspace Authorization in 60 seconds using LAANC
As an FAA Certified Part 107 pilot, if the area you want to fly in is within five miles of an airport, and that airport airspace is controlled airspace, then you will need to get an Airspace Authorization to fly there. In the past, this has required submitting a request through the FAA portal and could take from 30 to 90 days or even longer. Now, If you are lucky enough to live in an area that has the new LAANC (Low Altitude Airspace Notification Capability) system active, you can often get authorization in 30-60 seconds once you submit the … [Read more...] about Getting a Drone Airspace Authorization in 60 seconds using LAANC
Processing DJI Drone DNG using Perfectly Clear as a plug-in
Editor’s Note: Perfectly Clear is offering Photofocus readers a special $99 bundle, including Perfectly Clear Complete and SharkPixel presets. A $163 value! In this article, I'm going to show you how you can process your DJI Drone DNG RAW Photographs using Perfectly Clear 3.5. Since Perfectly Clear doesn't yet support the DJI Drone cameras, you will need to launch Perfectly Clear as a plugin from inside editing software that supports the Perfectly Clear plugin. I'm going to show you how to do that with Lightroom, Photoshop and Capture One Pro. … [Read more...] about Processing DJI Drone DNG using Perfectly Clear as a plug-in
Aerial HDR Photography using a UAV with Aurora HDR 2019, part 1
This article consists of 2 parts. This is part 1 of 2. In this 2 part article, we're going to explore creating a 3 image HDR merge in Aurora HDR 2019. I’m using RAW photographs from my Inspire 2 X5S camera shot in DNG RAW shooting AEB (auto exposure bracketing) mode taking 3 photographs. One challenge in shooting multiple exposures with a drone is that there can be a slight change of position between the photographs, even at faster shutter speeds because of GPS drift, wind, and other variables. Because of this, I will use a high ghost … [Read more...] about Aerial HDR Photography using a UAV with Aurora HDR 2019, part 1
Drone aerials single exposure HDR with Aurora 2019, part 2
This article consists of 2 parts. This is part 2 of 2. You'll find part 1 of this article here. In this 2 part article, I'm going to show you how you can enhance a single image in Aurora 2019. I'm using RAW photographs from my Inspire 2 X5S camera shot in DNG RAW. One of the challenges with the DJI DNG RAW is that it can take a lot more work to create a good looking photograph from it. I was very interested to see how Aurora 2019 handled this challenge. Let's take a look. Full disclosure: I received a copy of Aurora HDR 2019 for review … [Read more...] about Drone aerials single exposure HDR with Aurora 2019, part 2
How to apply haze removal tool selectively in Affinity Photo
In this article, I am going to show you how I use the masks and the Haze Tool in Affinity Photo to apply it selectively. The above panorama consists of six photographs shot with my DJI Inspire 2 drone using the X5S camera and an Olympus 12mm f/2 lens. I corrected each photograph in Capture One Pro using the Lutify LM-RAW-CL-Chiara-25 LUT and then made further adjustments. I then exported the six photographs as 16-bit TIFF files to AutoPano Pro, stitched them together and exported the final result as a 16-bit TIFF. The next step is to take it … [Read more...] about How to apply haze removal tool selectively in Affinity Photo
Drone aerials single exposure HDR with Aurora 2019, part 1
This article consists of 2 parts. This is part 1 of 2. In this 2 part article, I'm going to show you how you can enhance a single image in Aurora HDR 2019. I'm using RAW photographs from my Inspire 2 X5S camera shot in DNG RAW. One of the challenges with the DJI DNG RAW is that it can take a lot more work to create a good looking photograph from it. I was very interested to see how Aurora 2019 handled this challenge. Let's take a look. Full disclosure: I received a copy of Aurora HDR 2019 for review purposes. As always, I am giving you … [Read more...] about Drone aerials single exposure HDR with Aurora 2019, part 1
A better drone photographer – Using Lutify LUTs with DJI DNG RAW files in Capture One Pro 11
In this article, I'm going to show you how I use Lutify LUTs in Capture One Pro 11 (CO 11). These LUTs will work in any software that supports LUTs like Affinity Photo, Luminar 2018, Photoshop, and Lightroom. The package you choose will determine whether it supports the RAW image for that product. Also, I contacted Lutify directly and was provided a free version of these LUTs for this review. As always, I will give you my honest review of the product. Lutify is kindly offering a 10% discount coupon for Photofocus readers on any of their … [Read more...] about A better drone photographer – Using Lutify LUTs with DJI DNG RAW files in Capture One Pro 11
Video editing basics in DaVinci Resolve 15: The Color page, part 3
The Color page videos are broken down into 3 parts. This is part 3 of the 3. Other parts of my DaVinci Resolve 15 installments are in the links below. DaVinci Resolve 15 - Media Page article here. DaVinci Resolve 15 - Edit Page - Part 1 article here. DaVinci Resolve 15 - Edit Page - Part 2 article here. DaVinci Resolve 15 - Edit Page - Part 3 article here. DaVinci Resolve 15 - Color Page - Part 1 article here. DaVinci Resolve 15 - Color Page - Part 2 article here. In video editing, my primary tool is DaVinci Resolve. While I do use Final … [Read more...] about Video editing basics in DaVinci Resolve 15: The Color page, part 3
Video editing basics in DaVinci Resolve 15: The Color page, part 2
The Color page videos are broken down into 3 parts. This is part 2 of the 3. You'll find the DaVinci Resolve 15 - Media Page article here. You'll find the DaVinci Resolve 15 - Edit Page - Part 1 article here. You'll find the DaVinci Resolve 15 - Edit Page - Part 2 article here. You'll find the DaVinci Resolve 15 - Edit Page - Part 3 article here. You'll find the DaVinci Resolve 15 - Color Page - Part 1 article here. In video editing, my primary tool is DaVinci Resolve. While I do use FCPX for some things, I have a real fondness … [Read more...] about Video editing basics in DaVinci Resolve 15: The Color page, part 2
Quick Tip: Speed up your editing in DaVinci Resolve
Here is a simple way to speed up your editing in DaVinci Resolve. With clips, there are many times where we want to remove from the beginning or end of the clip. The fastest way I know to do that is. Move the play head over the clip where you want everything to the left of it removed Press the Command/Control, Shift, [ keys. [ is the left square bracket. Move the play head to the right side of the clip where you want the remaining part of the clip removed Press the Command/Control, Shift, ] keys. ] is the right square … [Read more...] about Quick Tip: Speed up your editing in DaVinci Resolve
Video editing basics in DaVinci Resolve 15: The Color page, part 1
The Color page videos are broken down into three parts. This is part 1 of 3. You'll find the DaVinci Resolve 15 - Media Page article here. You'll find the DaVinci Resolve 15 - Edit Page - Part 1 article here. You'll find the DaVinci Resolve 15 - Edit Page - Part 2 article here. You'll find the DaVinci Resolve 15 - Edit Page - Part 3 article here. In video editing, my primary tool is DaVinci Resolve. While I do use Final Cut Pro X for some things, I have a real fondness for DaVinci. One thing to note is that it requires a more … [Read more...] about Video editing basics in DaVinci Resolve 15: The Color page, part 1
Video editing basics in DaVinci Resolve 15 – The Edit Page, part 3
The Edit page videos are broken down into 3 parts. This is part 3 of the 3. You'll find the DaVinci Resolve 15 - Media Page article here. You'll find the DaVinci Resolve 15 - Edit Page - Part 1 article here. You'll find the DaVinci Resolve 15 - Edit Page - Part 2 article here. In video editing, my primary tool is DaVinci Resolve. While I do use FCPX for some things, I have a real fondness for DaVinci. One thing to note is that it requires a more powerful graphics card than FCPX. The good news is you can try it for free to see if … [Read more...] about Video editing basics in DaVinci Resolve 15 – The Edit Page, part 3
Video editing basics in DaVinci Resolve 15 – The Edit page, part 2
The Edit page videos are broken down into three parts. This is part 2 of the 3. You'll find the DaVinci Resolve 15 - Media Page article here. You'll find the DaVinci Resolve 15 - Edit Page - Part 1 article here. In video editing, my primary tool is DaVinci Resolve. While I do use Final Cut Pro X for some things, I have a real fondness for DaVinci. One thing to note is that it requires a more powerful graphics card than FCPX. The good news is you can try it for free to see if your computer can run it. The free version of DaVinci Resolve … [Read more...] about Video editing basics in DaVinci Resolve 15 – The Edit page, part 2
Video editing basics in DaVinci Resolve 15: The Edit page, part one
The Edit page videos are broken down into 3 parts. This is part 1 of the 3. You'll find the DaVinci Resolve 15 - Media Page article here. In video editing, my primary tool is DaVinci Resolve. While I do use Final Cut Pro X (FCPX) for some things, I have a real fondness for DaVinci. One thing to note is that it requires a more powerful graphics card than FCPX. The good news is you can try it for free to see if your computer can run it. The free version of DaVinci Resolve 15, both Mac and Windows, can be found here — you will find it on the … [Read more...] about Video editing basics in DaVinci Resolve 15: The Edit page, part one
Quick Tip: Slowing down your panning speed can reduce jitter in your drone videos
Are you having problems with your drone videos having a smearing or jitter during your panning from left to right or from right to left? If so, try slowing down how fast you pan. That will often result in jitter-free video. See the full article, "Becoming a Better Drone Videographer: Reducing Jitter in Your Drone Footage" here. … [Read more...] about Quick Tip: Slowing down your panning speed can reduce jitter in your drone videos
Video editing basics in DaVinci Resolve 15: The Media page
In video editing, my primary tool is DaVinci Resolve. While I do use Final Cut Pro X for some things, I have a real fondness for DaVinci. One thing to note is that it requires a more powerful graphics card than FCPX. The good news is you can try it for free to see if your computer can run it. The free version of Davinci Resolve 15, both Mac and Windows, can be found here — you will find it on the bottom of the linked page. It is really quite amazing what they give you in the free version! DaVinci Resolve 15 is broken down into pages. These … [Read more...] about Video editing basics in DaVinci Resolve 15: The Media page
Quick Tip: A landing pad might save your drone from damage
A few weeks back I had an incident with my DJI Inspire 2 drone. While I was taking off from a very gravelly location, I had one of the propellers detach. Because I was on a large landing pad, I was able to power it down and all that happened was that it rolled over and powered off. Had I not been using a landing pad, the drone would have sustained substantial damage. Even though I am very careful and double check this, this kind of incident can happen. Want the full story on landing pads for drones? Read it here. Fly safe and have fun! … [Read more...] about Quick Tip: A landing pad might save your drone from damage
Becoming a Better Drone Videographer: Basic color correction of DJI D-Cinelike in DaVinci Resolve
This is a follow-on article to Becoming a Better Drone Videographer: Setting up your DJI Drone Camera for Video Using Manual Mode and D-Cinelike. This article assumes that you set up your camera based upon that article and shot your video in that same mode or at least in D-Cinelike. In this video, I show you the basics of color correction of video shot in H.264 and D-Cinelike. I will be using Davinci Resolve 15. You can find my article doing the same thing using Final Cut Pro X (FPCX) here. My primary tool is DaVinci Resolve. I use … [Read more...] about Becoming a Better Drone Videographer: Basic color correction of DJI D-Cinelike in DaVinci Resolve
Becoming a Better Drone Videographer: Setting up your DJI Drone camera for video using shutter priority
In this article, I'm going to show you the basics of setting up your camera in the DJI Go 4 App to shoot video in Shutter Priority Mode using h.264 in UHD 4k Resolution. While I will be demonstrating on an Inspire 2, it will be very similar on the other DJI drone models. Shutter Priority Mode is a good place to start exploring your video. It locks down the shutter speed which can result in better-looking videos. You can find articles on setting up your drone camera for shooting photographs here: Full Auto, Aperture Priority and Full … [Read more...] about Becoming a Better Drone Videographer: Setting up your DJI Drone camera for video using shutter priority
Becoming a Better Drone Videographer: Color correcting DJI D-Cinelike in FCPX
This is a follow-on article to Becoming a Better Drone Videographer: Setting up your DJI Drone Camera for Video Using Manual Mode and D-Cinelike. This article assumes that you set up your camera based upon that article. In this video, I show you the basics of color correction of video shot in H.264 and D-Cinelike. I will be using Final Cut Pro 10.4 (FCPX). These basics can be applied to any other editing/grading software as well. The video also assumes that you know how to get your video into FCPX and onto the timeline. Its focus is on how … [Read more...] about Becoming a Better Drone Videographer: Color correcting DJI D-Cinelike in FCPX
Becoming a Better Drone Videographer: Setting up your DJI Drone Camera for Video Using Manual Mode and D-Cinelike
In this article, I'm going to show you the basics of setting up your camera in DJI Go 4 App to shoot video using Manual mode and D-Cinelike. While I will be using an Inspire 2, this will be very similar to the other model DJI drones. In a future article, I will show you how to color correct them. You will find an article on using Shutter Priority with your videos here. Preparation I would suggest that you do your initial setup on the bench rather than in the field. Set your drone on a work table or bench and remove the propellers. … [Read more...] about Becoming a Better Drone Videographer: Setting up your DJI Drone Camera for Video Using Manual Mode and D-Cinelike
Becoming a Better Drone Photographer: Creating an Aerial Panorama using Luminar 2018
In this article, I am going to walk you through the process of creating a panorama from 3 photographs from your DJI Drone using the DNG RAW setting in the Go 4 app. Then I will use Luminar 2018 for processing the RAW files and Affinity Photo for combining them together into the panorama. Finally, I will bring them back into Luminar 2018 to fine tune and export the final Panorama as a JPG. Download Luminar 2018 here. DJI Drone Camera Settings Setup your drone camera in whichever mode you like. See my articles on full auto mode, aperture … [Read more...] about Becoming a Better Drone Photographer: Creating an Aerial Panorama using Luminar 2018
Becoming a Better Drone Pilot: Display Sunshades and the One I Use
Using a sunshade might seem like extra trouble and hassle, but I find there are definite advantages to using one, especially when they work properly. Check it out the article below and see if one might help you with your drone projects. Why Do I Use a Sunshade? For me, the bottom line is that it helps me see the tablet or smartphone screen more clearly and easily. That translates into better videos and photographs because I can see what is in focus and out of focus and what's in the frame. This clearer view of the screen also lets … [Read more...] about Becoming a Better Drone Pilot: Display Sunshades and the One I Use
In Depth Gear Review: Vanguard Alta Sky 51D Backpack For Drones!
Vanguard's Alta Sky 51D is a spacious backpack for camera gear. It'll carry a laptop in addition to cameras, including the largest DSLR's, but its special characteristic is that it can be configured to carry a quad-copter drone, like a DJI Phantom. Even loaded very heavily, it is comfortable to wear and manages sweat well. It's a heavy-duty backpack for carrying and storing your gear, and it has a lifetime warranty. Highly recommended. More specs and details right here. Photos below the video. https://youtu.be/EYulL9MLbDk … [Read more...] about In Depth Gear Review: Vanguard Alta Sky 51D Backpack For Drones!
Becoming a Better Drone Videographer: Repeatable Shots using Litchi
On a commercial shoot, last month, in San Jose, I needed to do a number of repeatable shots for the director on our video project. What that means is the director has a specific shot in mind. He told me where to start, where to end and what he wanted in-between. Then we shoot the scene and he would want to redo the shot exactly the same, but with variations in speed and gimbal position. While I am able to duplicate a flight path pretty well by hand, it would be great to have an app that records the position of the drone at key points and … [Read more...] about Becoming a Better Drone Videographer: Repeatable Shots using Litchi
Becoming a Better Drone Videographer: Reducing Jitter in Your Drone Footage
One of the challenges in recording video with a drone can be to create footage without jitter or flicker in it. The places where it shows up the most for me are when I am panning or flying-by stationary subjects especially those with a lot of texture in them. A while back, when I was shooting a video in the Columbia River Gorge of Crown Point/Vista House and the massive cliffs below it, I was getting jitter/flicker in the cliff area, on the fly-by portion. At first, I thought it was a camera or gimbal problem and so I sent a clip to Travis … [Read more...] about Becoming a Better Drone Videographer: Reducing Jitter in Your Drone Footage
