Drone Photography in Dubai: A Novice’s Guide – Four Top Tips to Getting the Best Aerial Shots
There’s no denying that drone photography in Dubai is set to take off in a big way in 2018. Over the last 12 months, Dubai has seen a marked increase in drone sales, with professionals and hobbyists alike taking to the skies with gleeful abandon.
However, the swell in popularity aside, it’s easy to forget that under Dubai law drones are classed as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Like anything else, safe piloting requires adequate knowledge and a practiced approach to make sure safety is consistently observed.
The same is true when taking aerial photography. Dubai has some of the world’s most scenic skylines and breath-taking landscapes of anywhere in the word. If you’re just getting to grips with your drone and have a keen photographer’s eye, here are four tips to help you get the best aerial shots of Dubai’s exquisite cosmopolitan and natural beauty.
Practice Makes Perfect
Like anything else, the more you practice, the better you’ll become. Thinking that you’ll be able to take control of your drone, piloting it on a wondrous adventure whilst capturing shots in exquisite detail from the very moment that you take delivery is a mistake. You’ll need to practice composing the best shots of aerial photography in Dubai, or to just safety control your drone.
We recommend that you start using a smaller drone. This way you can learn how to glide, hover, accelerate and decelerate with ease. Flying your drone needs to become second nature to you – especially given that taking aerial photography also requires knowledge of ISO (image sensitivity) and shutter speeds.
Try practicing with a smaller quadcopter to hone your flying skills first. With a strong command of a quadcopter, you can then graduate to flying larger drones safe in the knowledge that you can navigate the sky, get out of tight spots, and take great photographs.
Get to Know Geometry and Colours
As all photographers understand, having a keen eye for contrast, colour, shapes and emotive imageswill significantly improve your shots. This is especially true when looking to take striking drone photography in Dubai.
Many urban designers use aerial photography to map out how they intend to design their environment. Images are translated into creative ideas to create a simply stunning urban landscape. Taking a similar approach to all aspects of your drone aerial photography will yield stunning results – after some practice, of course.
Learn to think like an artist and you’ll begin to see beauty in the world around you. Large urban designs are great examples of how geometry and colours are married together to create an impression that’s hard to forget. Dubai is home to some of the most inspiring architecture in Dubai. Photographers are almost spoiled for choice when considering the geometry and colours the city-state has to offer.
Keep an Eye Out for Shadows
A rookie mistake that aerial photographers should avoid is the intrusion of shadows into photographs. Indeed, creeping shadows can spoil even the most meticulously planned aerial photography in Dubai. Yet, in certain conditions shadows are almost an inevitability. Anyone who’s a dab hand with Photoshop can remove them, but with some skilled piloting and awareness of your surroundings, there’s nothing to permanently stop shadows creeping into the frame every time you come to take a picture.
Try to make a habit of angling the camera so that you don’t see any shadow cast by through the viewfinder. This is especially important when taking aerial pictures of some of Dubai’s awe-inspiring architecture at specific times of day.
Professional drone photography in Dubai companies, like Sky Vision, are well-versed in taking jaw-dropping shots without the intrusion of a shadow. So, if you’re intending for your aerial photography to be part of any corporate marketing material and don’t want elements, such as shadows, to dilute the impact of your images, it’s probably best calling in the experts.
Always Be Aware of Height and Direction
It’s commonplace for novice or inexperienced pilots to find that altitude where they feel comfortable and just hover, without venturing higher – or even further afield. This is perfectly fine and all part of gaining confidence in the control of a drone.
However, let’s not forget that varying your altitude can completely change the shot – highlighting elements for a more visually intriguing image. This is especially useful for lower resolution cameras as cropping the image can take away the resolution sharpness.
In addition, often zooming into an aspect of the shot may result in a loss of resolution because the drop is too high to capture every element of the image. Conversely, with height comes increased width, allowing you a wider field of view and more opportunity to take interesting shots. Just remember, according to UAE law, the maximum height for any drone to fly in Dubai is 400ft!