The Photographer’s Guide to Drones (Low Res PDF)

286 Pages·2016·20.03 MB·English

by  Colin Smith

THE
PHOTOGRAPHER’S GUIDE
DRONES
TO
COLIN SMITH
The Photographer’s Guide To Drones
Colin Smith
photoshopcafe.com
Project editor: Maggie Yates All rights reserved. No part of the material protected by this copyright
Project manager: Lisa Brazieal notice may be reproduced or utilized in any form, electronic or mechani-
Marketing manager: Jessica Tiernan cal, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and
Copyeditor: Scout Festa retrieval system, without written permission of the publisher.
Layout and type: WolfsonDesign
Many of the designations in this book used by manufacturers and sellers
Cover design: Charlene Charles-Will
to distinguish their products are claimed as trademarks of their respective
Indexer: Maggie Yates
companies. Where those designations appear in this book, and Rocky Nook
ISBN: 978-1-68198-114-7 was aware of a trademark claim, the designations have been printed in
1st Edition (1st printing, October 2016) caps or initial caps. All product names and services identified throughout
© 2016 Colin Smith this book are used in editorial fashion only and for the benefit of such com-
All images © Colin Smith unless otherwise noted panies with no intention of infringement of the trademark. They are not
intended to convey endorsement or other affiliation with this book.
Rocky Nook Inc.
1010 B Street, Suite 350 While reasonable care has been exercised in the preparation of this book,
San Rafael, CA 94901 the publisher and author assume no responsibility for errors or omissions,
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This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Library of Congress Control Number: 2016930697 Printed in China
CONTENTS
CHAPTER 1
SAFETY AND REGULATIONS 1
Safety ...................................................................................................................................2
Preflight Safety 2
In-Flight Safety 3
Propeller Guards 4
Attacks by Seagulls 5
Other Safety Concerns 5
Regulations .........................................................................................................................6
Registration 6
Commercial Use 7
Part 107 7
Conclusion ..........................................................................................................................7
CHAPTER 2
DRONES AND GEAR 9
Different Platforms ..........................................................................................................10
DJI 10
3D Robotics (3DR) Solo 16
Firmware Updates 17
Filters .................................................................................................................................18
First Person View (FPV) .................................................................................................24
Batteries ............................................................................................................................27
CHAPTER 3
FLIGHT SCHOOL 33
Pre-Flight Check ..............................................................................................................34
FPV App .............................................................................................................................37
Control Basics ..................................................................................................................38
Controllers 38
iii

A Dozen Exercise Patterns to Fly Like a Master .........................................................39
Time to Yaw 41
Framing Exercise 44
Master of Movement 45
Advanced Flight Modes .................................................................................................46
GPS Assist 46
ATTI 46
Course Lock 47
Home Lock 47
Self-Flying, Robotic Flying .............................................................................................48
POI/Orbit 48
Selfie 48
Cable Cam / Waypoints 48
Follow Me 48
TOAL: Takeoff and Landing ...........................................................................................49
Auto Takeoff and Land 49
Manual Takeoff and Land 49
Handheld Launch / Catch Landing 50
Which Which? 51
CHAPTER 4
SHOOTING PHOTOGRAPHS WITH A DRONE 53
Foundational Rules of Photography ............................................................................54
Rule of Thirds for Composition 54
Change Your Viewpoint, Change the Photo 58
Try Flying Lower 60
Fill the Frame with the Subject 62
Foreground Elements and Interest 64
Leading Lines 65
Control the Background 69
Shoot During Good Light 72
Golden Hour 72
Special Types of Photography .......................................................................................78
Panoramas 78
Bracketing: HDR, Capturing the Full Range 82
CONTENTS v

Panoramic HDR 86
Burst of Shots to Get the Action 92
Bird’s-Eye View 92
CHAPTER 5
SHOOTING VIDEO WITH DRONES 97
First-Person View in Video ............................................................................................98
Video Basics .....................................................................................................................99
Frame Size 100
Frame Rate 101
Best Settings for Video 101
ND Filters 102
A Word on Compelling Video ......................................................................................103
Video Movement ............................................................................................................105
Static Video 105
Dynamic Video 106
Single-Axis Moves 106
Aerial Camera Moves 110
CHAPTER 6
BASIC PHOTO WORKFLOW IN LIGHTROOM OR ACR 119
Media Downloading and Tips .....................................................................................122
Dumping Your Data 122
Where Are You Putting It? 123
Where Is It? 123
Asset Management in Lightroom ..............................................................................124
Catalog 125
Collections 126
Keywords 126
Finding Images in Lightroom 126
Basic Edits in Lightroom 129
Basic Lightroom Workflow ...........................................................................................129
Fix the Lens 130
Crop and Straighten 132
Color Correction 133
CONTENTS vii

Tonal Corrections 134
Enhancements 140
Local Corrections ...........................................................................................................142
Adjustment Brush 145
Dehaze 147
Fixing the Bad Stuff ......................................................................................................148
Noise 148
Chromatic Aberration 152
Finishing Techniques .....................................................................................................153
Radial 153
Vignette 157
Creative Use of Dehaze 160
Sharpen ............................................................................................................................162
Sharpening Workflow 162
Conclusion ......................................................................................................................169
CHAPTER 7
ADVANCED PHOTO EDITING 171
Panoramas ......................................................................................................................172
Panoramas in Lightroom 172
Panoramas in Photoshop 178
High Dynamic Range (HDR) Images ...........................................................................187
Photoshop Masking .......................................................................................................197
High Pass Sharpening 204
HDR Panorama .............................................................................................................206
Recovering the Entire Image 208
Removing Distractions 212
Finishing 213
Special Effects ................................................................................................................216
Tilt Shift 216
360-Degree Tiny Planet 220
CONTENTS ix