This is an image I shot of a boat going up the river. I spent all day with my drone, chasing boats until I got the exact shot I was looking for. This shot is de...
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This is an image I shot of a boat going up the river. I spent all day with my drone, chasing boats until I got the exact shot I was looking for. This shot is definitely one of my most proud, I have had this idea for a while now and I finally made it happen.
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pamelawinter
July 16, 2022
Thank you for entering my Negative Space Challenge. Your photo is a finalist. Now comes the hard part for me - choosing only one from all the excellent images.
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Behind The Lens
Location
I shot this image on the White River, not very far from my home in Southern Missouri. I do a lot of my drone photography from my home, right off of my back deck. My family and I are fortunate enough to live high up on a mountain side. From my deck I'm able to get extremely good range when flying my drone.Time
This image was shot later in the day around 6pm. I had drove down to the river on a Saturday, hoping for lots of boat activity, but I ended up waiting a couple of hours to get this shot. The problem was, I had to keep my drone hovering above me until a boat came down the river. If I had tried to launch the drone after seeing a boat coming, I would have never been able to catch up to it. Luckily, I have four batteries for my drone, and each one gives me about 20-30 min of flight time. This shot was taken during summer, so the sun was up a lot longer, therefore giving me more time to capture shots late into the evening.Lighting
The lighting on this day turned pretty poor as the day wore on and I really didn't have the amount of sunlight I really wanted for this shot. I ended up having to bump the iso up a little in order to freeze the fast moving boat on the water. I really don't like using an iso over 100 on my drone, and it does best when there is an ample amount of light. The reason for this is because I like to shoot in 48mp and my particular drone has a Quad Bayer Image Sensor, which requires a lot of light. I am pretty positive I will try to recreate this shot in the future, during a time with more sunlight.Equipment
This image was taken with my DJI Mavic Air 2. No filters.Inspiration
One day while I was watching videos on YouTube, teaching myself to use light room, I came across a video and the person was editing a photo of a drone shot of a boat moving across the water. And from that day forward I had the idea stuck in my mind. Typically once I get an idea for a particular photo I want to try and capture, the thought stays there until I'm able to get out and shoot it.Editing
As far as post-processing, I had to crop the image, which is something I typically don't like to do, but having the option to shoot 48mp with my drone, I'm usually able to crop pretty easily. I used light room, to darken the blue color of the water, as well as brighten up the white in the wake a little, and photoshop to do a small amount of noise reduction caused by the higher iso.In my camera bag
I just upgraded to a Canon eos rp, full frame, mirrorless camera. So I carry it and my older Canon 7d, if I don't have to carry my bag very far. I am currently only shooting with a Canon 24-70mm f/4L is usm. But in the very near future I will be ordering a Canon rf 24-105mm f4L is. I also carry my dji Mavic Air 2 with me and extra batteries, and filters. I also generally have my Manfrotto tripod with me, along with a flashlight, extra batteries and various filters.Feedback
Honestly the only advice I have is to invest in a quality drone and spend the necessary time learning to fly, as well as learning about your countries laws and regulations. Drone photography takes a little bit of time to get used to, but once you get comfortable, the rest is history. My typical advice is against worrying about buying the newest and greatest camera equipment, and instead use as much of your time as possible learning the fundamentals of photography and shooting as much as you possibly can, during every lighting condition and every different season of the year. But when it comes to drone photography, I honestly do feel it's beneficial to invest in good quality gear. There are a couple of drones that dji has on the market, that are very affordable and really take amazing photos.