The Arial Angles
Aerial photography has been going on for over 150 years with varying degrees of success. These photos have been taken in everything from kites to hot air balloons to airplanes. Drones are now an addition to the extensive list of things curious people attach a camera too.
Today’s drones are easy to fly, even without a lot of experience. Photography drones have reached the phase where the camera is customizable. Like a handheld camera, lens swaps happen, ISO settings changed, and much more. That level of customization really was not available even five years ago.
All these factors mean that aerial photography will continue to grow in popularity. The scenes will continue to change. Who knows, in time the whole planet will be photographed through drone photography.
More Scenery All Around
Drones offer unique perspectives to whoever shoots them. Drones open unique photography angles whenever they’re used. The height alone offers more options than would be achievable otherwise. That really generates so many more options.
For example, in a wedding scenario, there are usually a photographer or two running around capturing everything on the ground. They’ll take both posed and candid shots from a unique perspective. Adding a drone to the mix though adds more possibilities that would otherwise be outside of the budget.
Drones add more options to every shoot. They capture more of the surroundings simply because of where they fly, and they can get a lot more candid shots when they’re involved in working with people.
High Angle Sports
Sports are fast-paced events that everyone wants to see better. There are avid fans in every sport who always want more from every game. Drones offer that choice, especially in outdoor sports such as baseball and football. Once, the stands were the only vantage for sports photography. Then they started running wires over the fields, which in turn let them run cameras out over the action. Drones are just the next in line for creating these experiences for viewers. Drones used for sports photography capture the game from higher angles. It supplies new and different overviews of ongoing and past games. It’s an exciting practice for people who can get the permits.
Capturing Wildlife
Wildlife photography has historically been a field with risks. People have died before on their explorations. It also requires a lot of dedication and training. Drones change the game on that front as well, since they can approach animals without risks. Drones can approach wild animals easier than humans. Animals have not yet learned to fear drones, and they may never do so. Drones can get closer to animals, in addition to moving faster out of the way should something go wrong. Humans are seeing animals in ways they never have before.
Selfies
While it may sound vain, drones are excellent for selfies. With drones, the angles are different for the selfies and tend to capture more of the available background. They’re excellent for larger group photos as well. All it takes is one person with a drone for phones to suddenly seem inadequate to the selfie task. More folks are also taking drones on vacation, which certainly causes some trip envy. With many options for framing, drones are changing the personal photography space.
Reporting
Many news reports, whether they’re print, digital, or online, rely on images to get the point across. Having the option to stream from a drone in real time has changed how humans see natural disasters, crime, protests, inequality, and so much more. Everything gets more real with a live stream from above.
The aerial still shots from around the planet have similar power. Photos from earthquake zones now appear in campaigns to draw in relief funds or feature in papers on climate change instantly. Drone photography is changing how we see what goes on within all communities.
Parting Thoughts
Drones are changing photography dramatically. The drone will probably never replace photographers, however, they are a wonderful augmentation to both professional and hobby photography. Each photo is precious and worth considering.
