I am dedicating a full blog post this month to Drone photography due to the sheer number of images I have taken over the past month since acquiring my drone. This may well become a common theme with the blog as I think I will be taking a fair amount of drone photos moving forward so having a separate entry might be a good idea to showcase these images.

After the last trip I took to the coast (see last blog post), I was continuing things more close to home, with every opportunity I could find getting it airborne and getting used to the controls and the drones more advanced settings. I also took it out in more blustery conditions to see how it coped with a strong wind while shooting over the Downs near my house.

The images above were all taken over Clifton where I live, on a fairly blustery day. As you can see the drone was still able to bring in sharp, clear images while battling against the elements with gusts of strong wind during flight.

Portability and flying in a built up area was the next test for the Mavic during a bike ride from Bristol to bath, with a more difficult take off point selected in the centre of the city under trees next to the Rec rugby ground. Having the general public around gawping at you is one downside to having the drone, so I tend to keep my distance as much as possible just in case someone wants to be nosy/offended/ask questions while i’m concentrating on flying . In this instance we found a small park next to the rugby ground which minimized the amount of onlookers/people walking past me as I took off and landed. It was still fairly busy however, so I was very aware of people walking around me as I was taking off and landing.

There was an added thrill of flying the drone over the stadium during a match (Bath VS Wasps) as well so I kept quite high up when above the stadium so I could go as unnoticed as possible while hovering.

I was keen to get down to do some coastal photos and had always had the sand dunes image in my head as a high priority on my tick-list since getting the drone.

I traveled down to Clevedon on a still, clear, warm day with a view to photograph the pier there, but as soon as I took off, I noticed the beautiful sand banks that had formed as the sea had receded while at low tide. The light and the contrast with the water made the sand banks/dunes look like waves of sand and made for some great abstract images.

After spending time fixated on the sand waves I turned my attention to the Pier itself. I tried to capture it from various angles, using the light cast over it to my advantage.

As my confidence has grown flying the drone, I was more comfortable flying closer to structures and also to the water. I even flew under the pier at one point between the supports to get this perspective (above) from the other side of the pier.

I have found myself staring at Google maps for a new place to try out, so on one such investigation I noticed a quarry nearby which looked like it could have some interesting lines and textures.

Soon after seeing it on Google, I was at said quarry getting some shots of the amazing turquoise lake that had formed at the base of the quarry. I spent the next 20 minutes attempting to show the contrast between land and lake with what seemed to be an algae bloom around the lakes rim adding to the colour contrast.

I traveled to Glastonbury with a plan to photograph the famous Tor that sits on top of a hill overlooking the town below. Having the drone meant I was able to circle the Tor from far away and keep well clear of the people walking below.

Using Photoshop I did edit out some of the people around the top and sides of the Tor as it was a nice warm weekend and the top was very busy at the time of me flying the drone.

Hopefully There will be many more blogs like this to come and any recommendations on places to go and shoot are always appreciated.

I will also have a dedicated Instagram just for Drone work @MOFF.DRONE

FIN