Photographing landscapes with a drone

Thursday 21 April 2022, 15:51 by Thijs Schouten | 3,560 views | 2 comments

This article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.

When you think of landscape photography, you quickly think of photographing a beautiful landscape with a wide-angle lens. After all, with landscape photography you want to capture a wide view in one go. But have you ever considered capturing landscapes in a different way?

For example, from a higher viewpoint or from directly above? You can do this very easily with a drone! This gives you unusual images that you would not see so quickly as an ordinary person.

In this article, I explain how you can photograph landscapes with a drone and show you some example photos.

Photographing landscapes from above

When you photograph a landscape with a digital camera, you are always looking for the right and most beautiful viewpoint. As a person, you are limited to the places where you can stand.

Sometimes you cannot get any higher than the highest rock nearby, so you have to make do with that viewpoint.

Using a drone allows you to discover new viewpoints. You can easily take to the air and capture unique images. Drones are very easy to operate these days, and your phone shows you exactly what you are capturing.

A good example is the photo below of a church in the Alps. This church is hidden on a mountain among the trees and is normally almost impossible to see.

Using a DJI Mavic Mini, I was able to get closer to the church and capture it in a unique way. This was something I could absolutely not do with my normal camera, because the photo was taken at a height of 50 metres.

Photographing landscapes from a higher perspective

Besides giving you a higher perspective, a drone also allows you to photograph landscapes directly from above. This creates a completely different image, because it is something we do not normally see as people.

The image is made flat, so to speak, which creates unusual effects. This is also very easy to do. You can position the drone above your subject with the camera pointing straight down.

You can then see on your screen what the photo will look like and experiment with the composition. Below are some images that I took directly from above with the DJI Mavic Mini.

Can you just fly a drone anywhere?

Would you also like to get started photographing landscapes with a drone? Then it is good to know that the regulations have been tightened since 1 January 2021.

In short, you have to register as a drone pilot. And if you have a drone that weighs more than 250 grams, you also have to obtain a licence.

Fortunately, at the time of writing there are also many drones that weigh less than 250 grams. You can easily take these drones with you, and they only need to be registered with the RDW.

You should also take a number of basic rules into account:

1. Never fly above people
2. Never fly near airports or stations
3. Always keep your drone in sight

Have you also taken landscape photos with a drone? I would love to hear about your experience! Leave a comment below!

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