Aerial Photography

Many people have travelled here, along the sandy coastlines of Saint Lucia, in search of a thing called “memories.” 

Now, this is not the same as everyday memories, but more a vivid image of a moment caught and kissed with Luminar.

It is for this reason that many “Action Travel Photographers” see Saint Lucia’s lush landscapes as a great place to find and catch memories.

You too can learn how to catch memories and share with your family, friends, and audience.

Editing Aerial Photos

Following AirMagic, a former Skylum app that was especially designed for Aerial Photography, Luminar Neo will now take care of all your photo editing needs.

Experience the magic of automatic exposure compensation, for over and underexposed images.

With Luminar your can quickly address common unpleasantries suffered through the dynamic nature of aerial photography. 

For example, readily detect and remove undesirable glare, dust, haze, fog, mist, dust, smog, or and any other distracting ‘artefacts’.

The image submitted for this post were captured using the DJI Mavic Pro which unfortunately is no longer in production. However, for the latest in DJI technology, see our product recommendations below.

What to expect

The latest DJI drones provide the best cutting-edge technology for action photographers. Imagine the capability 32x digital zoom and identifying objects with integrated high-resolution thermal sensors.

Editing Tools Used:

– Luminar Neo 1.4.0 update essentials

– Develop, Exposure, Smart Contrast

– Color, Saturation, Vibrance, Remove Color Cast.

– Landscape, Dehaze, Foilage Enhancer

In order to achieve satisfactory results with the above photos, although; starting with the first image, which simply took the click of the Dark and Rich preset option under the Waterscapes collection of Presets. For the other images, a combination of tools were used to achieve a similar or complimentary looking set of photos.

Using Luminar’s AI technology demonstrates the “naturalness” that can be achieved, or rather recaptured from how you imagined your photos, with very little fuss and unnecessary effort.

Why Aerial Photography with a Drone?

Besides the use of helicopters, customized rigs on film sets and other expensive or clumsy means. Fortunately, you can more affordably capture some pretty cool aerial photography and video footage using todays First-Person-View remote controlled ‘drone-copters’.

These little beauties are increasingly picking up pace in the professional workplace as well as with the advanced hobbyist.

There are a number of uses for aerial photography, including; environmental planning, conveyancing, cartography (map making), film making etc.

Videography and photography are two creative practices we focus on  that can readily benefit from using a FPV (First-Person-View) controlled camera drone for aerial video footage and photography.

Action Photographer Gear

From the smooth and stable recording experience provided by gimbal technology, to the aesthetic final imagery kissed by Luminar. We delve deeper into the world of Aerial Photography and using a drone.

The following is a guide to the gear used by Alen, our featured photographer, for providing the images and videos for our first Action Travel Photography, Software Folder presentation.

So, to kick-off we’ll just explain a few things about the technology and give some context with regards to the equipment to use and how you can add Aerial Photography as service to your existing or new creative business.

What is a Gimbal?

Gimbal refers to the technology behind modern motorised camera stabilisers that use intelligent sensors for helping reduce camera shake by balancing the cameras  orientation with the horizon.

Available for both camera smartphones and conventional DSLR cameras, for most of us, a gimbal stabiliser eliminates the need for a tripod, streadicam or huge dollys for filming.

DJI Mavic pro

DJI’s first foldable drone, with follow, obstacle avoidance

DJI Osmo Pocket

Miniature 3 axis mechanical gimbal camera with face tracking 

DJI Action 2 (dual screen combo)

Magnetic action modular camera system that magnetically attaches to accessories. Is waterproof and drop proof, supports 4K/120fps video, and a super-wide 155° FOV,.

DJI Controller

Multi-display; use built in screen or attach smartphone