Drone photography

SkyPixel, one of the world’s most popular aerial photography communities established by tech giant DJI, has announced the winners of its annual drone imaging contest. And the photos selected by the jury provide a truly incredible view of our world from above.

National Geographic’s February cover features one of Europe’s most well-known structures – the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris. Captured beautifully by a drone, the cover shows the cathedral’s iconic buttresses undergoing reconstruction after being damaged by fire in 2019 (see image below). But did you know, it took photographer Tomas van Houtryve six months to get the aerial shot!? Here’s why…

The UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has announced a new photography competition, #ShotOnMyDrone, to both highlight the incredible images that drones can capture across the United Kingdom and educate people around using drones safely and responsibly.

If you own a drone and are going to be in Bismarck, North Dakota, anytime soon, you may want to consider making a trip to the Steckel boat ramp near Wilton. Drought conditions and low water levels on the Missouri River have revealed a nearly 130-year-old shipwreck some 25 miles north of Bismarck, and you should be able to capture stunning aerial footage of the same.

The international Drone Photo Awards are a celebration of aerial photography. This year, the coveted awards saw tens of thousands of image submissions by photographers from 102 countries. And the entries that caught the attention of the jury? Well, those feature everything from monster waves and volcanic eruptions to buffalo buffets and even a 500-year-old monastery in Moscow. Take a look…

You know that saying: Everyone’s talking about the weather? Well, these days people really are talking about the weather, but in much more urgent tones. There’s also another saying: A picture is worth a thousand words. And in this case, drone photos showing the results of what many scientists believe is climate change in California are shocking.

The painfully extended arm and forcibly pleased expressions seemed bad enough before selfie-sticks replaced those as the sine quo non of unabashed self-obsession. Now even those are set to be dethroned as the narcissist’s must-have gadget is a tiny, camera-equipped drone that pops from a smartphone to take aerial me-me-me photos.

History has its rubbish heap, elephants their graveyards, and aircraft have a last resting place known as “boneyards.” In many countries, those final parking spots are located in deserts. Lacking those large, arid expanses, however, most Eastern European nations must dump permanently grounded craft wherever (and as discreetly as) they can. Now a Russian drone pilot has captured astonishing shots of mothballed Soviet era craft – some of which much of the world has never seen before.

We feel a bit like rubberneckers at a traffic accident: We just have to slow down and look. (Or, in this case, let the pilot slow things down in post-production.) It ain’t pretty – it’s gorgeous.

With little warning, Mount Nyiragongo erupted in the Democratic Republic of Congo on the weekend and torrents of lava spilled into villages. Drones show the chaos of the African eruption.

New drone video reveals the world’s largest nude female sculpture at least partially adorned this month. As seen from the air, snow gave the Lady of the North a dusting.

We’ve all seen plenty of digital manipulation of regular photos for the sake of art. But a digital artist from France has taken that a step further: He creates fantastical works of art from drone images.

We have a pretty cool video to show you. Don’t be surprised if you do a double-take.

As you know, we often feature videos from drone pilots, along with a brief interview. Today, we’re going to mix things up by highlighting some terrific aerial photography.

At the end of 2020, the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino created some fun posts for their “Elf on a Shelf” campaign. With the aid of a few drones, they were able to give their audience a new, unique perspective.

I know what you are thinking: Don’t most articles detail the exact opposite? I’d say you are correct in that more people are interested in moving up — learning more, doing more, and perhaps even making income from their drone operations. However, in a sense, my short tale is more indicative of where the average drone consumer might want to do — that is to have and use these tools on occasion in order to see the world from a different perspective and to share this work and art with others. 

One of the great ways to earn money with a drone is by shooting real estate. To truly excel, you’ll want your images to pop out against the competition. That’s why the online course we’re about to explore, and the second story in our two-part series on elevating your skills, is worth a serious look.

Economies around the world are imploding due to the shut-down of businesses in the COVID-19 era. But even in downtimes, there are winners—companies that provide the right products or services for the needs at hand. In the era of social distancing, drones are emerging as a no-contact solution for many jobs.
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Two weeks ago, the world was stunned by drone photos and videos of mass burials of COVID-19 victims on an island that is part of the Bronx, in New York City. Last week, renowned photographer George Steinmetz set out to capture his own images, but  police seized his drone. And now we have more details of how that went down.
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I have been shooting aerial photography for years now, but have never really shared much of my process when it comes to creating images. Here’s a look at what goes into my planning of an aerial portrait shoot.

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In the past we have already seen some creative ways in which photographers used drones to  light their subjects. Today we see some quite amazing photos from Czech photographer Jiri Kralovec who used a DJI Phantom drone to light his athletes and take some really nice sports portraits.

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