I’ve just walked away from a filming situation, at least for the next half or so. A contrail (airplane vapour trail, looking like an unnatural straight-line cloud) was spoiling the scene we were about to shoot. Although we’re in a remote area, our location is on the Cape Town to Jo’burg flight path. Even at a height of approximately 40,000 ft, contrails can seriously spoil an otherwise natural looking scene.
Drone shadows are another “no, no” in our book. They shouldn’t be in a scene - in much the same way that you wouldn’t get a camera crew or any of the other production staff in shot if you were making a movie or TV show. The camera is an unobtrusive, unseen eye, to capture the action.
When it comes to stills photography of wildlife, I have a thing about ears. Yes, it’s a small detail - but these small things make all the difference been okay and excellent. How many times do you see a photograph of a rhino, wallaby, or other wild animal with one or both of its ears in the backwards position? (Sadly, often. Even in books and magazines.) By comparison, an animal with both ears pointing forwards is a wild beastie at its best - alert, displaying its finest behaviour. You just need to wait for the right moments, and be ruthless with editing, to weed out the mediocre.
They say that the moving image in video/film is more forgiving than a stills image. To some degree, this is true. You have more time to study a stills image. But the “keep it super simple” (KISS) principle is nevertheless important when capturing footage.
I haven’t seen a thread before about keeping an image or scene “clean”, simple, uncluttered. Yet it matters. A viewer’s attention is easily distracted. A potential customer is more easily put off than convinced to use your service or buy your product. What some people call “intangibles” are nothing more than identifiable details. They matter. A lot. Improvement happens, step by step, when helpful details are embraced and incorporated.
DJI have done an excellent job in providing us with a level of technology that is superb, with a high degree of reliability. Perhaps we should hold ourselves to a similar high account when using our drones for cinematography or stills photography? And this holds true, I suggest, whether we fly for pleasure or as a professional purpose. You don’t get personal satisfaction from being sloppy or mediocre.
Drone shadows are another “no, no” in our book. They shouldn’t be in a scene - in much the same way that you wouldn’t get a camera crew or any of the other production staff in shot if you were making a movie or TV show. The camera is an unobtrusive, unseen eye, to capture the action.
When it comes to stills photography of wildlife, I have a thing about ears. Yes, it’s a small detail - but these small things make all the difference been okay and excellent. How many times do you see a photograph of a rhino, wallaby, or other wild animal with one or both of its ears in the backwards position? (Sadly, often. Even in books and magazines.) By comparison, an animal with both ears pointing forwards is a wild beastie at its best - alert, displaying its finest behaviour. You just need to wait for the right moments, and be ruthless with editing, to weed out the mediocre.
They say that the moving image in video/film is more forgiving than a stills image. To some degree, this is true. You have more time to study a stills image. But the “keep it super simple” (KISS) principle is nevertheless important when capturing footage.
I haven’t seen a thread before about keeping an image or scene “clean”, simple, uncluttered. Yet it matters. A viewer’s attention is easily distracted. A potential customer is more easily put off than convinced to use your service or buy your product. What some people call “intangibles” are nothing more than identifiable details. They matter. A lot. Improvement happens, step by step, when helpful details are embraced and incorporated.
DJI have done an excellent job in providing us with a level of technology that is superb, with a high degree of reliability. Perhaps we should hold ourselves to a similar high account when using our drones for cinematography or stills photography? And this holds true, I suggest, whether we fly for pleasure or as a professional purpose. You don’t get personal satisfaction from being sloppy or mediocre.
