Dunes of Cresmina in Cascais, Portugal

Nuno Barreto · Dec 23, 2017

Quick edit, straight out of camera, of a hike I did around the dunes of Cresmina, near the town of Cascais, in Portugal. Purpose of this trip was to shoot some aerial photos of the dunes, but ended-up also shooting some video.

Shot on a DJI Phantom 3 Standard

Macfawlty · Jan 6, 2018

Always a challenge for me, deciding on photos or video. Typically, I always do video. The issue is that with video, I’m shooting 1/30-1/60 with ND16 or 32. Slower shutter speeds don’t make for very sharp photos. I have to make a choice before launch what ND filter to use (if any). For photos, I’d use a polarizer and shoot a much faster shutter speed. I was in Cascais last December. I didn’t know anything about the dunes. I could spend a couple weeks photographing and flying around Sintra and Cascais. Unfortunately, I can’t easily bring a camera bag plus a huge P3 case. I’m looking hard at a Mavic Pro for just that reason. I need a travel bird.

Nuno Barreto · Jan 8, 2018

The dunes are fairly unknown still, even for locals. They have always been there, near the Guincho beach, but a couple of years ago a path was built for people to explore the area, while minimizing the impact on the vegetation / environment.

I typically don't use filters and opt to shoot a little underexposed and the color and exposure correct in post.

Macfawlty · Jan 8, 2018

If you ever get back to Cascais and Sintra, I’d love to see more footage. I truly loved that area. It has everything you could possibly want in a European destination, not to mention a racetrack as well. We stayed at the Ritz-Carlton (on a great deal). It had a variety of historic sights and a wonderful golf course. I could hear the cars racing around the track nearby, wishing I had time for a visit, wishing I had my P3 4K for the trip.

As a videographer (on land anyway), I’m always conscious of the jittery look of faster shutter speeds, more apparent the closer you are to objects. I’m trying to find the balance. I think 1/30 may be a bit too slow of a shutter. I haven’t done any critical testing, but I do like the natural motion blur, which would probably still be acceptable at 1/60. The speed of the drone obviously makes a difference.

Using large sensor DSLR’s, I always lean toward underexposure and flat profiles, particularly in contrasty situations, but the cameras in these drones don’t have great latitude and I’ve experienced a lot of issues lifting the shadows... blocky reddish colors common with their sketchy compression schemes.