Just got back from a road trip around Northern Italy yesterday where I visited a number of different lakes. Driven a total of 1002km in 5 days and I had a blast flying the mavic. Here are a quick edit of the photos I took on the trip along with some tip for travelling with a drone:



TIP: Always check drone rules for the country you'll be travelling to, abide by the rules and apply for a permit when required. Before you fly a drone up in a new country it’s important to calibrate the sensors especially the compass and also have a plan for your flight. This will allow you to capture the footage you need and allows you to be more efficient.



TIP: I shoot my photos in RAW as this me more color grading in post, thus I can always correct that wrong exposure or white balance as well as using add some dramatic effects by using different manipulating techniques in Adobe Lightroom / Photoshop.



TIP: I shoot my photos in AEB (Auto Exposure Bracketing) mode will take multiple pictures of the same scene using different exposure values. You can set it to take two or five shots to get images with a high dynamic range. This mode is very useful when you are not sure about the correct exposure in tricky lighting situations or when you want to create an HDR photo.



TIP: Neutral density (or ND) filters are a must for your travels! Since the mavic has got a fixed aperature I have 4 sets of ND filters (ND4, ND8, ND 16, ND32) that I always carry with me and use according to how sunny it is.



TIP: Try to be creative with your shots, angles and fly height especailly when visiting popular areas.



TIP: The best time for taking images in general is early in the morning, just after sunrise, or late in the evening, just before sunset and the same applies to drones too. Not only will you get the best light for shooting but you’ll also benefit from having very few people around.



TIP: Always check the surrounding area before flying for possible electricty cables, predators and other obstacles that might not be detected by the obstacle avoidance sensors or if you want to fly backwards/sideways. Also stay away for any large objects such as antennas and metal structures as these tend to create interferance or confused the compass which could result in a crash.



TIP: Wait for strong GPS connectivity before taking off. I made the mistaking of flying in atti mode while trying to capture this shot as I was restricted with time since I had a long drive to the airport. The wind almost took my drone as hovering in atti mode is not stable, so I landed the drone, re-started and waited for a better GPS signal before flying again.




Finally and most importantly, have fun! Flying a drone is a lot of fun so do remember to enjoy yourself when travelling with one!

Excellent Tips Rikk,

You have covered all the most important traveling tips.

Take Raw Pictures really helps a lot in Post Editing as it gives you lots of flexibility for fine tuning. Having a Good GPS Signal is also very important, especially when you are on the go and racing against time.

The Pictures all look Marvelous ! Even though you said the last picture was the most difficult, because of your Time Limit, I thinks its the most EPIC of them all ! Really Perfectly Composed !

I have saw a lot of your Work, Rikk, and I can Proudly say that you are One of the Best Drone Pilots I ever saw !

Really EPIC Post my Dear Friend ! 100+ / 100 for You ! The Art of Photography and Drones is Inside You !

You are a True Artist, and your Creativity is Top Class ! Welldone.

DMX_MT Posted at 2018-7-7 06:33
Excellent Tips Rikk,

You have covered all the most important traveling tips.

Thank you so much for your comments bud.

Comments like these are what inspires me to keep on creating more and more content. Can't wait to edit the video from this trip