Hi - I am a very new flyer and even newer to photography. I took a night shot and was hoping to capture some far off city lights and possibly the low moon.
Notice the splotches in my photo. What causes that? If it was a humid night I might think the drone's own lights could be the cause.
This was just a standard quick photo with all defaults selected. I haven't changed anything (yet).

Any advice here?

Thanks!

Turn off the front lights and use a longer shutter speed for night shots. You will need a calm night if possible.
My most recent ones from Downtown Indianapolis

How do you shut off and on the lights

Jkeller84 Posted at 2016-1-12 20:27
Turn off the front lights and use a longer shutter speed for night shots. You will need a calm night ...

Change your ISO to at least 1600 or more 1st then play with your shutter speed.

Lights can be turned off in DJI Go APP menu.

larson21 Posted at 2016-1-12 20:31
How do you shut off and on the lights

I don't remember the exact menu hierarchy, hopefully someone can chime in. If not, I will look when I get home

larson21 Posted at 2016-1-12 19:31
How do you shut off and on the lights

Open your Go app and then click on the MC Settings, click on Advance Settings, and finally slide Turn off arm's LED lights.

mrginhop Posted at 2016-1-12 20:35
Change your ISO to at least 1600 or more 1st then play with your shutter speed.

Lights can be tur ...

I only adjust the ISO as a super last resort for my night shots. I tend to get soon much noise that it cannot saved in post. I like a 1-2 second shutter to compensate

Jkeller84 Posted at 2016-1-12 20:27
Turn off the front lights and use a longer shutter speed for night shots. You will need a calm night ...

Great tips!

Thanks for the info!

Just for clarity though, do you think those splotches are due to the front lights?

jobem Posted at 2016-1-12 20:50
Thanks for the info!

Just for clarity though, do you think those splotches are due to the front lig ...

Indeed they are

Jkeller84 Posted at 2016-1-13 12:54
Indeed they are

Yes, and probably a dirty front filter on the camera.

Geebax Posted at 2016-1-12 20:57
Yes, and probably a dirty front filter on the camera.

Good point, that could be causing trouble as well.

I ordered a Nikon Lens Pen to clean the lens. It should be here tomorrow. Thanks again.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product ... _detailpage_o00_s00

Also a newbie here... How do you change the shutter speed and the ISO settings? Is it also in the MC menu?

cdwilson0302 Posted at 2016-1-12 22:12
Also a newbie here... How do you change the shutter speed and the ISO settings? Is it also in the MC ...

You have to change it to Manual mode. Then you can adjust with the wheel on the right side of the controller

Jkeller84 Posted at 2016-1-12 21:19
You have to change it to Manual mode. Then you can adjust with the wheel on the right side of the  ...

Change the drone from GPS to manual mode you mean? or is there a way to change the camera to manual mode?

I have a P3 Standard. Will I be able to do that?

cdwilson0302 Posted at 2016-1-12 22:25
Change the drone from GPS to manual mode you mean? or is there a way to change the camera to manua ...

Not familiar with the Standard, but I believe it uses the same app. Change the camera to M mode in the app. This lets you adjust shutter speed and ISO if you choose to

Shoot in auto and forget shooting distant lights with large dark foregrounds.
You need to have a decent amount of light in the frame or you'll just get dark rubbish.

jobem Posted at 2016-1-12 20:50
Thanks for the info!

Just for clarity though, do you think those splotches are due to the front lig ...

I don't think its dirt. I have seen this when I flew into a light drizzle. It's water drops on the lens and the red lights up front.

Jkeller84 Posted at 2016-1-12 21:30
Not familiar with the Standard, but I believe it uses the same app. Change the camera to M mode in ...

Ok thanks for the info! I appreciate it!

What did you use to edit your photos that you posted above? Those are amazing.

Also- I have been just downloading the photos/videos to my phone via wifi. Is it higher quality to download the photos/videos via the card?

cdwilson0302 Posted at 2016-1-12 22:56
Ok thanks for the info! I appreciate it!

What did you use to edit your photos that you posted abo ...

I use Lightroom to do my edits. Lots of experimenting to see what looks nice. The good news about Lightroom is that when I make an edit on a photo, it is non-destructive. Feel free to explore and develop your own style. Things that look nice to you, might look funny to someone else (especially on this forum). The good news is that you are doing this for fun. Your opinion is the only one that matters!


I would recommend removing the card, placing it into your computer, and transferring that way. All data is compressed in one way or another when it is transferred wirelessly.

Jkeller84 Posted at 2016-1-12 22:07
I use Lightroom to do my edits. Lots of experimenting to see what looks nice. The good news about  ...

Thanks, great information.

Thanks for adding me. I will probably come to you with further questions if that's ok with you!

jobem Posted at 2016-1-12 19:50
Thanks for the info!

Just for clarity though, do you think those splotches are due to the front lig ...

Absolutely.  The lights are lighting up either specs of dirt on the lens, or specs of moisture from fog/rain.  Kill the lights and they will disappear.  Clean the lens and it will be even nicer.

Jkeller84 Posted at 2016-1-12 20:38
I only adjust the ISO as a super last resort for my night shots. I tend to get soon much noise tha ...

1-2 sec shutter speed with no camera shake? Is the PS that stable? What's the longest shutter speed you've still gotten a sharp image with? The camera has terrible noise beyond 800so couldn't agree with you more re. lowest ISO possible.

I've been working on night photos for awhile now and you might try these settings....."have white balance on Auto......color..Vivid....go to battom of camera menu where the lines are and put in ..Manual...and In that setting set the speed dial to plus 1.6if a lot of light in area your shooting and 2.0 if not a lot of light....Also watch your screen and don't snap a shot till it looks like picture has stopped moving...then snap it ...hit the playback button that is on the right in the camera setting bar...view the photo and take another picture without moving and it may be better.....take picture in the 4k also.....

mrginhop Posted at 2016-1-12 23:30
1-2 sec shutter speed with no camera shake? Is the PS that stable? What's the longest shutter spee ...

Depends on the day. On a calm day, I can usually get some sharp shots at 1-2 seconds. I have one photo that turned out "ok" at 3 seconds but there was absolutely 0 wind that day. It still had a tiny bit of blur, but I personally think it looked ok. I have found that you have to line up the shot and then take your hands off the sticks for about 20 seconds to let it completely settle.

mrginhop Posted at 2016-1-12 23:30
1-2 sec shutter speed with no camera shake? Is the PS that stable? What's the longest shutter spee ...

Night shots are tricky, but I think they are the most rewarding. Almost anyone can get a great shot in auto mode during the day. It takes some patience to get the good shots at night. This is all just in my own opinion, of course.

I don't recommend high ISO values, it's too noise!!! I always use ISO at 100 and a big exposure time. With ISO 100 and about 4 seconds of exposure you can do amazing night photos over the city.
After that, I use DNG cleaner and Adobe LightRoom to remove more noisies, to sharpen more and to add some vibration on the colors.

Jkeller84 Posted at 2016-1-13 09:27
Turn off the front lights and use a longer shutter speed for night shots. You will need a calm night ...

Thanks for the suggestions. I,

• Cleaned my lens
• Turned off the LEDs
• Experimented with ISO and exposure time
  

You can see that these are much better than the original post. But I still have plenty to learn

I assume the star streaks are from minor movement/vibration during multi-second exposures.

I am curious why I get a blue sky vs the deep yellow/green at times. I did change the ISO from 800 to 400 at times. But I did not make notes of my changes.

jobem Posted at 2016-1-13 21:28
Thanks for the suggestions. I,

Cleaned my lens

Honestly that is a tough shot there. You need more light in the frame pull that off. There are only 2 ways to do that from that range with he Phantom:

1. Use a really long shutter speed (impossible to get a sharp image due to wind, etc.)
2. Use a really high ISO (tons of noise)

I recommend finding a location with more light available. Then keep the ISO as close to 100 as possible. Use a 1 second shutter to start. Move to 2 when comfortable.

Jkeller84 Posted at 2016-1-14 10:48
Honestly that is a tough shot there. You need more light in the frame pull that off. There are onl ...

I hear you and I plan to choose better locations. This is just what I can see when I step out into my yard. I live in the middle of nowhere

I just wanted to test the cleaner lens, lack of LEDs, and various settings.

The other trick with night photography is to NOT shoot literally at night when there is no light at all. Try shooting for 30-45 mins after sunset when there is still light in the sky & more importantly ambient light on the city. Your problem is that you are waiting too late to shoot. Night photography is technically not really done when there is zero light in the sky.

Jkeller84 Posted at 2016-1-12 23:36
Depends on the day. On a calm day, I can usually get some sharp shots at 1-2 seconds. I have one p ...

Good info to have. Thanks.

Here's some images shot at ISO 200 & 1-2 sec. Came out great even with some serious wind going on.