The following tutorial is adapted from
https://djiphotoacademy.com/create-depth-in-drone-photos/
Author: Randy Jay Braun
A good practice in photography is to incorporate a foreground, middleground, and background to create the perception of depth. One of the challenges often faced by we drone photographers is that we lose foreground elements once we are airborne with a camera. As a result, drone photos often lack depth and appear flat. Here we will discuss methods to create more depth with your aerial photos.
(Shooting between tree branches adds a sense of depth and voyeuristic intrigue for the viewer.)
The most effective method to add depth to your composition is to fly your drone lower and position it so that tree branches, or a building, or other tall object is fairly close to the camera. If you can position your subject between branches of a tree, this is a real bonus. Photographers sometimes refer to this effective style as voyeuristic framing, as it gives the viewer a sense of secretly capturing a glimpse.
(In this example, depth is created with both vignetting and leading lines.)
Another way to create depth is to slightly desaturate and/or darken the foreground of the image. This is similar to creating a standard vignette in post processing, but with additional strength of the adjustment along the bottom portion of the photo.
Finally, lens focus can be used to create additional depth in your aerial photographs. Mind you, many smaller drone cameras do not have the capability to create much boket, or shallow focus (this requires a larger lens with adjustable aperture). I do hope that we will eventually see “boket mode” built in to drone cameras, just as it was recently released on the iPhone 7. Until then, we are definitely able to create the shallow depth of field in post editing, with tilt-shift effect or painting on some gaussian blur with an adjustment brush.
(Both light and blur effects are used here to create depth in an otherwise lifeless image.)
(Try using a tilt-shift focus adjustment in post process to create depth to a flat drone photograph.)
Don’t forget the background of the image. With today’s powerful post-processing tools such as “Dehaze” slider in Adobe Lightroom, and the Accent AI filter in Macphun Luminar, we can clean the haze from the sky instantly. This is not always a wise artistic decision because an appropriate amount of haze will give the perception of distance and depth in your photograph.
Have fun practicing these methods with your drones. Thanks to products made by DJI, placing a camera effortlessly in the sky has encouraged artists and techies of all levels to become more interested in photography skills and techniques. Each day on social media we are captivated by these extraordinary new perspectives of the world around us.
Authors Randy Jay Braun & Stacy Garlington are co-founders of the DJI Aerial Photo Academy, providing live city-to-city workshops guiding attendees to create better aerial drone photographs for work and for play. A current workshop schedule can be found at www.djiphotoacademy.com and on their facebook page. Please contact randy-stacy@djiphotoacademy.com with any questions.
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