DJI Mavic Pro

Primer on drone photography

Datacolor just published an article I wrote for them on how to get great photographs (including 360-degree panoramas) with your drone, and especially how to get the best color you can out of those images. You c

How to create and share 360-degree panoramas with your drone

What I love most about drone panoramas is that they combine a unique way to show a location with being dead simple to shoot once you have a good workflow. Now that they are natively-supported by Facebook and purpose-built sites like Kuula.co, friends can get a sense of where you’ve been more easily than ever. There are a variety of approaches that will work, and I’ve outlined some of them, along with tips and my workflow in a .

DJI's new Mavic Air gives you more reasons not to put off buying a drone

DJI Mavic Air (Arctic White)If you’ve been stalling on getting into the fun hobby of drone photography, DJI has come up with another reason not to. Its new Mavic Air combines some of the very best features of the amazingly-popular Mavic Pro with the diminutive Spark. I’ve written up our . For serious photographers, I think the Mavic Pro still offers some big advantages, like more flight time, faster lens, and possibly more support for advanced video modes like D-Log (although the Air might also support those). Most of the fancy photography features of the new Air will help you get started quickly, but won’t do much for those of us who already shoot RAW and use Litchi for our panoramas. The 32MP built-in panorama mode certainly isn’t a match for custom panos like the one below I built out of 46 RAW images using Photoshop and Hugin.

Flying a Mavic Pro with Epson's Moverio BT-300FPV Drone Edition AR glasses

The author flying a Mavic Pro using MoverioI’ve had a lot of fun feeling like I’m personally piloting my Mavic Pro when I control it using Epson’s Drone Edition of their popular Moverio BT-300FPV glasses. It’s an expensive accessory, and has a few teething problems, but it does provide a unique and pretty-compelling experience. You can read my full review and see a video of me using one in .

MindShift PhotoCross 13: A great sling-style bag for working in the field with a camera or drone

MindShift Gear PhotoCross 13 Sling Bag (Orange Ember)Photo backpacks are great for carrying gear, but they have one major drawback. They’re inconvenient to work with in situations where you don’t have the time or space to set them down. For that reason, I’ve always made sure that some type of sling or messenger bag was part of my arsenal. So I was excited to learn about the upcoming . I was fortunate enough to get an early version to take with me on my Alaska bear photo safaris and put it through its paces…

Getting Started: Tips for better capturing better videos with your DJI Mavic Pro drone

There are a lot of great resources on the web for helping you get started with shooting video with your drone. However, they are spread around and can take a while to track down. Fortunately for you, we’ve done that, and have put together a list of the most important things to know to get going. These tips are useful for any new drone pilot, but they are particularly geared to . If you don’t already own a Mavic Pro, :

Think Tank's Turnstyle 20 v2.0: The perfect day pack for your DJI Mavic Pro

Now that I’m doing more drone photography and videography, I needed a good way to travel with my drones. There are some really sweet hard cases, , but unless you’re working out of a vehicle its pretty heavy and bulky. Since many of the great drone locations are best reached by hiking or biking, I wanted something light and convenient, that would also hold my tablet and tablet mount.

Getting started with drone photography: A Resource Guide

DJI Mavic Pro There is plenty of information on the web about drone photography, but I’ve learned from experience that it is spread far and wide, and it can be very time consuming to get the bits you need. It can also be expensive if you order the wrong drone or even worse crash your drone because you were missing a key piece of information (yep, done that). So we’ve put together a resource guide that provides at least one approachable path for you to get started, have fun, and develop the confidence to push yourself and your drones further. We’ll be adding to this guide on a regular basis, so please let us know what additional topics you’d like to see included!

DJI breaks new ground with $500 Spark flying camera drone

It wasn’t that long ago that DJI amazed everyone by shrinking its Phantom drone platform down to a portable and more-affordable unit, the Mavic Pro. I love my two Mavics, and they are a great place to start if you know you want to get serious about drone photography. . But if you’re a little daunted by the whole process of setting up and flying a drone, or about the $1K price tag, DJI has done it again. It’s new . Or you can get a . DJI & B&H are estimated that shipments will begin in mid-June. You don’t get the 4K video or a few of the other features of the Mavic Pro, but the Spark is even smaller and easier to get flying.

Serious photography fun with DJI Mavic Pro portable drone

I’ve been having a blast with my DJI Mavic Pro drones. They are amazing pieces of technology, and DJI has packed most of the best features of the much-larger Phantom drones into this folding version. I’ll be writing a lot more about using drones for both fun and serious photo and video projects, but if you’re curious about what’s possible, I’ve written up my first experiences and notes in an . When you’re ready to fly, you can pick up a , or get a more .