Lately, I had my drone photoshoots published in Trend Prive Magazine: https://trendprivemagazine.com/editorials/bird-eye-view-aliona-kuznetsova/ so I decided today I will write what I learned about using a drone for fashion photography.

  • Make sure drones are allowed on your location, more often then not they are forbidden in parks, and you can't fly over people's houses either
  • We had a good drone, but still, hobbyist one which came with several restrictions. First and the biggest one was the resolution - it's so small that you won't be able to crop the images in post-prod, so try to get the image precisely as you want it during production, that includes angle as well as scale
  • Also, the drone doesn't shoot raw, so don't repeat my mistakes and shoot after sunset - you won't be able to do wonders like you do with your raw files
  • The drone's battery life is 25 min, so you need to prepare everything before getting it in the air. That said, I still felt like I had enough time to experiment a little.
  • As for the fashion part, you'll see that the best and most unique images you get when the model is lying down, so think about that when making your arrangements for the wardrobe. You will either need something washable, or you can put some fabric under the model (which is also lovely for framing the model visually)
  • If possible, you should scout with a drone as well - sometimes it's unclear what will look impressive from above and what the composition will look like
  • Finally, take a standard camera as well - this way you can mix close-ups and detail shots with your aerial images
  • In general, I loved working with a drone - you can implement angles you wouldn't be able to get otherwise. And editors loved-loved-loved the photos even with technical limitations:)