Low light, shooting side lit or backlit will show shadows across contours the best. High sun or low behind you will flatten everything off.
Compressing interesting details in your composition helps, like shooting over a bunker with a green in the background, rather than having the fairway take up most of your shot with bunker and green in opposing corners. Shooting with a longer lens from further back also compresses things.
Look hard at the photos you really like, study every detail and you’ll start seeing similarities between them.
Thanks! That makes sense with the lighting. Playing a lot of midday rounds with the sun directly overhead isn’t exactly conducive to that.
Will try to keeps those tips in mind going forward. Frustrating when I play beautiful or interesting courses and not able to really capture it properly.
It’s been awhile since I read through this and maybe I missed it, but does anyone shoot with a drone? If so, which one do you use? I’ve been looking for a drone for a couple of years but I feel like every time I find what I want I get the disease of “wanting more.” And then the next thing I know I’m trying to justify picking up a top of the line pro model drone. I know I don’t need that, but what features do I need for good drone pictures?
Post processing in Lightroom or similar will make you images pop.
Play around with shadows, highlights, whites, blacks and colours (plus much much more), but it’s crazy how a little bit of processing will make a good photo great.
Below is a quick iPhone snap I took the other day. Spent 5 mins in Lightroom mobile and created a nice result. Nothing special at all, but shows you what an iPhone and light editing can do
Just start small with something like a Mavic Air, then upgrade later if you find yourself doing it a lot and wanting more out of your drone. I started with a Spark, which does some pretty basic but good photo & video (ie no RAW photos), but it got the job done and let me learn a lot. Just upgraded to the Mavic 2 Pro now that I’m doing a lot more drone photography.
Here’s some I just took this morning from a course outside of Indianapolis with my Mavic 2 Pro. Still trying to learn how to edit and color correct, all comments & critiques welcome!
I was looking at the Mavic Air last Christmas but then I started looking at the Mavic Pro. Then I think there was an older generation on sale. (that might have been a different brand, I don’t remember). It’s like buying a car, you see all the cool features on the next model up and you think you just have to have it. Are there any features you think are must haves and any features that aren’t worth it?
For me, a must have is raw support for photos and 4K. The Mavic air and pro both offer this, so does the Mavic 2 pro. Mavic 2 pro has much better optics with the larger sensor, and better obstacle detection/avoidance (important if you don’t have a lot of practice and might crash it- happens more than you’d think).
Honestly I think the Mavic air is great, I’d take it over the Mavic pro, but not the Mavic 2 pro. I’d youre just getting started with this or testing out the waters, I’d go air every day. A few image quality improvements in the 2 pro over the air, but for a decent intro it’s probably not as important. Especially when the air can be had for $700 vs $1500-2k for the pro.
Also, there are strong rumors that DJI will be coming out with an update to the Mavic 2 pro sometime in early 2020, maybe a Mavic 2 pro air or something like this. Id say now is a bad time to buy a drone unless you absolutely need/want one now.
Raw is definitely something I want. If I can’t adjust the images later, I don’t see the point in investing that kind of money. The price is what killed it for me. I convinced myself I wanted an air and was comfortable with the price. But then I started looking at the pro specs and convinced myself I just had to have that. But I couldn’t justify the cost for something I don’t even know I’ll use. I’ve never had one so I just wasn’t sure how much I would use it. I don’t need one and I’m in no hurry. Usually Christmas is when I really start to think about it. But maybe I’ll wait and keep my eyes open for new generations.
What do you think about auto-follow? Do you ever use it? And have you ever tried to take a video of you hitting shots? Did they turn out? I thought it might be cool to be able to see the ball in the air from a drone.
Literally haven’t used it once. I get nervous flying it and tend to be over cautious. I’ve crashed 2 sparks using their autonomous modes, it should have stopped itself but decided to run into a tree and a house. So I tend to fly manually and keep eyes on it (mostly).
Also, I haven’t flown it on a course while I’m near anyone. I usually go out for first light and get out on the course in front of the first groups. These things can be loud, and I don’t want to bother anyone. But if you’re flying it over your group only, it might be ok. I just prefer to ask the courses first and am trying not to piss them off at all. From what I’ve seen of other YouTube golf drone videos, it’s nearly impossible to track the ball in flight off the club face. So that awesome shot you’re dreaming of, of the drone behind you and taking off to shoot the hole as you hit…it’s hard to pull off perfectly.
For the drone buy, I’d say wait if you’re not in a rush. Not sure if the new ones will be out by Christmas, but prices of used airs and Mavic 2’s will only drop. I can sell ya my spark to hold you over if you want, but no raw support. It’s good training wheels though
I’ve heard the auto flying isn’t always the most accurate. I’ve read numerous posts of people who had their drone auto land in the middle of a lake. I’d probably be over-obsessive about it at least at first. I guess it’s that time of year to start reading about them again. (hello rabbit hole!)
Have fun! There’s hours of youtube reviews to compare them all, it’s a deep rabbit hole.
BTW, I have used the POI auto circle before, and use that a decent amount having it circle around a green complex. You just need to make sure the drone is high enough to clear any obstacles, incase the obstacle avoidance fails, which can happen around tree branches and leaves.
My recommendation, start with the Air or something <$1k, see how much you use it, then upgrade to the next better camera and sell the previous one. I think the Phantom 4 Pro is the best consumer/prosumer camera they offer now, but that thing is so big it cant be fun to travel with. The Mavic 2 Pro is probably the best combo of size/weight, and camera, but it’s $2k by the time you buy the fly more package, other accessories, and DJI Care Refresh.
What extras would you think are must haves? I’m assuming at least one or two extra batteries. I had no idea how short the battery life is for some of these. It makes sense, I just didn’t realize 10-15 minutes was “normal.” Also is the resale market strong for these? I hadn’t thought about selling one to upgrade. I assumed once I got something it wouldn’t be worth it to try to resell it.
By the way, thanks for all of info. This is a lot of great info for when I finally pull the trigger.
At least 3 total batteries, maybe more. I’d also get a set of ND filters, and a polarizing filter. That should get you started, then you can get into other things like better battery chargers, better cases, etc.
Not sure how the resale market is. I see a lot on FB Marketplace and Craigslist, prices seem to be a bit high to me compared to new but you never know how they’re selling. I definitely think it’s possible to sell it later, even if you get 50% of your purchase price back, you’ll still helping subsidize the next one.
Awesome! Thanks for the info and real life experiences. I won’t keep cluttering up this thread, but I’ll probably be coming back to you when I start to narrow things down a little more just to make sure I’m not overlooking something.
Golden hour is definitely the best time to capture photos during full sunlight. Overcast days are also really good for getting great images. No shadows and soft light can make for some super moody looks.
As far as composition goes, I agree with what @BD8 said about compressing interesting details. Adding depth to your images helps a lot. Also just understanding basic composition techniques. Adorama and Peta Pixel are good resources for written content. YouTube is also a good resource if you are an audio/visual learner.
haha jk Nice pic!
