Getting Started With Camera Drones: How One Small Rig Can Add So Much Production Value
Aerial videos that have been shot by drones have been flooding YouTube for the last few years, especially as the cost and expertise needed to get into it has come down. A birds-eye point of view can add a lot of production value to a video project, but where does one start when looking to get into aerial video? I spoke with Brent Foster who told me about the doors that shooting aerial video can open, as well as the challenges they present.
Brent’s background was originally rooted in photojournalism, telling stories through still images as a photographer for The National Post in Toronto, Canada. He began adding video into his stories, and his work moved him to LA, and then eventually to New Delhi, where he was a freelance journalist, providing both video and stills for the likes of The New York Times, TIME.com, and others.
About 4 years ago, Brent moved back to Canada and started to take his video work very seriously. He invested in sliders, lights, and all kinds of gear to add production value to his projects. You might remember him being mentioned on Fstoppers earlier this year, specifically about a documentary produced in Cuba called “Home,” and the recent Nikon D810 project, “Every Moment Counts.”
Two years ago Brent started learning how to fly his first quadrocopter, a Blade mQX. He even purchased a simulation software to practice flying.
I purchased AeroSim simulation software, which offers multirotors as part of their simulator. Both of those items were well worth it. I crashed the blade copter hundreds of times, and made mistake after mistake flying both the small quad and the simulator. Through that process, I began to get better, and I started to understand how to control the quad in manual orientation, and eventually became more and more confident each flight I took. I spent hours, and hours, and hours learning to fly on these systems.
After getting more comfortable working with an aerial rig, Brent stepped it up and got a larger rig, but he eventually decided that in order to get the best visuals, he should work with a pilot who flies while he operates the camera.
