Flying a drone can be both fun and challenging, it also opens up a completely new perspective for photographers and can enable to capture images (And video) which just wouldn’t be possible otherwise. Below are some tips that I have learnt from flying drones for over 7 years, with hundreds of successful flights and never having an accident or losing a drone!
1. Weather conditions
Check the weather forecast for your location before any flight, but don’t just rely on the forecast, when you are on location observe what is happening around you and ask yourself the following questions:
Is there any wind?
Which direction is the wind coming from?
Are there strong wind gusts?
Is it raining or snowing?
s rain on its way?
Is there fog or very low clouds?
Smaller and lighter drones cannot fly safely in strong winds or if it is raining. Knowing and understanding the weather is critical to make sure you have a safe flight and that you do not lose your drone.
Strong winds will significantly reduce battery life, especially when flying against the wind. The wind direction also needs to be taken into consideration, if the wind is towards you, your drone will use more battery in the first half of the flight since it is flying against the wind, but it will use less battery on the way home, the reverse is true if the drone is flying against the wind when returning to you, so ensure you leave an additional buffer in terms of battery to ensure you can fly home safely.
Most drones can handle a light drizzle, however its important to avoid getting water droplets on the lens of the camera or these can ruin your images. To avoid this, when flying in a light drizzle, I usually tilt the camera down whilst flying.
Its also important to note that wind speed and direction can change depending on altitude and topography, it might not be windy from where you launch the drone, but a couple of hundred meters away near a mountain their may be significant turbulence.
2. Complete a quick pre-flight check of your drone
Before each flight, it is important to visually inspect all parts of the drone (Especially the gimbal and propellers) to identify any potential issues prior to takeoff.
Propellers have a finite lifetime and are very delicate, they should be replaced with even the slightest contact or damage (Keeping a spare set of propellers in your drone bag at all times helps provide additional redundancy in this scenario). Ensure the gimbal can move freely and that the battery of both your drone and RC are sufficiently charged for the planned flight.
Note: It is good practise to frequently re-calibrate your drone's IMU, Compass, and Gimbal, this will minimise the chance of any issues during your flight.
It’s also worth checking that your memory card has sufficient available storage. For high-risk flights (Windy conditions or flights over water) I always change the memory card before each flight, this ensures that if my drone is lost, I will at least have the photos from previous flights. If you are just using a single memory card and you lose your drone, you will lose all the images since you last backed up your drone.
A top-down view of cracked ice on a lake in Lofoten in Winter
3. Plan your flights in advance
Where possible, you should always plan your flights in advance to help minimise unnecessary flight time and ensure you get the shot you envisioned. I use Google Maps and other satellite imagery of the location to know what to expect from each location, however, satellite imagery doesn’t always paint a full picture, this is where topographic maps can come in handy, as they can show you the contours of the landscape and the terrain such as hills, mountains and valleys.
A well-planned flight will enable you to spend more time shooting and less time flying around looking for compositions.
A quick flight in the highlands of Iceland before the rain came
4. Fly only in open airspace
There are many different types of airspace, they can be very confusing as many of them are very similar with just a different altitude restriction. The different types of Airspace also vary from country to country, so rather than trying to learn all of them, just ensure you understand and follow the guidelines for the countries you will be flying in.
Examples of different types of Airspace:
Restricted Airspace
Prohibited Airspace
Controlled Airspace
No Fly Zone
Warning Areas
Alert Areas
Class A-G
A top-down view of a braided river in Iceland
5. Always keep an eye on your drone parameters on your RC
Your RC will display lots of vital information (Parameters), below are the ones I check most frequently:
Flight mode (GPS is the default mode)
Number of Connected Satellites
Remote control reception (Signal quality)
Height - H (From where the drone took off)
Distance - D (From where the drone took off)
Speed (The Speed of the drone on both Axes in meters per second)
Drone battery percentage & remaining flight time
Camera Information (File type, exposure settings, Focus settings, Histogram)
Note: If the GPS signal suddenly drops, try to land the drone in a safe location as soon as possible.
Note: If you run the battery too low, the drone will automatically begin a landing sequence and will give you very little control to manually fly the drone home, avoid this by aiming to land at your home point with at least 15% battery remaining.
Note: The radio signal strength between the drone and RC is displayed in the top right of the screen. If the signal decreases, point the antennas towards the drone to improve the signal or bring the drone closer to the home point to improve the signal. If the signal drops completely and the connection is lost, the drone will automatically fly to the stored take-off point (Home Point).
A top-down view of a braided river in Iceland with the 3x zoom
6. Always know where you and your drone are relative to each other
Unfortunately, too many drone pilots fly off and have no idea where they are and how to get back to the home point without hitting the RTH (Return to Home) button.
Knowing exactly where your drone is is critical for safe flights, if you see another aircraft (Both manned or unmanned), you need to know where you are in order to safely evade this other aircraft and avoid a collision.
Note: If you find yourself in a difficult situation with your drone, never panic, the drone will just hover at the same height if you let go of the controls, if need be, allow your drone to hover for a few seconds so that you can calmly decide on a plan of action and then fly the drone back to a safe location.
The 2023 Litli-Hrútur eruption in Iceland
7. Don’t disturb birds and animals
One of the most important things to consider when flying is to ensure you do not disrupt or stress wildlife in the area. If you hear and see birds flying around your drone, it is likely that they are protecting a nest or breeding area. The safest way out of this situation is a rapid increase in altitude (Birds can’t usually climb very quickly), as this shows that the drone is not a threat to the nest. It is advisable to head back to the home point and not complete any further flights in this area to avoid disturbing the animals/birds. It’s also important to understand bird breathing seasons and locations that are likely to have nests in them, many such areas have signs advising of the protected birds in the area and usually include exclusions at specific times of year (Nesting season).
The Highlands of Iceland at sunset
8. Flying over people
Avoid flying over people and private property/buildings, this is important to ensure that the is minimal risk of injury but also to ensure people’s privacy is respected. The exact rules will depend on the category of drone that you are flying, but as a general rule, avoid flying within 50 meters of people and 100 meters of any buildings. As a drone pilot/operator, you are responsible for the safety of all surrounding you, it is therefore important to carry out a risk assessment as part of your pre-flight checks to avoid problems later.
The Highlands of Iceland at sunset
9. Register yourself as an operator and get your Drone license
If your drone has a camera, in most countries this will mean that you need to register yourself as a drone operator. Registration can usually be done online and is quick and easy. Your operator number must be attached to the drone and visible, this can be done using a sticker or QR code.
If your drone is rated as C1 or higher, you must also obtain the appropriate license to fly anywhere in Europe. C1 is the class of drone weighing between 250 grams and 900 grams (Such as the DJI Air 3 or DJI Mavic Classic). The C2 class is for drones weighing more than 900 grams, but less than 4kg (Such as the DJI Mavic 3 Pro).
C0 refers to drones with a maximum takeoff weight of 249 grams (Such as the DJI Mini-series).
Obtaining your drone license is easy and can be done online. The course covers everything there is to know about flying your drone safely. After the course, there is an exam which needs to be completed. Once you have passed the exam, you will need to apply for the official EASA drone certificate, which you will receive by email. This applies to both the A1-A3 certificate, (For Categories C0 and C1), and the more valuable A2 certificate (For Category C2).
One of my favourite locations in the Highlands of Iceland
10. Basic rules of Recreational drone flights:
Always keep your drone within the VLOS (visual line of sight)
Fly at or below 120 Meters (400 feet) in uncontrolled airspace
Do not interfere with emergency response or law enforcement activities
Do not disturb animals or nature
Keep a minimum distance of 50m from people
Keep a minimum distance of 150m from buildings
Avoid flying near Airports
Do not fly under the influence of drugs or alcohol
The 2023 Litli-Hrútur eruption in Iceland
11. Take-off and Landing
DJI recommends powering up the RC first and the drone second. Before takeoff, look around to identify any potential obstacles such as overhead power lines or tall structures. Once you have powered up both the RC and Drone, ensure that the drone is connected to atleast 12 satellites, and more importantly, that the home point is updated before, taking off. This will ensure accurate GPS data and also mean that your drone can return to the home point incase of any issues like a loss of connection.
Note: Avoid taking off and landing in places that have fine dust or sand as this often gets kicked up by the propellers and gets stuck in the motors, killing your drone (I have seen this happen many times in Iceland). To avoid this, it is common to either take off and land in your hand or on a flat and level surface like the bonnet or roof of a car.
A top-down view of a braided river in Iceland creating abstract patterns
12. Maintain VLOS (Visual Line of Sight) throughout the flight
Keeping your drone within VLOS is critical for a safe flight. The drone and RC communicate via radio waves, this requires a direct line of sight in order for them to work. Flying beyond visual range, such as behind trees, buildings or hills can lead to signal loss and loss of control over the drone. Flying within VLOS ensures you know your surroundings and are more likely to avoid accidents.
The remote Highlands of Iceland
13. Get a good-quality drone case
Drones are very complicated and delicate machines, protecting them during transportation is essential, and a good quality drone case is a must-have for any drone pilot. Placing a drone in a bag without proper protection is risky, especially for sensitive components like the gimbal and propellers. I have been using f-stop drone cases for the past 2 years, both the small version for my DJI Mini 3 Pro, and the large version for my DJI Mavic 3 Pro.
A top-down view of the crater of the 22023 Litli-Hrútur eruption in Iceland
14. Battery Management Tips for Extended Drone Lifespan
To get the best performance and longest service life from your drone batteries, DJI advises to avoid storing batteries at 100% charge, and to not let batteries discharge to less than 15%. It is also recommended to use only original DJI chargers and batteries. Where possible, allow your batteries to cool down after a flight before charging them. When flying in cold conditions, batteries will discharge faster, therefore, it’s a good idea to keep charged batteries warm before a flight to ensure they give you the maximum performance.
DJI advises that batteries should be taken out of service and replaced if any of the following occurs:
Visual swelling, leaking, or damage (cracks, dents, etc…).
Bent terminals (can cause a short circuit)
An in-app notification or prompt regarding battery cell damage or over-discharge
A battery has reached 200 charging cycles
A battery error still exists after performing the standard charge and discharge operations twice consecutively
Crash or hard impact
Rain showers and fog can make for great minimalist images by hiding the background
15. Use sport mode
Apart from during takeoff and landing, I use sport mode all the time. Sport mode enables the drone to fly faster, but it also disables the obstacle avoidance system, so the drone is ‘Flying blind’, this is something that you need to be aware of and ensure that you adapt your flying style to not rely on these sensors.
Using sport mode enables you to move around quickly and reduce the chance of being caught out by any incoming weather systems. Also, in some sensitive areas like national parks, authorities will sometimes allow drone flights but ask you to keep your flight time to a minimum, sport mode helps with this as you can cover the same amount of ground in less time.
Working with the light in the Highlands of Iceland
Bonus Tip - Useful drone accessories:
RC cover so that you don’t need to attach and remove the control sticks for each flight.
Sunshade for the RC screen to avoid glare on sunny days
Lanyard so that you can let go of the RC if you need to
Li-Po safe bag to store your batteries in (Especially for air travel)
ND FIlters to enable you to control shutter speed more effectively
A top-down view of a braided river in Iceland