Capturing images through drone photography can be a daunting skill to master. If you have a new drone, you may be afraid to fly it and control the camera at the same time. But with practice, you can master these skills and become a professional-ish drone photographer who can take stunning photos for personal or even for business use.

Use autopilot flight modes

Drones have an autonomous mode where they can fly a pre-determined route by themselves while the photographer can tinker around with the camera controls. This is a great opportunity for you to master the controls of the camera without having to manage flying at the same time.

If you’re a first-time flyer, this will, of course, become confusing. There are also drones that have a Teaching Mode where two pilots can control the drone—one to fly it and one to control the camera.

Plan your shots

Without a specific plan of what to shoot, you will end up using your drone’s batteries looking for the perfect image to capture. A drone can last somewhere between 25 minutes to 30 minutes on a full charge.

It’s a waste of time to use up all this battery power looking for the image to shoot. Map out your starting point, your endpoint, and your waypoints along the desired flight path.

Note any potential hazards that can disrupt your flight path. If you are planning a complex shot, bring extra batteries with you, so you don’t have to go back home or run to the store to get some.

Focus on specific shots and techniques

If you have mastered the basic skills like taking an image of a landscape, improve your drone photography skills by learning the more advanced ones—a live-action shot, for example.

You can take photos of birds flying through the air or ground traffic from above. List down the types of shots you want to master and measure your progress every practice time. You will feel elated seeing that you have checked out every one of those techniques.

Learn how to use the advanced camera settings

When you are first learning how to use the camera and the drone, stick to the default mode. The default mode will automatically adjust the quality of your shots and it will help improve the images that you take. But to truly master your camera skills, you need to learn about the advanced settings, too.