A Beginner's Guide to Flying a Drone

The first time I wanted to fly a drone, my friend suggested I buy a $20 version on Amazon to practice with, because they tend to be much harder to fly without all the advanced navigation and stabilizing features of more expensive models and teach you good skills. My first flight lasted four secondsĀ and ended with a bent prop and me prying the drone out from the slats of a park bench. I did get really good at flying it eventually. Having a beginner's guide would have been a bit more helpful, though. Luckily, you have this!

In this video, Darious Britt is using a DJI Mavic Pro, which is a great intro to the world of professional drones. It's portable, relatively affordable, takes great stills and video, and contains many of the features of DJI's advanced systems. As Britt mentions, it's tremendously important to study up on both regulations and the operation of your specific drone model before you even take it out, then to practice, practice, practice in safe, controlled environments before you take it out for real shoots. You certainly don't want to get in trouble or crash your very cool (and very expensive) flying camera into a tree. Give these exercises a try!

Alex Cooke's picture

Alex Cooke is a Cleveland-based portrait, events, and landscape photographer. He holds an M.S. in Applied Mathematics and a doctorate in Music Composition. He is also an avid equestrian.

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