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Tag: mud flats

July 13, 2025

How to Create Awesome Drone Footage with Amateur Flying Skills

Failure can often lead to success. After I crashed my camera drone, I was crushed. Happily, my drone was not. Then, I discovered a flying trick that every novice should consider. Here’s how it enhanced my aerial footage. 

I finally bought a camera drone to start this new hobby I’ve long wanted to try. Then, I got to work studying how to fly it. I trusted my DJI Flip’s intelligent flying modes to protect my investment against disaster, because I didn’t have enough faith in my novice piloting skills. I was worried about crashing my little drone.

And then I did.

But my Flip survived its impact with that tree. So, I wiped the egg off my face and was determined to learn how to properly fly my little drone.

I continued slowly, and my patience finally paid off when I discovered a key aerial storytelling trick.

Fly Slow and Smooth
Generating cinematic videos with a drone is all about flying it ‘slow’ and ‘smooth.’ All those establishing shots you can think of from movies… yes, slow and smooth.

And that translates to easier and safer flying.

And if you’re looking to create more motion in your drone footage, that doesn’t necessarily mean you have to fly faster. Instead, just fly your drone lower. Moving over a landscape close to the ground produces more movement than from higher up. 

Happily, these flying strategies are relatively easy to accomplish. And just as importantly, they don’t put your drone at significant risk.

So, as I explored flying my drone manually, I intentionally followed the slow/smooth rule and practiced simplistic flying routines. 

Up. Down. Forward. Back. Sideways. 

The most aggressive maneuver I attempted was elevating my drone as it simultaneously moved forward.

Embrace your Inner Rookie
How fast can my drone go? I have no idea. I haven’t tried to find out. Could I always see my drone as I flew it? 100%.

Slow is smooth. Smooth is fast.

And as I flew in the dullest of ways, that’s when my adrenaline levels finally began to stabilize, and the tension melted away.

And guess what? I decided I’m just not going to fly my drone over water. I’m not going to fly it over a mountain ridge. I’m not going to fly between two objects and try to thread a needle. I’m never going to worry if my drone has enough battery power to make it back.

I’m just not going to push it. This isn’t a sport for me. It’s a new hobby with an expensive piece of gear I’d like to keep in one piece.

Barrett’s Drone Footage from the Mud Flats of Cape Porpoise, Maine
Even with my self-imposed training wheels in place, my conservative flying style still enabled my DJI Flip to capture the incredible beauty of our world with motion. Often, just getting your drone in the air to is enough to recording stunning clips.

And that’s exactly what I did… I think I captured some nifty footage during my training flights on the mud flats of Cape Porpoise, Maine. 

Here’s a video compilation of my manual maneuvering along with a few auto QuickShots (courtesy of the drone’s built-in code).

(Yes, my flying style was boring, but my shots were not.)

How to Quickly Edit your Drone Clips
I put this edit together using a couple tools:

  • The DJI Fly mobile app for basic video editing and music
  • Final Cut Pro for precision edits and speed ramping

I should mention that you can quickly perform a punchy edit just using the DJI Fly app on your phone. There’s even a 1-click editing solution. It’s not perfect, but you can generate and share a dynamic video with your phone in just a couple minutes. Impressive. Most impressive.

When Less is More
A little drone can go a long way. I mean that both literally and figuratively. 

You don’t have to fly your camera drone like it’s capturing a stunt shot for “Mission Impossible.” I say… keep it all entirely ‘possible.’

And while many pros out there may yawn at my stubbornness to avoid all risk, I’m entirely pleased with my creative results to date. 

Others may like showing off their camera drone crashes to the world, I hope to never do that again.

Start slow. Keep it slow. Make it smooth.

Less is more.

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July 9, 2023

A Cloudy Morning Doesn’t have to Ruin your Sunrise Photography

If you’re looking to photograph the sunrise, but it’s a cloudy day, consider a time lapse instead. Here’s what you might discover…

It’s not really the sunrise. It’s everything else that surrounds the rising, warm circle. That’s what matters when you’re trying to capture this magical moment. It’s the state of the rest of the sky that makes our sun the star.

Placed properly (as if the photographer has the power), clouds can make a sunrise truly spectacular. All of those wonderful colors in the early morning sky are immediately enhanced by clouds.

Clouds are your friend. Clouds are your special ingredient. Until they take over and ruin your shot.

But even after they creep in and mask the glow, don’t call it a day. It’s not over.

Speed up the Clouds with a Time Lapse
If you choose to look at clouds differently and start to observe their motion and trajectory, you can begin to unlock their beautiful intensity with your camera. Often, you can accomplish this with a time lapse.

Even the grayest and foggiest morning may contain its own cloud dance that can be revealed through a time lapse. You just need to speed up time to really see what’s going on…

Stormy Predictions?
Last year, I captured some amazing sunrise time lapses overlooking the mud flats in Cape Porpoise, Maine. And yes, the best ones had lots of clouds circling the sun, and they all gave it enough space to visibly rise.

This summer, my family and I returned to this incredible part of Maine, but my photography encountered more challenging weather conditions. In fact, the forecast was for rain each day of the week. It was as if a storm cloud would be parked overhead for the entirety of our vacation.

But as my wife likes to say, coastal weather conditions can be unpredictable. And that’s where the opportunity lies.

So instead of sleeping in, I still woke up early every day to evaluate the cloud cover.

Vacation Report
The first morning totally fooled the weather forecast, and I was there to witness the sun making its glorious appearance.
This was my gift for the week. The remaining days, I would have to work harder to find my shots…

On the next morning, the clouds rolled in during my time lapse recording to obscure any hope of seeing the sun. As I stood there at 5am, I wondered what the point was to keep going. But I continued my 30-minute time lapse recording by my little DJI Osmo Pocket.
When I reviewed my Osmo Pocket’s video clip, the sped-up motion revealed a morning rush hour of Maine cloud traffic.

It was dark. It was moody. It had great flow. I loved it.

The Dark and the Light
Yes, I was drawn to the power of the dark side. And I had plenty opportunity to experience it on this vacation. It’s pretty cool. I get it now.

I’m pleased that I found both the dark and the light during this trip to Maine.

Like a great restaurant, nature just serves it up. And you enjoy it.

I learned that it’s not about finding the shot you want, it’s about experiencing the uniqueness of each new day.

And if your camera can capture just a little of that, you’ve accomplished your job as a photographer.

Here are my morning time lapses.

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