Why I love drone photography

It was only 1,5 years ago that I bought my first drone. Up until that point, I had been contemplating a lot. Should I buy one or not? Would I even use it? I gave in, and after my first flight, I knew that it was a unique opportunity. Seeing everything from a birds view, I saw my city like I have never seen it before. From that point on, I have brought my drone on every travel I have done.

In the beginning, simply flying the drone was quite terrifying to be honest. I mean, I always feared that I would loose it. And to begin with that probably held me back a little. But as I slowly developed, I also started taking more risks, and I started getting unique views like the photo above. Up in the Kyrgyz mountains, at the foot of Peak Karakol, this was the view that unfolded as I flew the drone. At the time, I believe it was one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen on my life. All thanks to my drone.

I love that a drone gives you a completely different perspective. Flying a drone over landscapes like this, gives you the opportunity to create something truly unique. I have seen a few photos like this one online but not thousands like in so many other cases.

This is probably the best example of why I love my drone. I had had an extremely frustrated evening and morning, as the conditions were just awful. This was the place I had been the most excited about in all of Kyrgyzstan, and the mountains were covered in clouds. It was bummed. Completely frustrated. I decided to put my drone in the air, to see if there was anything to be seen. After a few minutes, this was the view. I was so amazed. So happy. It was honestly one of the best travel moments of my life, and that came to realization only because of having the drone. It completely changed my mood.

Scouting. Drones are really good tools for location scouting. I remember a few years back I was doing a hike in Iceland, and was writing with a friend on the phone about the trail and he told me “Just fly your drone, you will find it.” At the time I didn’t think too much about it as I didn’t own a drone back then, but later I have actually used my drone quite a few times to find the place I was looking for.

A drone allows you to see things in a completely different way, and makes something that doesn’t seem too special, suddenly seem unique. Like those two cones in the Icelandic highlands. From ground level, they didn’t look that special, I probably wouldn’t even have noticed them if I didn’t fly the drone. But when I flew my drone over them, I thought they looked so unique and gave me a photo I wouldn’t have noticed otherwise.

A drone gives you a completely different perspective to see things from. Like this. I absolutely love this photo because it is different. And it works so well. The lights, shadows and colors. And the two small waterfalls in the top left corner and the small river creating a perfect leading line.
A drone allows you to see things from a completely different perspective, and create something spectacular.

I love drone photography simply because it allows you to create photos like this. It allows you to create something unique, and different. It allows you to see the world in a different way, and somehow be free. If you, like me are wondering if it ‘s worth it to be a drone. My best advise is to just do it.

My favorite places in the world

On assignment in Iceland