WHAT IT TAKES TO BE A DRONE PRO

With drones fast becoming the latest luxury toy, many people believe that they can simply pick up the controls and fly it.  It is easy to fly a drone, but not that easy.

There is some skill needed to fly a drone. All those videos you see of dangerous drone crashes, are thanks to people who think there is nothing to it.  And, as we detailed in 8 Things you need to know before taking your drone to the skies, there are legal reasons why you can’t.

If becoming a Drone Pro is your goal, then this is what is takes:

1. Knowing how to fly and capture simultaneously.
   Flying a drone is only one of the skills you use as a drone pilot.  The main reason you are on the scene is to capture images, information or data.  A professional drone pilot needs to be able to operate both sides of the drone tech – flying and capturing.  If you focus too much on capturing, you may crash the drone into something.  If you focus too much on flying, what you capture won’t be of good quality.  You need to be able to focus on both functions simultaneously.
2. Knowing the rules and why they are there.
   The more people flaunt the rules, the more stringent those rules will become.  When you are operating something like a drone in public, you become a representative of the entire industry.  If you do something wrong, people will complain about all drone pilots, not just you.  Knowing what you can and can’t do and understanding why, will go a long way towards getting the rules relaxed for everyone who wants to fly a drone.
3. Being visually inclined or creative.
   Whether it is capturing video or photos, and whatever the purpose of that imagery is, being a drone pilot puts you in the visual medium.  We live in a visual world and even though not all the imagery you capture may be for an artistic purpose, such as cinematography, our society does demand good quality visuals.
4. Having experience.
   Like anything in life, having experience in your field goes a long way to making you an expert.  A professional drone pilot needs to have this experience in their tools and their craft.  This means knowing the ins and outs of the drone tech you are using and being able to capture creative shots.  Moreover, being a drone pilot requires combining your tech knowledge and your creativity effectively and skilfully to get the client the aerial shots they want.

You can’t pick up a drone and think you can become a professional overnight.  It may be a pretty user-friendly technology but, like the path to becoming a professional of any sort, it takes skill, practise and the right qualifications to be a Drone Pro.

Aerialshots are professional and experienced videographers and photographer, with a drone as one of their tools.  To find out how we can capture the images or footage that you need, please contact us on info@aerialshots.co.za or visit www.aerialshots.co.za.