No Doubt when you are starting most people would like to fly around the most glamorous places... Its alright for if you are going on a drone friendly place to film your smug family pictures for 2 weeks on holiday... But the majority of the time most people do their back garden or indoors because they can't wait for tomorrow...
What ever your mind set and where ever you fly, its important for you to have a decent practice area and think about what you are going to film...
Some people come from a landscape point of view and would try to record the world from a local park... and venture out to areas out of the town and cities to get the best views... With this in mind you are going to have to think about the light the weather and the time of year... As this all changes during the seasons and through out the day... Dull overcast days or high winds may be your enemy...
As a pilot first, I like to think that I am choosing action shots simply because it improves my skills on trying to move around the subject and be a cameraman second to the outcome... I think with a camera you can reach a point where you know how to get a particular style or look (via you-tube photo or video tutorials setting camera shutter ISO aperture etc etc)...And have varying levels of success especially if you study other artists and try to copy their styles...
But a pilot you would have to try and teach your self... how you move and react to other objects...
I think there are two types of pilots both in their own right are good... But as I am still finding my way around the drone world you may agree with me or not...The work I do is mostly follow action flying... So that would require a process that half "line of sight" and half "first person" pilot...
While there are other pilots who come from a model airplane or helicopter back ground... They tend to fly mostly "line of sight" as their earlier experience of radio control aircraft never had mini cameras or transmitters... The same for the other pilots who fly mostly FPV... they practice mostly through a racing course along with loops and obstacles to add more difficulty...
The FPV pilots practice hours on end to get the basics right and maneuver their aircraft around lightening speeds... For me I practice a lot on moving subjects... The precision comes when you can negotiate tight turns around the subject you follow... Since most of my learning curve is undocumented, it was more or less trial and error to figure out what works and what doesn't...
The main thing is to calibrate my controls... From the start I knew my control sticks and gimble tilt was overshooting their intentions as I first tried to tame the movements... The rudder would turn too much and the throttle wasn't responding as quickly as I'd liked... As with anything I experimented on the expos for the rudder and eventually on the pitch, the throttle, the rudder and the roll... Eventually I found that the pitch and roll dont need any exponential control but a linear response along with the throttle... This allows quick action of the drone and not the delayed sluggishness of a VW car brake...
I only kept the rudder with a exponential control profile as only the tiniest control is needed for a orbital shot... But even with the rudder at the lowest Expo it still had tendencies to overshoot in its turns...Early in on my drone flying, the manual point of interest was a difficult maneuver to perform... As the relation of the rudder and the roll ( left right controls of the right stick) controls are matched to determine the orbit speed even the shape of the orbital path... Using the orbit is a simple tool in my flight box of useful maneuvers... And a simple lift with a gimble tilt makes a unbeatable combination of dynamic moves on a moving subject...
For me the basic drone moves in a unforgiving saltwater arena at high winds has a pleasing look and seems to be liked by my viewers... The rewards itself is making a camera shot that follows the action and shows the viewer how a kite-surfer jumps and whats involved in the control and execution of the "Air Time"...
There are a few disadvantages I must admit with my hobby, mostly getting up at early times to capture those morning tides or the off season weather and onshore winds can be freezing and you'll end up questioning your sanity... But other then that its fine and no different then any landscape photographer (in my humble opinion...)In retrospect, those desperate times I gotten up to go somewhere to enjoy my hobby I found I am walking to some place or making the effort to catch a high tide in the hope to see water action... Has given me a new release of energy and I suppose a healthier lifestyle comparing a previous life with out drones... So there is that...
Other action subjects can include paragliding... wake-boarding , horseback riding, boating and motor racing... etc etc...
But generally the subject matter can vary for most locations... and how frequent the event is happening... I find my local beach to be a haven of amateur and professional sports people with varying interests... Mostly kite surfing and waterfront activities, it has made me flourish and gain much experience...
I think most people who practice their moves need to find a similar area to constantly practice and get better... Otherwise a saturated market of similar videos will flood social media and people will become more de-sensitised to drone videos... Already you-tube has become a endless source of good and bad videos and while its nice to have a choice... There are a lot of crap out there to look out for... All have which have been sorted out by a unfair search engine that favors the large subscribed amateur drone flyers with no formal knowledge of the subject matter, other then a few hours experience...In the end I believe that if you practice enough and become a expert in your own right on a particular subject or area... You'll out shine the people who'll tend to go at it on a amateur gonzo approach... and reach some kine of success in your drone career... The main thing is to try to improve with each passing video you make and edit out the camera jerks... And with a bit of time, you'll see your flying skills shine through... Hopefully they'll be less movement mistakes and more Footage to see...
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