Thinking Up - Guest Post by Eddie Tapp

Check out more of Eddie's work with a visit to his website. Just click on either of these two images.

Intro by Skip Cohen

Yesterday I shared the image on the right, captured by my good buddy Eddie Tapp. While the image is outstanding, I wanted to use the post to remind you just as much about Eddie's upcoming program as I did IUSA and the importance of being part of the celebration of a return to normalcy in our industry.

Well, there's much more to Eddie's image, and because he never does anything halfway - here's the guest post that's meant to go with these images.

Eddie's a photographer, artist, writer, educator, and a good friend to so many of us in the industry. And understanding a little about drone photography will help you expand your skillset, and who knows where the journey might take you?

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by Eddie Tapp

Take composition for instance, the one thing that will make a scene or image easy to look at with leading lines, element structor, rule of odds, light, story telling as in communicating a feeling and demanding that you look at a specific area or thing.

Experience teaches us to just move over this far to get that diagonal element to create excitement, a see though mystery or leading line. In a studio set we can bring in something to create eye flow, set the element structure for a visible feast or establish placements to balance the view.

Now that we include aerial compositions in some of our works which reveal the location or action that brings us to the discipline of low attitude solutions such as drones or moving vehicles.

Drones are not very difficult to fly, as a matter of fact, they are really quite easy to fly especially because of the GPS connection, the fact is that most drones today have obstacle avoidance along with features that allow cool cinematic movements.

What isn’t easy is learning to create the best possible angle or cinematic movements within a compositional mind-set while flying a drone and here are some of the reasons why. A remote control pilot now has to pay close attention to the telemetry such as speed, altitude and then obstacles can take over thinking about composition while flying.

If you were the pilot/image-maker, think about keeping your eye on the composition while flying with the added awareness mentioned and you have new challenges. Or at least it takes time to become proficient at flying before it becomes comfortable for one to get back to mastering composition from the air, then it becomes a second nature and the fun begins.

And if you really want to fly drones for professional use, you must have an FAA Part 107 Remote Pilot Certification, this requires a written test to achieve. The website to find out more is faadronezone.faa.gov. The national air space has various classes of air space and safety is the most important aspect of drone operations. There are online study courses such as uavgroundschool.com where you can learn all the important aspects of flying in the national air space along with studying for the Part 107 written test.
It all comes down to vision and this is where our tasks start.

​How ever you interpret a vision is something you should set as your objective. Use the best means you have to create and go for it. Just remember the three key elements that create exceptional imagery are light, composition and exposure. When creating your next project from the air, moving vehicle or from land, partner your composition with your light and make sure to keep thinking up.

​Eddie Tapp, M.Photog., MEI,Cr., API, CPP
Photoshop Hall of Fame, Certified Drone Pilot, Delkin ImageMaker,Triple Scoop Music, Coloratti - Calibright
Coach

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Click for more information about Eddie's program at IUSA!