The Democratization of Aerial Photography

Luckily, photography has advanced at the same rapid pace as technology. We’ve come a long way from the old boxes and single flash cameras used years ago. And although a skyline or beautiful horizon shot has a dramatic effect, no picture or video has held human fascination as well as the “bird’s eye” view. The view from above. This is called aerial photography, and the introduction of drone technology and their low-cost offerings, in addition to the software advances used in conjunction with the drones, has resulted in a democratization of aerial photography. Now-a-days, most only need a small budget to get the “bird’s eye” shots everybody covets. This means that being a professional photographer has gradually become a state of mind, instead of a state of being. But, more on that later. First, let’s look at how this radical development came upon us by looking at the evolution of the professional camera industry.

The Evolution of Professional Cameras

As late as the early 2000’s, professional cameras had been just that. A camera for a professional. The rest of the general population was getting introduced to universal digital cameras, which continually strived to be smaller and simpler. The difference in photographic results showed and people began to wonder why a professional camera should be used strictly by the professionals. This brought on a wave of amateurs learning the finer parts of photography, which in turn led to camera companies producing cheaper professional cameras. What we got was a hybrid line of cameras that everybody fell in love with. A technically, stripped down professional camera that looked like a professional camera and also produced very similar results in the right hands — most of them being of the DSLR variety. Quite rapidly, as a result of competition and other technological advances, DSLR cameras have become cheaper and keep producing higher quality results, making the line between professional and amateur almost non-existent. I have seen, first-hand, how this has created ‘professional photographers’ seemingly out of thin air. It seems, that the democratization of professional cameras has completed its course.

Action Cameras

One consumer group left behind in the evolution of professional cameras were action sports enthusiasts. They needed high definition (HD) video and photography to record their amazing feats, but were left out of the loop when the camera trend started to go back to bigger, professional cameras even though the technology was out there for HD video to be captured by a small device. Enter GoPro, which was created to fill this void. They didn’t invent the action camera, but they certainly powered the movement with their high quality, virtually indestructible, HD action camera. Strap it to anything and you are able to capture a wide angle, HD shot or video while not having to worry about breaking your relatively inexpensive equipment. GoPro cameras can be used by everyone, from amateur individuals to professional film crews shooting a live event (like NASCAR). This model of action camera eventually found its way on our lead protagonist: drones.

The Rise of Consumer Drones

As early as only four years ago, remote-control multirotor helicopters were only popular and available to intense hobbyists. They required you to become knowledgeable in many technical fields like assembly, electronics, hardware, flight control programming and remote control radio. It was also extremely expensive to get started. This niche hobby began to evolve into a more consumer field as manufacturers began to lower the learning curve by creating automated flight planning software that was easy enough to manage by a novice. They also began to make and sell, easier to fly drones with a cheaper price tag. It seemed like only a matter of time before that nifty action camera people were putting on everything, found its way on a drone.

This completely changed aerial photography as we know it. All of a sudden, you didn’t need a helicopter to get a professional aerial view of a city, lake, volcano, concert — you name it!

That “bird’s eye” view that fascinates and intrigues us all has slowly become available to the everyday consumer, making us all capable of taking professional photographs and videos.

Anyone can become a photographer, and a good one at that! And as the photo and video editing software becomes increasingly integrated into the drone user experience, editing and running these camera-equipped drones will become more and more prevalent. As a result of the smartphone supply chain, the the drone is affordable, the camera is affordable and the correction software is cheap, and drones have become the platform of choice for aerial photography. This begs the question; is a professional photographer really a state of being anymore, or is it just the mindset you have to have when capturing professional photographs? There is no doubt that the democratization of aerial photography is a result of the lower cost of entry, but could it also be that now anybody believes that they are capable of becoming a professional photographer by capturing professional shots? I think yes, and I think we are better off for it.