so ive been flying for about 8 months now and i feel like my footage is just... fine? like technically its fine, nothing is catastrophically wrong but when i watch it back it doesnt look anything like the stuff i see on youtube from other hobbyists even. i have a mini 3 pro so its not a gear issue i dont think

i think part of it is i dont really know what shots to plan ahead of time, i just kind of fly around and hope something looks good. the other day i did this long slow orbit around a lighthouse and that actually came out pretty nice but most of my clips are just me panning around going "and here is the thing i am looking at" which isnt very compelling

does anyone have like a mental framework they use when they go out to shoot? or is it just practice and eventually you develop an eye for it? also wondering if slow motion helps or if thats kind of a crutch

honestly the biggest thing that changed my footage was slowing down my yaw and gimbal movements way more than feels natural when youre flying. like painfully slow. when you watch it back at normal speed it actually looks intentional and smooth rather than you just spinning the camera around to see whats there

the other thing is thinking in terms of reveals - starting behind something and flying through or over so the subject gets revealed gradually. even a simple shot where you start low looking at the ground and slowly tilt up to reveal a building or landscape is more interesting than just hovering and panning. your lighthouse orbit sounds like you already stumbled onto the right idea, just lean into that instinct more

slow mo isnt a crutch, its a tool, but it wont save a boring shot. it just makes boring shots slower

im kind of in the same boat as you tbh, eight months in with a mini 4 pro. what helped me was watching my footage back immediately after landing while im still at the location - if a shot doesnt feel right i can go redo it right there instead of getting home and being disappointed. sounds obvious but i wasnt doing that at all for my first few months