ok so ive been flying for about 8 months now, mostly just messing around and learning the controls but lately ive been trying to actually get decent photos and i keep running into this problem where everything looks super washed out and flat, especially when im shooting around midday. i shoot in auto most of the time which i know is probably the issue but every time i try to go manual i end up with either a completely dark image or a completely blown out sky and i cant figure out how to find the middle ground.

my drone is the mini 3 pro and ive been watching youtube videos but they all seem to assume you already know what youre doing with exposure. like they say things like "just adjust your histogram" as if i know what that means lol. anyone been through this and figured it out? i dont want to spend money on a course if someone here can just point me in the right direction

oh man i remember being in exactly this spot. the washed out thing at midday is mostly because the sun is directly overhead and the light is just harsh and flat, theres not a lot you can do about that honestly ? the best aerial shots almost always happen in that first and last hour of light when everything goes golden and the shadows get long. seriously try going out like 45 minutes before sunset sometime and see how different everything looks, its kind of a game changer.

for the manual settings thing, the easiest way i found to learn it was to just lock in ISO 100 always (keeps noise down), then set your shutter to double your frame rate if youre doing video or just around 1/500 to 1/1000 for stills in bright daylight, and then only touch the aperture or use ND filters to manage exposure from there. the histogram stuff will start making sense once you start watching it change as you adjust things ? just think of it as a mountain shape you want to keep in the middle without it slamming into either edge.

yeah the midday light thing is real, but also make sure you're shooting in RAW if you're not already. the mini 3 pro does RAW and it makes a massive difference when you go to edit because you can actually recover highlights and lift shadows without it falling apart. JPEGs straight out of the drone at noon are going to look rough no matter what you do with the settings tbh.