been at this for about a year and a half and i feel like my aerial photos have kind of plateaued. like technically they're fine, exposure is good, they're sharp, but when i look at other peoples work on instagram or whatever i just feel like mine are missing something. i think its a composition problem more than anything technical

i tend to just fly out, point straight down or do the classic 45 degree angle shot and call it a day. i know there's more to it but im not sure what im actually missing. anyone have thoughts on this or things that kind of clicked for you at some point?

yeah the straight down and 45 degree thing gets old fast, totally get that feeling. the thing that changed it for me was starting to think about leading lines the same way you would on the ground ? roads, rivers, fences, shorelines, whatever runs through the frame and pulls your eye somewhere. from above you can see these lines so clearly and if you position the drone so one of them cuts diagonally through the shot rather than just being there it adds a lot of tension and interest

also dont underestimate altitude changes. most people pick one height and stick with it but sometimes flying lower than you think makes sense and getting more sky or more foreground in there changes the whole mood of a shot. and honestly just looking at non-drone photography compositionally helped me more than looking at other drone work ? stuff like studying how landscape photographers use foreground interest, that kind of thing applies directly

something that helped me was trying to find a single strong subject and build the composition around that instead of trying to capture everything. i used to try to get the whole scene in and the shots felt cluttered and kind of meaningless. also i started editing with a bit more contrast and slightly desaturating the greens which sounds weird but made my landscapes feel less like a generic satellite image if that makes sense. the editing side is part of it too not just how you fly