Learning to Fly

October 2026

Before making the decision to purchase my drone, I had to research, and I suggest you do the same. As far as I was concerned, DJI was at the forefront of drone technology. Compared with other brands, they stood out for all the right reasons.. The quality of the footage from their drones, from the flagship Mavic 4 Pro, to the Lito X1, stood out in comparison to their competitors. Watching many reviews, videos and researching what was great for me, I arrived at the DJI Mini 5 Pro.

A great buy; affordable and easy to find. I did get the Fly More Combo (additional batteries and better controller) which has saved me a couple of times! The first thing I did was charge everything and spend some time playing the flight simulator on the controller to get a feel for how the drone handled. Once everything was ready, it was time to fly! I went to a sports-field and took off! The legal ceiling is set to 120m, and so the obvious thing to do was go straight up and take a look around! This is the photo I got!

What do I know about flying a drone? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING

The photo on the right was taken later that afternoon, and I was experimenting from the very start. Just as I would with my usual photography, I experimented with exposure bracketing to create an HDR image. I think it turned out pretty well! I must admit, flying a drone was terrifying! Unlike the $30 drone I had from Target years ago, I didn't want this one ending up in a tree! I had my wits about me, flying cautiously and keeping an eye out for birds, strong gusts of wind and other aircraft. At the slightest sign of trouble, you bet my drone was coming straight back to me, safe and sound on the ground!

Next, the challenge of video laid ahead of me. Photographers capture still-life, the essence of what happens in the moment. ‘Oh surely video can’t be that different…'. Apples and oranges! Videography, however, is a completely different ball game. Although I've barely touched video work before, I found DJI's controls and interface surprisingly intuitive. After a couple of attempts to master focusing on landmarks and waypoints, check out the before and after of what I was able to record!

Learning to fly has certainly been a challenge. Between coming to grips with the basics of videography, learning to fly, and navigating the rules and restrictions around where and when I can operate my drone, it's been a steep learning curve!

Hopefully, I'll be able to keep bringing you amazing content from the skies. I can't wait to see what the future has in store for my drone photography and videography!

So, what's next?

Well, video editing is proving to be a thorn in my side… but that's a story for another time!

Any comments or queries, please send me a message below!

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