what's going on guys today I'm going to
show you how to use the Mavic to light
as a photography light in the video
coming up
what if DJI Matic twos best features is
the fact that on the bottom of both the
Pro and the zoom there's two LED lights
they call these auxilary lights this
auxilary light will go on automatically
when it's dark outside and the drone is
trying to land or take off however you
can turn it on and off manually all
right being a photographer I saw this
light and I thought to myself I have to
use that for a photography so in this
video I'm going to show you what I
discovered using these two LED lights
for photography and I'm going to give
you a step-by-step tutorial and show you
how you can do it yourself so the first
thing you've got to do is connect your
controller to your phone or device
alright just like so then you have to
turn on your drone okay then you then
you turn on your controller all right
then I'm going to go into the app now
going into the app what you're gonna do
is you're gonna go in the upper right
hand corner there's three little dots
you're gonna press that after you press
those three little dots you're gonna
press the sensor icon okay once you
press the sensor icon you're you can go
all the way to the bottom after you
scroll down you're gonna see something
that says bottom auxilary lighting now
you're gonna press that it's gonna be on
auto by factory default so then you just
change it to on or off okay so since
this is on auto now and it's really
bright out it's not gonna turn on so I'm
gonna have to turn it on manually so
it's just on what I do you can see it
right there and then if you want to turn
it off you just click on it again and
you just press off and it's off
alright guys there's a few things you're
gonna need besides the drone and the
controller so let's make a checklist the
first thing we're gonna need is a DSLR
camera now I recommend a
frame camera because you're gonna have a
bigger sensor which will give you a lot
more information and better resolution
especially in low-light since all our
shooting is going to be done at
nighttime I recommend a full-frame
sensor so I use my Nikon d700 because it
has a full-frame and even though it's an
old camera it still has great resolution
in low-light now which lens do you
choose to use with your camera I
recommend using a wide-angle lens so I
have a 24 to 70 millimeter lens and I
shot primarily between 24 millimeters
and 28 millimeters so you want something
that can go pretty wide now wide-angle
means anywhere between about 20
millimetres to 28 millimeters okay any
more zoomed in than 28 millimeters is
going to be too zoomed in and anything
wider than 20 millimetres is going to
have too much distortion so between 20
to 28 is my recommendation for you
between like 24 to 28 is ideal another
reason we want a wide-angle lens is
because we want to get the drone in the
shot because that's part of the effect
yes we could take a photo with just
using the drone as a light but to show
the drone in the photo makes it a lot
more interesting one thing to know I
recommend using a lens with a fixed
focal length so that means an aperture
or an f-stop that doesn't change as you
zoom in or zoom out so I have a 24 to 70
F 2.8 I recommend any lens with a 1.4 to
2.8 aperture that way you can allow a
lot of light to come in and you don't
have to raise your ISO too high when
shooting at nighttime the next thing
you're gonna need is a tripod it doesn't
have to be a fancy tripod it can be any
tripod just as long as it supports your
camera and keeps it still you're gonna
have to be able to mount your camera on
your tripod and make sure that it does
not move at all just like this after
you're done with that I recommend
getting some props or whatever your
going to need to enhance the photo so
since I was shooting at a basketball
court for one of my
shots I got this basketball and then in
addition to it I also wore my Jersey my
old 1984 Olympic Michael Jordan Jersey
because I like the color red fits my own
personal and photographic style and it
also matched well with this image on a
basketball court it also helps if you
have a little experience with what
you're photographing alright so let's
get into the shoe so the first thing you
have to decide is where are you gonna
photograph now you could just go outside
and take a picture of yourself but
that's not too exciting right you want
to make it a little more interesting so
as a photographer I'm always thinking
about the background just to add or
enhance the photo or does it take away
or detract from the photo so I wanted to
find a place that really enhanced the
photo so what I did was I went downtown
to an area of Miami where there's a lot
of good artwork murals and things on the
buildings and walls because it would
really enhance the photos and add a
whole new element to it
so one thing to know before we get into
the nitty-gritty always shoot in an area
that's safe for you and also where your
gear is going to be safe with that said
I'm a little crazy so sometimes I go in
areas that you know things could happen
but that's the way it is now I'm going
to use this first location as an example
of many mistakes I made so that you
don't make the same mistakes but don't
worry as we go along I'm going to show
you how to shoot really well with these
auxiliary lights but I also need to show
you what not to do so you don't make
those same mistakes so I got up in the
middle of the night because I know no
one's gonna be around
I can shoot wherever I want and also
it's gonna be really dark and I can take
photos using my auxiliary lights now
this first location I chose this wall of
this polar bear because it really
resonated with me it's an incredible
painting and I thought it'd be fantastic
for a photo so I went there I set up my
drone I set up my tripod I set up my
camera I got ready to take the photo so
one thing I noticed when I raised my
drone up the light barely shone on the
wall and one reason was there was a lot
of lights on the street so the street
lights overpowered the
LED lights from the drone the other
mistake I made was that this wall was
just so big if you have a wall or an
area that's too big the light won't
really cover it because it's not that
powerful so the lights are powerful
there's two of them but it's better to
choose a wall that's a lot shorter and
it's also better to be in an area that's
much darker so these were a few images
that I took although they look nice it
didn't really come out the way I wanted
to the light didn't really make the
polar bear stand out it didn't really
shine a light on me so what I needed to
do is find a different location so then
I found another spot that I really like
this Bob Marley mural one thing I
noticed if I kept shooting and the Sun
started rising the Sun would overpower
the LED light so you have to make sure
that you shoot at nighttime so I did
most of my shooting between 4:00 a.m.
and 5:00 a.m. because I know it would be
completely dark during this time a big
improvement for the second location was
the fact that this wall was a lot
shorter so that meant that I could light
up Bob Marley right here and I could
light up his entire face and at the same
time I would still be lit up so when
shooting with this drone you want to
make sure that you're not only shoot the
background but you shoot yourself
because when I'm in the image it gives
it a lot of perspective so you can tell
that this is a huge mural compared to
how tall I am next to it remember you
have to use a wide-angle lens so I
usually shot around 24 to 28 millimeters
so that I could get wide enough to have
both myself the background and the drone
in the shot and also if you notice you
can see things like this moon in the
shot right here which also adds another
dimension of interest to the shot so
what I like to do is move the tripod and
camera physically closer to the image or
further away so you're gonna have to
experiment move it close move it back
and get it in the spot that you like
once you get it in the spot that you
like you're also gonna have to consider
what camera settings to use so I'm going
to let you know from experience what
camera settings work well for me so I
always try to keep the ISO as low as
possible
therefore I shot with a low f-stop
number so I shot at
f 2.8 because that was the lowest f-stop
number and the most amount of light that
I could let in with the camera lens that
I had I used a shutter speed of 130th of
a second to one fiftieth of a second I
didn't want to go any faster than one
fiftieth of a second because I wanted to
keep the ISO low now the ISO that I used
was anywhere from two thousand to thirty
two hundred and then the last little
technique that I used I would look
through the viewfinder I would frame up
the shot I would get the focus right
after I would get the focus I would use
auto focus to get the focus right I
would put the point on the wall or right
next to the wall where I would be
standing once the focus was good then I
would put the focus on manual focus that
way the focus wouldn't change then I set
the camera to timer mode and press the
button for about ten seconds this would
give me enough time to press the shutter
and then running from the camera next to
the wall get my position of posing and
that photo would be taken and then
lastly I would position my drone in a
position where I liked it now I wanted
to get it as low as possible but I also
needed to keep it high enough that it
would light up all of Bob Marley's face
and head if I went to low Bob Marley
would be lit up but if I went too high I
wouldn't be lit up so I had to
experiment with that but also be careful
don't crash your drone stay away from
walls anything that's metal also might
affect it so after all that these are a
few of the shots that I got
so if you're the adventurous type or you
want to step up your production value
you can also add a second drone so I use
my phantom 4 Pro which has a one inch
sensor
I suggest the Mavic 2 Pro would also
work or an inspire 2 would be ideal with
a x7 camera because the x7 is best in
low-light I didn't have an X 7 so I used
my phantom 4 Pro and I took a few photos
using that it did turn out as well as my
camera but it still was worth
experimenting now my last location I
wanted to do something totally different
I didn't want to use a background I
wanted to use something that stood out
away from the background so that just
myself or just one particular thing
would stand out since I love sports and
I love basketball I thought why not go
to a basketball court now I like this
particular court because there was
nothing behind the backboard and the
hoop so I can take a picture using this
light and the only thing that would be
lit up was the backboard hoop and myself
so those were the three elements that I
wanted to be lit up so because this hoop
was not close to anything else it really
stood out if I had something in the
background a wall right behind the hoop
it would have been the same type of
effect so as you can see only the
backboard and the hoop were lit up I was
lit up I tried different poses this was
the one that I liked the most one of the
challenges I faced was having the drone
stay in one place I maneuvered it in
tripod mode so it would move very slowly
but at the same time I put it in normal
GPS mode now you can change it from
tripod to GPS mode just by placing your
finger on the right side of the
controller it has a P a T and s that
stands for P is GPS mode T is tripod and
s is sport mode so I mainly use tripod
mode because it moved the drone really
slow and I can position it in the right
spot that I wanted I wanted it to get
right above the hoop so that the shadow
of the hoop and the net could be seen
right in the center of the shot when
shooting a basketball whoo
or anything made of metal be very
careful because it can mess with the
drones compass so anything with metal
you have to be careful to not damage the
drone I know the drone has sensors but
at the same time it's good to be very
cautious so you don't injure yourself or
the drone so these were a few other
shots that I liked from the basketball
shoe
alright guys so before I end this video
I just want to recap some of the things
that I learned that can help you so
number one get a good tripod that state
keeps your camera still second make sure
you shoot at nighttime when it's
completely dark you don't want any other
lights around such as street lights or
if it's a the moon is really bright or
anything that's really bright outside
is going to detract from the image
because you want the light coming from
these auxiliary lights to be the focal
point of your image next thing is to
choose a good background or no
background at all so you can use a wall
a mural or something like this or you
can use a basketball hoop or something
that is really far away from the wall so
only yourself or that one object is lit
up and make sure it's not too high
remember any wall or anything if it's
too high you're not gonna be able to
cover and light up the entire wall so
make sure you find a wall that's I would
say about 15 feet or lower this is ideal
and lastly make sure you your drone your
equipment are all safe and have fun with
it alright guys I love to hear the way
you use these auxiliary lights for your
photography so don't forget to add a
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more videos tutorials tips about DJI
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many more ideas for how to use these
lights for creative photography so if
you want me to make more videos like
this please let me know in the comments
below
alright guys we started with a simple
hello and we ended with a complicated
goodbye