From Where I Drone

Smoother Movements: How to Fine Tune Your DJI Drone’s EXPO Settings

Do you want to get smoother more cinematic drone shots?

Or are you interested in making your drone’s movements more aggressive and quicker which makes it really fun to fly?

Well if you are trying to get smooth cinematic shots then adjust your EXPO settings can be really helpful but it’s also a fun way to fly the drone if you push the settings to the extreme.

Check out my video tutorial below or read all about how to do it after the jump!

In this tutorial you’ll learn the answers to the following questions:

What are EXPO settings?
Where are the EXPO settings in the DJI Go App?
How do you adjust the exponential curves?
Why adjust the EXPO settings?
How does the EXPO graph work?
What is the difference between smooth and aggressive flying?
What happens when you tweak EXPO settings while in SPORT MODE?
What EXPO settings do I personally fly with?
Plus a bonus trick for adjusting the sensitivity of the controls on a DJI Phantom

For this tutorial, I am using the DJI Mavic Pro but everything I am sharing applies to DJI’s other drones like the DJI Mavic Air, DJI Phantom, DJI Phantom Pro and DJI Inspire.

I want to mention that this is a more advanced tutorial so you should be fairly comfortable with your drone. Also to prevent any confusion DJI has these settings listed in menus as EXP but I just call them EXPO because it’s me shortening the term “exponential”.

How to Safely Hand Launch & Hand Catch Your DJI Mavic Pro & Mavic Air

by Dirk Dallas

In today’s tutorial, I am going to show you how to hand catch and hand launch your DJI Mavic Pro and DJI Mavic Air.

Watch the tutorial here, or read the written tutorial after the jump:

Now why would you want to hand catch or hand land your drone instead of just taking off from the ground? Good question, I’m glad you asked!

Well if you’re anything like me and you love flying your DJI Mavic Pro or DJI Mavic Air I’m sure at some point there is going to be a time when your surroundings are either uneven, rocky, sandy, wet or dusty.

Watch out for elements getting kicked up into your motors

All of those elements can make it hard to take off and when props are spinning if there are loose particles and elements present (like dirt and sand) they can easily fly up and end up in your prop’s motors which could cause problems later down the road.

Me and some friends just after taking off from a moving boat

Another reason is maybe you forgot to bring a drone take-off/landing pad with you or you want to take off from a moving vehicle like a boat.

In each of those scenarios using the following tips for hand launching and hand catching your drone will be very helpful.

Before we start it is important to mention that hand launching and hand catching your drone can be dangerous so please don’t try this until you feel very experienced and comfortable with your controlling your drone.

Be sure that it isn’t windy when you are trying this and an added precaution you can also try these techniques with some hand gloves, protective eyewear, a helmet, and/or with the prop guards on the drone.

Also, I switch back and forth between DJI Mavic Pro and DJI Mavic Air photos but each principle applies to both drones so don’t be too distracted by that.

Now let’s get started!

‘Wonder of the Blue’ Film + Interview with 20-year-old Director Makayla Wheeler

by Dirk Dallas

Wonder of the Blue Makayla Wheeler drone film-2

Makayla Wheeler (@mgwpro) is a 20-year-old filmmaker and drone pilot who recently released her new documentary called ‘Wonder of the Blue’.

Makayla’s 18-minute film explores the ocean’s effect on the human brain by looking at the human/water connection.

‘Wonder of the Blue’ combines interviews and beautiful aerial footage of the ocean and ocean life to tell the story of how water can both inspire and enlighten people to see our oceans as something worth protecting.

Check out the film and then my interview with Makayla down below…

Wonder of the Blue from MGWPro on Vimeo.

The Creative Process Behind Great Drone Photography

by Dirk Dallas

In this post I walk you through some pre and post-production techniques and tips related to lighting, angles, color theory, lines and shapes to help you create better drone photography.

Properly considering and understanding the creative process behind drone photography is a powerful way to increase the quality of your drone imagery.

I’m Brad Walls (@bradscanvas), and I have fallen in love with capturing imagery via the sky.

Once drones became more affordable, I was one of the first to get a DJI Mavic Pro back in 2016 which I consider to be one of the best creative decisions I have ever made.

I’ve since learned some things about the creative process behind taking great drone photos and that is what I want to share with you today.

Now let’s get started… Read More

19 Shares

Posted on July 8, 2018

DJI Mavic Air Drone Unboxing & First Flight (+ download my 4K footage & RAW image)

by Dirk Dallas

I recently got the new DJI Mavic Air drone and did an unboxing/some first flight tests to show you guys how the footage and image quality looks (scroll down to the end of this post to download the 4K footage and a RAW image captured from one of my first flights). Read More