Introduction to Drone (sUAS) Videography & Photography

The small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (sUAS), or drone, is emerging as a powerful video and photography platform for both professional and hobbyist videographers, photographers, artists, scientists, and storytellers. With technology comes many regulations, safety knowledge, and understanding of how the drones and government work in relation to drones.

This 3-day online introductory course prepares students who are interested in understanding the basics of what flying a drone really means, how to fly safely, with a focus on how to capture and edit aerial photos and video footage using the latest drone technology and video editing software.

• Day 1 (Online) will be spent in the online learning what the different operations and needs are to fly a drone safely, the various uses for drones, and how to take great drone photography and videography, safely.

• Day 2 (In-person) will be spent together outdoors, learning different flying techniques, what to be aware of when flying, as well as how to utilize the information from the first day.

• Day 3 (Online) will be used to teach you how to take the photos and videos you captured during the previous classes and show you how to edit them using Adobe Lightroom and Premier Pro.

This class is for beginner students with an interest in drone photography, and videography who have not yet received their Part 107 license. The students in this course will receive an introductory training in drone safety, utilization, video camera setup, camera maneuvers, shooting practices, pre- and post- production planning and film editing. All students taking the course will be leaving with a hobbyist certificate and the tools and recommended resources to getting their commercial license.

Topics Covered in this Course:

• Drone Safety

• Where you can fly
• When you can fly
• Hobbyist vs commercial flying
• How to fly safely and learn the potential dangers
• Taking the TRUST test and the reasons for the answers on the test

• Photography/ Videography

• Settings
• Auto vs Manuel modes
• RAW vs JPG
• Aperture/ISO/Shutter Speed
• ND Filters
• What taking a “clear” photo means
• Photography tips
• Sensor sizes
• Lighting situations
• Codecs, Bitrates, and other video capturing settings
• Intro Lightroom – Editing, color grading, presets, etc.
• Intro to Premiere Pro – Timelines, importing/exporting, editing, transitions, titles, color grading, LUTS, etc.

Students must use a computer (PC or Mac) to communicate as this course is online. We ask that students come prepared with Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Premiere, and Adobe Lightroom already downloaded on their devices for the third day of class. You may download the free trial of Adobe Premiere and the free trial of Adobe Lightroom a few days prior to the final class if you do not own either of these Adobe software products. Please keep in mind that each free trial only lasts 7-days, and you will need it for this course. You may find free trial access here: Adobe Photoshop Free Trial | Adobe Premiere Free Trial | Adobe Lightroom Free Trial

Students are welcome to bring their own drone to the second day of class, however, it is not required. Drones for recording both photos and videos will be provided to students (DJI Mavic, DJI Spark).

All additional course resources and materials will be provided.

This course serves as a prerequisite for:

• Drone sUAS Photography (3-day Beginner-Advanced Course)
• Drone sUAS Videography (3-day Beginner-Advanced Course)

This program from the University of New Hampshire has been certified and recognized by the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) CTI Program. The FAA's UAS College Training Initiative program recognizes institutions that prepare students for careers in unmanned aircraft systems. Learn more about the initiative here.