Pembrokeshire coast by drone
I spent a week touring the Pembrokeshire coast. Photographing from my drone provided a fresh perspective on this unique, rugged landscape, offering distinct views not available when photographing from the ground.
This was a journey I was looking forward to as the south-west corner of Wales was a part of Britain I’d never visited. I’ve experienced the landscape of North Wales, especially around Llandwyn Island and Snowdonia. But Pembrokeshire in May looked as if it would offer something different to an outdoor photographer: a rugged coastline filled with both wildflowers and wildlife.
Another draw for me is that Pembrokeshire is relatively under-photographed. Finding unique perspectives in a landscape can often be a challenge: with honey-pot locations it’s easy to be influenced by other people’s compositions. But Pembrokeshire hasn’t been Instagrammed, which means I had few preconceptions when visiting different locations.
I also took the opportunity to fly my drone, which always provides views of the landscape that are different from what you see with your camera on a tripod.
Photographing directly downwards with the drone creates more conventional drone images but here it also reveals the azure colour in the sea. The sea just looked sea-colour with my camera, even with a polariser. But I’d look at the sea from my drone and think, wow, this is like the Mediterranean.
DJI Mini 4 Pro. 1/80s, f/1.7, ISO 100.
I took my drone with me to Pembrokeshire more in hope than in expectation. It’s still a relatively new way of photographing for me and I’m anxious not to disturb people or get accused by someone of snooping on them. The truth is that I don’t want people in my photographs and the lens on my drone is so wide that people are unidentifiable (for example, I’m in this photograph — can you spot me?) But I worry that people may think I have some kind of military telephoto lens attached. Flying at St Brides was a real pleasure as there were so few people around.
DJI Mini 4 Pro. 1/250s, f/1.7, ISO 100.
I'm particularly drawn to these kind of top-down photographs with my drone. I think this is because the perspective is so unusual: unless you fly a drone (or parachute from aeroplanes) it’s unlikely you have ever seen the world from this angle before. My favourite top-down images have strong graphic lines and angles.
DJI Mini 4 Pro. 1/320s, f/1.7, ISO 120.
Despite its tiny sensor, the DJI Mini 4 Pro can handle huge dynamic range situations like this so long as you exposure bracket. This image shows St Brides Castle. Built in 1833, it's now a collection of apartments owned by the Holiday Property Bond.
DJI Mini 4 Pro. Exposure blend.
I wanted to get a lower angle for this shot. But I was already close to the house behind the church and I didn’t think the residents would take kindly to me flying a drone in their garden.
DJI Mini 4 Pro. Exposure blend.
In this view back towards the church I wanted to capture the final light of golden hour on the building.
DJI Mini 4 Pro. 1/80s, f/1.7, ISO 100.
St Davids Cathedral. The oldest cathedral in Wales, in Britain’s smallest city.
DJI Mini 4 Pro. 1/1250s, f/1.7, ISO 150.
You can capture some of the rugged coastline with a conventional camera, but none of my camera shots show the fragmented geology as clearly as the drone images. You can almost see the map outline of Britain on this coast.
DJI Mini 4 Pro. 1/180s, f/1.7, ISO 100.
You can see the location of this field in the previous image. The farmer was planting potatoes for three days in a row before it occurred to me that this would make a good drone image. I’m glad he took his time.
DJI Mini 4 Pro. 1/1250s, f/1.7, ISO 100.
I think drone images provide a unique view of the coastline in Pembrokeshire.
DJI Mini 4 Pro. 1/250s, f/1.7, ISO 120. Two-image panorama.
I wanted to end with this image because it doesn't appear like a drone shot. The drone was just a few metres off the ground when I took this image — perhaps a little higher than a camera on a tripod. I used the drone because it wasn't safe to get to this viewpoint on foot.
DJI Mini 4 Pro. Exposure blend.
