cost of choppers are yet another factor

People like seeing things at eye level, it feels unnerving seeing something from an angle we would never see ourselves so we can’t relate to it.

45 degree drone shots are somewhat in the middle where you could imagine there being a mountain from where the picture was taken from but even then you’d feel like… ‘i could never see this vantage point in real life’ so your mind kind of blocks the fantasy a photo at eye level can give you. Eye level photos give you that feeling that you too could one day see that shot in real life and unconsciously that gives people comfort.

Top down drone shots look awesome, for a minute or two, but then the illusion fades away and you’re left with the same feeling you have when looking at a Google Maps image.

It’s all about what people feel when viewing a photo and how a photo tries to continuously grab your attention or in this case lacks.

I have been flying fpv racing drones (and RC before that) for a while now. My flying hobby and photography hobby were separate.

Most drone pilots aren’t coming from a photography background. They don’t have years developing their eye. The first instinct is to fly as high as possible and shoot flat boring shots.

This year I picked up a camera drone and am starting to merge my hobbies. I am still struggling to produce compelling images but I am enjoying the challenge.

I post a good bit of aerial photos. I credit aerial photography with reigniting my interest in photography.

I don’t shoot aerial as much now as I did a few years ago though, primarily because I haven’t travelled much recently and I’ve grown bored of my current location.

Posting online quickly turns into a minefield also, with other drone operators debating the legality of my photos. I got kicked out of my local drone group because a member ripped photos from my website, and posted them to the group with the purpose of debating how high I was flying. They didn’t understand the concept of stitching photos in post, so they assumed that I was at least 1000ft up. I wasn’t, but this is the level of petty you have to deal with when it comes to the drone community.

As others have pointed out also, most aerial photos are mediocre because drone owners are simply satisfied by the perspective they are getting. Very few of them are editing these photos in post, and when they do, it’s not of the quality of someone who has a passion for photography.