Drone

1/250 exposure, F 20.0, ISO 200

Sometimes photo shoots provide an opportunity to experiment with different lighting and compositional arrangements, and sometimes you are forced to take what you are given. This was the latter case.

I had an appointment to photograph one of San Mateo Police Department's drone pilots, and had explored, in my mind, several possibilities for an attention-getting shot. I arrived fully equipped and brimming with ideas, including a shot of a  hovering drone, reflected in the operator's  mirrored sunglasses. Another possibility might have been the hovering drone, viewed at eye level, with the operator in the background, out of focus. I came fully prepared to make either of these photographs. 

When I arrived at the rooftop staging area, I was told that the drone was controlled from a command center located inside the building, and that it couldn't be controlled from the rooftop. Also, the drone "hangar" was not a permanent fixture, and could not be moved. Luckily for me, the drone, once uncovered, was in full sunlight at a classic "45 degrees and 45 degrees to the side" orientation. The position of the key light forced the fill flash to play a very minor role in the overall exposure, and it was used only to provide some illumination under my subject's chin. After installing an on-camera flash for fill, I started shooting.

My first efforts were pretty lackluster, but when my subject picked up a microfiber cloth and started dusting off the rotors, the photo now had a purpose. Animating my subject has saved many of my earlier photos, and luckily for me my subject just did "what comes naturally". I made several shots, and the shots that worked best were made when his attention was directed towards the rear rotors. This positioned his sunglasses at a slight angle from the flash and eliminated the common reflected "hot spot" on the lenses. 

Now the shot was not without some quirks.

• The lens was a 10-24mm zoom set to 12mm to include the operator and the drone. 
•  The 1/180 second exposure was the minimum exposure that would assure complete coverage by the flash.
• The aperture was F 20.0, which was also needed to get everything in sharp focus, and coincidentally give me the darkened sky that I prefer. 

The roof-top location dictated the exposure and the composition, leaving me with the simple tasks of framing the shot and pressing the shutter release. A simple shot at first glance, it is the product of exposure adjustments dictated by the environment.