Drone Travel Photography Guide: How to Shoot Stunning Destinations With a DJI Mini
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- By: Peter Orsel
After years of carrying a DJI Mini across 40+ countries, from the salt flats of Bolivia to the limestone cliffs of Koh Phi Phi, I’ve come to one conclusion: the gap between a forgettable drone shot and a portfolio image has almost nothing to do with the drone itself. It comes down to knowing what to look for, when to fly, and how to squeeze the best out of a camera most people massively underestimate.
This guide is built around the DJI Mini series, like the DJI Mini 4 and DJI Mini 5. Mainly self taught, but proven strategies. My goal is simple: help you create the best possible photos with a tiny drone.
In This Post
Why the DJI Mini Is the Right Travel Drone
People often ask if a Mini is good enough, and i’m here to tell you that it is, if you know how to use it. The sensor is small, but as Most mediocre drone shots are mediocre because of timing, composition, or settings.
The Mini is especially great for travels, as it’s so light. As it weights 249 grams, it keeps you out of the strict regulations of many locations. It fits in a small backpack. It handles wind better than people expect. And image quality at base ISO, is genuinely excellent. Even at sunset and sunrise, you can still get home with amazing shots.
Drone settings that make the difference
Getting your settings right before you fly is the kind of thing that sounds boring until you miss a shot because of it. Here is what I always set up first.
Shoot in RAW
This one might be obvious for people who are photographers already, but if you just got into photography or if you’re only interested in drone photography, it can be a game changer. Shooting in RAW means that you get more control over your edit. It gives a lot of space to edit your photos afterwards, and it lets you change your white balance without losing quality.
Set it once and leave it. Go to camera settings, file format, RAW or RAW+JPEG. The JPEG copy is useful for quick previews. The RAW file is what you will actually edit.
Edit every photo
Once you have RAW files, edit them. This is where your photo comes to life. Drone cameras capture beautifully flat, neutral images. Especially RAW photos lack the depth and colour tones that you want to share to your family, friends or social media pages. Doing the edit right? You’ll get yourself new fans. Do you see the difference between the photos above? That’s the difference an edit can make.
I personally use Adobe Lightroom for my edits. If you are just starting out, buy a preset pack from a travel photographer whose work you admire, use that as your starting point, and adjust from there. Over time you build your own look. The preset is not the final result, it is the starting point.
Even though travel creators advertise their presets often as ‘one click presets’, most presets are not one click wonders. Always tweak it to your own preferences.
ISO 100
Your ISO is one of the three main settings while taking photos, besides aperture and shutterspeed. Keep your ISO at 100 and adjust everything else around it. The Mini’s sensor noise becomes visible quickly above ISO 200, and footage or photos shot at high ISO are very difficult to rescue in post.
If you end up shooting with a higher ISO than you initially planned, you can improve your files while editing by using Adobe Lightroom’s ‘Denoise’ functionality.
How to operate your DJI Mini for the best results
Now we have the settings sorted, it’s time to head into the fields. After all these photos are not gonna take themselves, so we gotta practice. And that’s the first point. Practice a lot. Practice makes perfect, so it’s ok if the results after your first sessions are not yet where you want them to be. As long as you make progress, every time you head out. Here’s some top tips for operating your drone for the best drone travel photography and videography.
Practice flying your drone at boring locations
This sounds a bit weird, right? Why would you fly at boring locations while there are so many amazing spots to fly your drone. Well, it can be stressful during your first flights. If you don’t know what to do when your screen gets black, your drone loses connection or the live view is lagging, it’s better to be at a boring field of grass, instead of flying above the ocean.
Your DJI drone has a return to home functionality, so eventually it will always fly back. As long as you have enough battery. You can select at what height your drone flies back, so be aware of your surroundings to set it up correctly.
Shoot during Golden Hour
The single biggest upgrade to your drone footage and photos has nothing to do with settings. It is timing. Golden hour, the hour after sunrise and the hour before sunset, gives you warm directional light that makes landscapes look three-dimensional. Shadows are long, colors are rich, and the contrast between light and dark adds real depth to your images.
For drone photography this matters even more than ground-level shooting. Low light catches textures that flat midday light completely misses. The same location at noon and at golden hour looks like two different shots.
Plan your flights around the light, even if that requires a very early wake up. Check sunrise and sunset times before you arrive, and be in the air within the first ten minutes. The time window moves fast.
Choose a clear subject
My most important recommendation would be: choose a clear subject. I’ve seen so many drone pictures without a subject and I have to admit that I did the same when I just started. Aerial content looks amazing, but make sure you catch the attention of your viewer. Make sure the viewer knows what he’s looking at and the picture will speak for itself.
If you decide to take a picture of a city, always make sure there’s something catching attention. It can be a church, a square, a pattern or even the sun and shadows. Not sure if it’s clear enough? Ask a non-photographer to find out what caught their eye while looking at your shot. A subject can add depth to your pictures as well, look at some examples below.
Shoot your content vertical and horizontal
Shoot your content both vertical and horizontal. For social media, vertical wins most of the time. Instagram Reels, TikTok, and YouTube Shorts are all built around a 9:16 ratio, and the algorithm consistently pushes vertical content to more people. If you want your footage to perform on those platforms, vertical is simply the smarter format to prioritise.
I often see beginning drone photographers sharing their horizontally shot content on their stories. If it’s a top down, you can easily transform the image and post it vertical. If not, try to crop it vertically, as it will have more of the ‘wow’-factor.
That said, horizontal has its place. Long form content on YouTube will still be watched in landscape, and even Instagram has pushed horizontal content to millions of views. It looks far better on a laptop screen or a TV too.
So what I recommend: Shoot both. Edit both. Let the platform and the shot decide which one leads.
Be careful when flying from a boat
This one is a bit specific and I’m sorry to say: I did this, I do this, and will do it again. But, if you don’t have a lot of experience, it can be dangerous for both you and your drone. The sea has waves and a boat moves on these waves. Landing a drone on a wavy boat can be extremely hard or even impossible. Especially when you shoot with a DJI Mini. That’s why you have to catch it with your hands, and that can be tricky.
I’ve heard stories about people losing their fingertips, because their fingers got stuck between the propellers. I’ve heard stories about drones that took a swim instead of landing in the hand or on the boat. That’s why flying from a boat requires some experience.
Before you even try to catch it on a boat, make sure you’re able to catch a drone on land. Not just on a crystal clear day, but in windy conditions as well. If you’re not used to that, skip the boat. Fly from the beach, from the pier or from a cliff to get these sea shots, but skip the boat until you really know what you’re doing. A certain shot is less important than keeping your fingertips.
This final shot of Koh Phi Phi I’m sharing in this post, was actually taken from a boat. Want to know the process of getting this shot? Read the article I wrote about it!
How I shot these famous locations
It’s always good to hear some background stories on how to get a certain shot. Here are some decisions I took when getting the shots below.
Tegallalang Rice Fields, Ubud - Bali
The rice fields of Bali are known all around the world, and it took me two visits to get the shot above. The morning light is the best moment to get the shots in the rice fields, especially given the fact that it often gets cloudy throughout the day. Sunset won’t give you the sun rays as seen above.
Timing: As mentioned before, I took the photo during sunrise. Usually these sun rays appear about 20 minutes after sunrise. The hike takes about 30 minutes, so make sure you arrive at the parking at least 10 minutes before sunrise.
Composition: For this shot, I chose to be high up, but still under the highest palm tree. I used the palm tree to direct the light over the valley. This way it guides your eyes towards the rice fields and that little cabin. You know where you want to look, and the photo itself tells a story.
Editing: I chose a high contrast for this image, with the shadows and highlights slightly boosted.
For more information about capturing the Tegallalang Rice Fields, head over to my guide about this stunning location in Ubud, Bali.
Meteora Monasteries, Greece
One of my favourite destinations in the world: The Metora monasteries in Greece. Many people stick to the island, but I absolutely enjoyed my time at the mainland.
Timing: This exact photo has been taken around 90 minutes before sunset. I especially wanted to highlight the town in the back, and the directional light helped me to obtain these results.
Composition: For this photo, I chose to center the monastery, in a way that you could still see that it’s built on a rock formation. It’s a photo that I can crop easily, so it fits a vertical frame as well.
Editing: To get the results I was looking for, I decided to edit it with warm colours and rich in contrast. The right top corner is overexposed so you see how the sunlight hits on the valley.
For more information about capturing the monasteries of Meteora, head to my photography guide about Meteora.
I hope these tips will be helpful and answer your questions on how to improve your drone photography. Still got some questions? Leave them below or send me a DM on Instagram!
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About Me
Peter Orsel is a Dutch travel photographer based in Bali, specialized in drone and landscape photography. He has visited over 40 countries and writes detailed, no-nonsense guides based on firsthand experience.
One Response
I find it interesting when you said that there will be depth in your photos when you have a subject in them. I can imagine how professionals will apply these things to drone videography processes as well in order to be successful with their shots. And this is more important if you will be using the footage to sell a certain property or for other business purposes.