Drone photography can provide a unique bird’s eye view on a wedding day. Before the introduction of affordable consumer drones, the only way to obtain aerial photos was through an expensive exercise of hiring a helicopter. This made aerial photography on the wedding day very rare.

Not all drones have cameras as some are built purely for racing. Some professional drones such as the DJI Inspire 2 can run into tens of thousands of dollars. But before you run out and buy yourself a drone, you should check what drone laws are applicable in your area.

Some of the most popular drones for wedding photography tend to be portable, have reasonable flight time, and have a large image sensor. When it comes to photography, a larger sensor size allows for better capture of dynamic range. Specific to wedding photography (when the best quality of light is during sunset), you want a camera that can capture data in the highlights, midtones and shadows. For example, the DJI Mavic 2 Pro has a 20 megapixel Hasselblad camera with a 1-inch CMOS sensor. The DJI Spark, in comparison, has a smaller 1/2.3-inch CMOS sensor.

Ideally, you want to record images in raw format. This will give you the best depth of data to make adjustments to shadows, midtones and highlights. The lower the ISO you can manually choose, the more dynamic range you will have at your disposal in post production. This is particularly useful for golden hour drone photography where you have strong highlights contrasting against shadows. Are you a wedding photographer who wants to offer extra value to your clients through aerial photography? Then we have curated 10 of the best wedding photos taken with a drone to help inspire you.

1. Game Set Match

This minimalist top-down photo of the entire bridal party by Sarah Clements Photography will look great as a print on the wall or as a double-page spread in a wedding album. We love how Sarah has taken the time to line up the drone perfectly with the tennis court lines.

2. Making The Impossible Possible

Standing on the edge of a cliff, most wedding photographers will frame the couple in the foreground and the view forming the backdrop. The advantage of having a drone is the ability to make a composition otherwise impossible as it allows a unique perspective of the cliff-face itself, giving the viewer and your client the context of scale. This is exactly what Cannon Wedding Photography has done in this example – by making an impossible eye-level shot possible.

3. Not For The Faint Of Heart

When you have adventurous clients, you should take full advantage of it. This is exactly what California-based husband and wife team Dearly Beloved did when they asked this particular couple to climb onto the roof. This is definitely an experience that the couple will remember!

4. Water Isn’t Always Blue

According to NASA, the reason the ocean is blue is due to the absorption and scattering of light. But as you can see it, it isn’t always necessarily the case.

5. Golden Hour Love

Every wedding photographer loves golden hour and when your client has chosen a beautiful estate as their wedding venue, it makes sense to show off the landscape as Gavin Cato has. According to his website, Gavin uses the DJI Inspire 2 in order to fully harness the dynamic range of golden hour.

6. I’m On A Boat!

7. Light + Shadow Play

You can tell from looking at the shadows that this image was taken in the afternoon. Using a drone, the top-down aerial perspective opens up a whole new dimension.

8. Joseph & Andrea

Before drones, in order to compose a shot like this, one had to either climb a tall tree (and hopefully not fall and break a leg) or hire an industrial cherry-picker.

9. Little People On A Hill

Depending on who you ask, each wedding photographer has their own opinion on overcast weather. Some love it (no harsh shadows) while others dislike it (lack of colours). But with some creative composition and post production (to bring out clarity in the sky), a drone can really give your wedding clients something to remember their wedding day by.

10. Mirror Reflections

No, your eyes are not playing tricks on you. Those are clouds on the water. No Photoshop required, just a drone and the creative will to make it happen.

Feeling inspired by these?

Second to sensor size, flight time is probably going to be the second most critical technical aspect of your decision-making process. Most wedding photographers begin with a DJI Spark, Mavic Pro or Mavic Air to test the waters. Remember that manufacturer prescribed flight times does not account for wind conditions. That is, the windier it is, the less flight time you will have. It is recommended that you have at least one spare battery with you at all times. For wedding photographers who take their wedding day drone photography seriously, you may consider bringing your own invertor generator (although that may be overkill).

But before you rush out to buy a drone, please perform a thorough check on any relevant laws and regulations for flying a drone in your local area.