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Timo Demankowski
@black_forest_drone
Best of the week 1 at #nomadict 2022
A few years ago I flew with a drone for the first time and I immediately noticed that the slightly different perspective opens up new possibilities. Things that might look very boring from below suddenly become exciting and spectacular. I live in the Black Forest in Germany and was also born here. The region is beautiful and diverse and being able to get to know how it looks from above is precious to me.
"I have several drones that I use. At the moment I only fly drones from DJI, as they offer the best technology."
I fly different drones from the Mini 2 to the Inspire, and choose the drone depending on the purpose. For a few months now I’ve also been flying FPV, which is a whole new experience. Flying at over 100 km/h around trees and objects is completely different than with GPS-based drones.
When flying FPV, no helpers are active and every movement of the sticks affects the flight behavior strongly. With conventional photo drones, the GPS is always active, anyone can control these after a very short time. With my DJI FPV, I have practiced again and again in the open field and was able to do it rather safely after about 3 hours. After that, I worked on the settings (Gain&Expo) to get the best out of the drone for me. I am a licensed drone pilot, mainly because licensing is inevitable in Germany. We have many complex laws, especially in the commercial sector. You should be familiar with it.
"The winning picture was shot with a DJI Air2s on a really cold and also windy day in the Black Forest."
I have had the curve on the list for a long time and just drove off that day to photograph it. It was freezing cold that day. I love the roads in winter especially, as they stand out from nature with their jet black color. After I took this shot, I was mega happy.
I love to show others my beautiful home, no matter the season. Though now with the snow, I made sure to preserve the deep tones during post-processing, providing a nice contrast to the white of the snow. The curve in the road is easy to see from the chosen perspective and also shows the slope covered in trees. Going up just a few meters was enough to showcase this.
I edit each image individually according to my taste. I like pictures with a lot of colors, I make sure that I get enough contrast in the image (in this case the street and the tree trunks) and work with layers. Sometimes there are also images that I do not get processed according to my wishes. I sort these ones out.
Over time, I have tried several styles and genres of photography. For myself, but also to see what works best with people before offering my service to others as a visual creator. Social media has been very important in this regard, as you get a lot of feedback. I would investigate and analyze very well which posts/photos worked and which less, and what people said. When I just started being more serious about my photography and offering my services, at first a good Instagram profile is important as it acts as your portfolio and business card. Afterward, I registered the business and created my homepage, which took a lot of time.
Photography is not my main job, though. But it’s a side thing I am very serious and passionate about, and something that creates balance in my life. I have a sometimes very stressful job, which has changed a lot over the last few years in terms of resilience. The pandemic has had a huge impact and has made it more exhausting. In addition, I work in shifts, which is demanding on its own. But it is also due to my shift work that I always have 2,5 days off in between where I can carry out the customer orders. Without shift work and these free days, it would hardly be possible to run the side business. Photography helps me to slow down and make the days I dedicate to my main job a little lighter.
"When I get to shoot photos like the winning shot and I receive such great feedback, it generates happiness that keeps me going – it makes all I do in life a little easier."
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