Capturing the Fells: Aerial Photography with the DJI Neo from the Lake District.

August 04, 2025

Capturing the Fells: Aerial Photography with the DJI Neo from the Lake District.

While my film photography from the Lake District will take a little while longer to process and develop, I also brought along something with a slightly quicker turnaround: my DJI Neo drone.

I originally packed the DJI Neo mainly for capturing aerial video footage for my upcoming YouTube film on the trip. But as the week went on, I found myself using it for stills as well—and honestly, I really enjoyed it. There's no denying the convenience of digital photography when compared to film photography work. Being able to shoot, review, and share in the same day definitely has its appeal.

The DJI Neo drone is compact, fast to deploy, and easy to fly in most conditions. It handled the Lake District’s dramatic terrain really well, and I was impressed with the image quality, especially considering the size and weight of the unit. Capturing photos over Ullswater and above the winding fells gave a completely new perspective to a landscape I thought I already understood from ground level.

However, the trip wasn’t without incident.

Midway through the week, I experienced what every drone pilot dreads: a flyaway. After launching down the bottom of a pass, the DJI Neo took off—then suddenly tilted to the left and just went and just kept going, thankfully there was a hill there which is smashed into. I'd seen online mentions of flyaways related to poor GPS signals, but it’s something you never expect to happen to you.

Looking back, it did throw up multiple GPS signal warnings before takeoff, and I probably should have listened. I take partial responsibility—it was a rushed launch, and I didn’t wait long enough for the drone to lock onto enough satellites. Fortunately, I was able to recover it using the Find My Drone feature, which led me to its crash site halfway up a hill. No serious damage, but enough of a scare to make me think twice about flying in borderline conditions.

After that, the DJI Neo stayed in the van for a couple of days.

That said, the drone still delivered some of my favourite digital images from the trip, and it gave me a great sense of scale and atmosphere that’s hard to capture with a ground-based camera—film or digital. If you’re considering the DJI Neo drone for landscape photography or travel documentation, it’s a solid option—just take your time with GPS lock and always read those warnings.

I’ll be sharing a full YouTube video featuring the DJI Neo drone footage from the Lake District soon, alongside my usual film photography process and results. But for now, here are a few stills from the skies.