One of the latest trends to gain significant traction is the preference for vertical mode over the traditional horizontal format, particularly for usage in social media. In this blog post I’ll discuss three reasons how I’m adapting to the demand for vertical media while piloting my DJI Mini 3 Pro and how you may also take advantage of this trend. Let’s get started!

Reason 1: Vertical mode is trending

The majority of internet traffic in 2024 and for the foreseeable future is derived from mobile devices. With smartphones being the primary medium for consuming content, vertical videos naturally fit the screen better than horizontal as it has to do with the way most people hold their smartphones. Vertical footage looks native on these apps, thereby increasing the likelihood of user interaction.

Platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat have become dominant forces in content distribution, each favoring vertical video formats. Instagram Stories and Reels, TikTok’s short-form videos, and Snapchat’s Snap Map all encourage content creators to shoot vertically. By adopting this format for aerial drone footage, you ensure that your content seamlessly integrates with these platforms, maximizing visibility and engagement.

Reason 2: There are much fewer verticals on offer vs landscape

Since shooting vertically is a new trend and still regarded as unconventional it’s only natural that most aerial drone clips out there are still in horizontal format. Let’s examine the numbers.

I’ve searched on Shutterstock’s collection for “drone, aerial” + 4K and it has given me a super low result of only 5,239 hits!

Now, let’s compare that with the traditional horizontal aerials consisting of 2.2million hits.

There’s still a huge gap in this market and if you get in early and now you may rank highly for some popular keywords (before it’s potentially too late).

Reason 3: It’s quite easy to do (if you have the right drone)

Due to gimbal structure and design, among the DJI aerial photography drones, only the Mavic Pro series and the DJI Mini 3&4/DJI Mini 3&4 Pro support the Portrait mode in which the gimbal camera can be rotated physically by 90 degrees (see below), which is not supported in other models.

What about other drone models?

With other models, because of the design of the gimbal, it won’t flip vertically but you can still capture vertically although it will be in the inferior 2.7K resolution.

You may also choose to take the horizontal footage and crop in post-processing but not only is it more work you would also lose out on a significant amount of pixels from the crop. The final result may not look great when exported in 4K resolution and risks being rejected by the stock agencies.

Neverthless if you do want to convert a horizontal video to vertical using Da Vinci Resolve, here’s a quick tutorial:

Have I sold any vertical videos so far?

It’s still early days since I only got my hands on the DJI Mini 3 Pro back in April. So far no sales.

I’ve done a quick check on my currently collection of verticals and I only have some 15 on Shutterstock.

And about 25 over at Pond5:

Perhaps I may be able to get some 100 or so by the end of the year if I only shoot vertically especially if I re-visit places that I have already captured horizontally such as Lisbon’s Baixa District.

Hope you’ve enjoyed the above and found the topic useful. I’ll be sure to update you all when I have a vertical video sale. Please feel free to comment below particularly if you have ever sold a vertical video, by drone or terrestrial.

I’ll be back at the beginning of next month with the May Earnings and News Report.

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About Alex

I’m an eccentric guy, currently based in Lisbon, Portugal on a quest to visit all corners of the world and capture stock images & footage. I’ve devoted eight years to making it as a travel photographer / videographer and freelance writer. I hope to inspire others by showing an unique insight into a fascinating business model.

I’ve gone all in on submitting book cover images to Arcangel Images. Oh and was also flying a DJI Mavic 2s drone regularly (although it crashed into Botafogo Bay on NYE – here is the story), which I’ve upgraded to a Mini 3 Pro and eventually an Air3 in 2024/2025.

I’m proud to have written a book about my adventures which includes tips on making it as a stock travel photographer – Brutally Honest Guide to Microstock Photography