RTF Drone Photo Challenge July 5th to 18th - Long Exposure (Nights) - Vote for the Winner

You chose Long Exposure (Nights) as the subject of the Challenge. You have until 23:00 on Saturday July 18th to submit your entries:.

RULES

The requirement is to submit a single still image created using a drone to illustrate the subject of the competition. This round will run from 00:01 Sunday July 5th to 23:00 Saturday July 18th 2026; the subject is Long Exposure (Nights)

The image must be captured while the competition is open. It is a Reason To Fly Challenge so please show that the image is created by a flying camera!

Editing is confined to colour and exposure adjustments and crop only. There must be no removal or pasting of an object. Stacked images, HDR images and non-spherical panoramas are considered single images for the purposes of this competition.

Images must be posted with the following information as a minimum:

In Capitals as the first line of your post:

THIS IS MY ENTRY

If this is not done at the time of posting the picture will be ignored. Should it be necessary to change your picture then delete the previous picture and add “This is my entry” - as above - as the first line of your new post. If in any doubt contact the Challenges Committee
(@Challenges_Committee)

Further Information is required

  • Location
  • Time and date
  • Aircraft/camera used
  • Feel free to add any further information that you think will be of interest

Voting

The members of GADC will judge images. They may vote for any number of pictures through an anonymous poll open for two days after the closing date for competition entries.

Voting in the poll is open to all GADC members, whether they have entered the competition or not.

The Challenge Committee may request the original media in case of a dispute.

Schedule

The competition subject will be announced every second Saturday around 22:30. The subject will be chosen by a poll of GADC members selecting from three that have been picked at random from the subject list. You may make additions to the list at any time.

The competition will run from Sunday 00.01 to Saturday 23.00 fourteen days later. Voting by poll will be open for a further two days until Monday 22:00

The winner (and second and third-placed competitors if there are sufficient entries) will be announced shortly after the vote is closed

Have Fun! Be Safe!

All flights are the sole responsibility of the individual conducting them. Each competitor must abide by the drone code and adhere to the limitations and restrictions imposed upon them by aviation law, the aircraft being used and the qualifications they hold. Don’t be jealous that the voices talk only to me. If a flight is undertaken in a restricted zone proof of permission having been granted is required.

E&OE

@group-challenges

5 Likes

THIS IS MY ENTRY

Kedemister park, Slough.

5th of July at 21:56

DJI lito X1

1st of all I want to say I had a lot of fun with this. Ive never taken long exposure photos before and I had a blast! Excuse the pun.
So my original plan was to look for a cool looking motorway junction for this shot. As I was searching the drone scene map I noticed a notam relating to fireworks at a place I’ve flown before, Ditton Manor.
The notam was for 15 mins between 20:30utc and 20:45utc. So I found a spot I could take off from that would have a nice view of the planned display.
As it was approaching 10pm I thought nothing was going to happen and just as I was bringing the drone down from having a little scout, bang the fireworks started!
It was really tough to choose one to post here but I’ve decided to go with this one.

Hope you all like it!

19 Likes

THIS IS MY ENTRY

Dji mini 4 pro
8th July 0000hrs
3s exposure
120m altitude
Looking North

A shot of Noctilucent clouds over Scarboroughs South Bay around midnight. We get these high altitude clouds a handful of times a year in the middle of summer. As you can see it doesnt really get totally dark so good night shots are quite a challenge this time of year.

14 Likes

I can’t help but think that ‘night’ would have been a better theme for the winter months, when it gets dark at a far more reasonable hour :thinking:

Having said that, I’m still out ready for a shot for the challenge, sat in the van with the drone ready
Waiting for darkness to close in a bit more :smiling_face_with_sunglasses:

1 Like

@Jabtas Ah, but it is winter! You are just hemispherically challenged right now. :upside_down_face:

2 Likes

That’s a fair point :grin:

1 Like

We checked the voting

25 total votes

10 for Long Exposure
8 for Cliff Face
7 for Dronies

Which one did you vote for?

If you don’t vote - for Challenge subjects, for reality show contestants, for Members of Parliament - you can’t be too disappointed with the results. :slight_smile:

If you are wondering why the subject was offered for voting in the first place when nights are short at this time of year perhaps we should also consider not having any subjects that depend on daylight in the depths of winter.

Three Challenge subjects are selected for each round by a random function on an Excel spreadsheet from a list compiled from suggestions from club members. Anyone is free to add further suggestions and the list gets updated on a highly irregular basis.

Occasionally something is selected that is inappropriate for the time of year - “Christmas Lights” in April or “Sunflowers” in December for instance. In such cases ChallCom reserve the right to exercise editorial discretion.

Thus, in the same manner as competing in the Challenge “You have to be in it to win it”, for subject selection “If it floats your boat be sure to vote!” :slight_smile:

1 Like

This is purely coincidental, we have just run the Randomizer™ for tonight’s subject selection and it has selected these three:

(The asterisks haven’t been added, they are already against subjects in the list that may be seasonal and are they to alert dozy Randomizer™ operators that there is a problem)

2 Likes

Ah! But is the word night (in brackets) essential or a suggestion? You can certainly achieve long exposures during the day such as many of the pictures of open water we often see.

1 Like

Not for us to say. It’s open to your interpretation.

Your image will be judged by your peers so it’s open to their interpretation too! :slight_smile:

1 Like

Not a moan, mearly an observation :grin:

1 Like

THIS IS MY ENTRY

Greystones Roundabout, Middlesbrough
Looking towards the coast beyond

10th July 2026 - 10:42pm
DJI Mini 4 Pro

A series of 2sec exposures, stitched together to give lots of movement on the vehicle lights

12 Likes

Not an admonition, merely some information :slight_smile:

1 Like

THIS IS MY ENTRY

DJI Mini 5 Pro
10th July 17:29
2s exposure

This is The Great Emu in the Sky sculpture near the soon to open Western Sydney International (Nancy-Bird Walton) Airport. The road you can see is the new M12 motorway built to serve the new airport.

Because the airport isn’t open yet, there is very little traffic on there. The catch 22 is that when there is a lot of traffic on there, the airport will be open so I won’t be able to fly there!

15 Likes

THIS IS MY ENTRY

Taken Friday 10th @ 22:30
Mini 4 Pro.
2sec exposure with ND Filter.

Went up to see the England v Fiji game.
Liverpool Wheel at Albert Dock by the arena.
Bit of noise, should have used lower ND Filter, still we learn as we go.

11 Likes

THIS IS MY ENTRY

The beach, Saltcoats

23:17, 16.7.26

DJI Mini 4 Pro

Well, this was an interesting challenge! I wanted to attempt some light painting. I don’t venture into Pro Mode in the camera settings very often. I’m standing at the water’s edge, swinging bicycle torches around my head on the end of a piece of string, hoping desperately that no one is going to come over and ask me what I’m doing. And the drone is out over the water. (A little scary in the dark!)

14 Likes

THIS IS MY ENTRY

I decided to try to do ICM (Intentional Camera Movement) for this challenge. This was not easy as the Mini 3 stops any panning or tilting when a photo is taken. So speed of the drone was the only option. The other problem was the lateness of sunset. Then I recalled I had a ND filter. This helped a bit, but only had this evening to do. While it may look like I am in danger of crashing the drone, I am actually going backwards. The exposure time is 1/2".

Peter

6 Likes

Is it too late to include @Mckb1989 and @hharron entries ?

1 Like

No way… my entry not there :worried:

I think this subject could almost be seasonal, it just didn’t get dark early enough for me to capture anything…I must try harder

1 Like