So you got a drone for the holidays. It’s high-tech, it’s controlled through your smartphone, it shoots amazing videos and it’s so, so cool. You now have your own personal robot helicopter. But what can you do with it?

Drones are still a relatively new gadget to the general public, but professionals have been using them for years to produce stunning and creative videos. And now that anyone can buy a flight-capable, camera-ready drone as little as $400, the sky is truly the limit for what can be captured on video.

Imagine getting a bird’s-eye view of your property. Picture bird-watching from a bird’s perspective. Ponder the possibilities of zooming over your favourite landmark or park, and you’ll get just a hint of what people are doing with their drones.

Drone flight school

While it can be tempting to unbox your drone and immediately send it buzzing toward the horizon, you may want to get a few practice flights in at a park or in your backyard first. It’s also wise to familiarize yourself with Canadian drone laws before you get too ambitious with your movie-making dreams.

Take your drone outside and make sure you’re far away from crowds, obstacles and animals. Then, see how it flies. Test its speed and range, and pay attention to its battery life. Most drones will automatically land when their batteries run out, and if you’re not expecting it, your drone might make an emergency landing right in a lake or on top of a building.

Once you’ve got the controls figured out, it’s probably time to visit YouTube for a few basic tips on filming with a drone-mounted camera.

Drone laws

Transport Canada has yet to fully regulate drone use, but they do have a set of guidelines and a few laws they expect hobbyists to follow. It’s important to know these rules and guidelines before you try anything else on this list. And keep in mind: Canadian drone laws are still new, and many of the videos featured in this article were shot before the government introduced its restrictions.

For instance, operators are told to fly their drones only by day, within 90 meters of the ground and within physical sight of the operator. Flights over buildings, large crowds or sporting events are off-limits, and no drone should come within nine kilometres of an airport.

You're also required to get a special permit from the government to fly any drone weighing more than 35 kilograms.

On top of that, it's illegal to peek in people's windows and spy on them with your drone – don't do it.

Essentially, you should check Transport Canada’s drone page to make sure you’re operating within the law.

Skylines

Toronto-based photographer Ryan Edmond has been recording the city skyline for years now, capturing incredible footage and splicing it together in beautiful time-lapse videos for his project ‘Toronto Skyline Porn.’

The videos may not be entirely legal (the federal government doesn’t like drone flights at night, over crowds or over 90 metres high), but ‘Toronto Skyline Porn’ does show the possibilities of a drone in an urban environment.

‘Toronto Skyline Porn’ captures incredible sights like a fireworks show at City Hall, a baseball game at the Rogers Centre and sunset over the city.

Emond’s work is shot mostly with a GoPro camera mounted on a $700 DJI Phantom 2 drone, but it looks every bit as good as the helicopter-shot skyline videos used to introduce cities for sports broadcasts.

Your laptop may not have the video editing software that Emond uses, but his work is a great source of inspiration.

Toronto Skyline Porn from Ryan Emond on Vimeo.

Nature

For some more nature-focused inspiration, check out visual producer Jon Corbin’s ‘Epic Drone Selfie’ shot at the Scarborough Bluffs outside Toronto. Corbin speeds up his footage and adds a bit of music, but you don’t need the sound on to appreciate his work.

Corbin launches his drone and flies it out over the bluffs to hover over Lake Ontario, then brings it back to his open hand.

Epic Drone Selfie at Scarborough Bluffs from Corbin Visual on Vimeo.

YouTube user Vancouver Aerial shot another stunning nature scene by launching a drone in Stanley Park to get a view of the Lions Gate Bridge.

If you're flying your drone in natural areas, always be wary and respectful of birds. Don't get too close to their nests, and don't mess with them in the open sky.

YouTube is filled with videos of birds attacking drones. A bird could damage your drone's rotors, or worse, your drone's rotors could hurt the bird.

If you see a bird getting too curious, your safest bet is to bring your drone back down to earth. You don't want something like this to happen:

Transport Canada doesn't like it when drone users operate in harsh weather, but some of the most stunning drone footage on YouTube has come from weather disasters.

Buffalo resident James Grimaldi used his high-end drone and an ultra-high definition camera to film some breathtaking video of the snow storm that hit Western New York in November.

Other U.S. drone users have used their drones to record aerial views of tornado disaster zones.

Tornadoes and not as frequent in Canada as they are in the U.S., but you can use a drone to survey all kinds of landscapes from overhead.

Neighbourhoods

Windsor, Ont. realtor Paul Rouillard uses a drone to film dynamic video tours of the properties he puts up for sale or rent. Rouillard will fly his drone around the interior and exterior of a house, then look down from above to offer a full view of the property and the area surrounding it.

You may not be trying to sell your house, but there are other benefits to getting a top-down view of where you live. A quick drone flight can let you inspect your roof and chimney for damage, and it can even show you when your eaves trough needs to be cleaned out.

Exciting? Maybe not. Practical? Absolutely. A scant few years ago, the only way to get an overhead view of your house was to spend thousands of dollars hiring a helicopter pilot to fly over with a photographer to capture the video.

Now, you can do it with a drone and a smartphone.

On the ground

Not every drone is made to stay in the air. The Parrot Jumping Sumo MiniDrone is a mostly earthbound gadget, but its built-in lever makes it much more than a remote-controlled car. And, like most popular drones, it comes equipped with a camera and can be controlled using an Android or iOS touchscreen device.

The Jumping Sumo's three-foot vertical isn't enough for it to hop fences or climb mountains, but it's just enough to chase squirrels in the park or the family pet at home.

Community

Once you've got your drone-flying basics hammered out, you may want to consider getting involved in the hobbyist community if you want to take your flights further.

Yes, there are drone hobbyists, and they put on all kinds of events where you can learn how to improve your videos, your flying and even your drone itself. There are conventions, conferences, film festivals, unofficial get-togethers and even hobbyist stores where you can chat with an expert.

Be creative. Have fun. Fly safe.