Sydney is a good-looking city. And, seen from above, it’s almost criminally photogenic. No one demonstrates this quite so well right now than Gabriel Scanu, a 20-year-old photographer whose aerial photography of Sydney and its surrounds has made him an Instagram sensation – and with good reason.

Drones, or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), have been making the news a lot recently: from Domino’s Pizza in New Zealand recently making the first ever commercial delivery food by drone anywhere in the world, to the man who got in trouble for using a drone to pick up a snag from Bunnings. As the technology behind drones improves and their accessibility increases, their potential uses are blown wide open. Scanu has been savvy in harnessing their huge artistic potential, and his shots capture Sydney at its sparkling and dramatic best.

Focusing largely on Sydney’s coastline – from Maroubra to Bondi to Mona Vale – he seeks out scenic and dynamic scenes. The long shadows of beachgoers as golden hour approaches; the juxtaposition of hard-edged ocean baths against ragged surf; the colour gradient of sand (wet and dry) and sea (deep and shallow). We spoke to Scanu ahead of his debut exhibition in Double Bay.

How did you first get into drone photography?

My father is a cinematographer/director, so for me photography and cameras are something that I’ve always been surrounded by from a young age. I first started taking photos when I was around twelve years old and from there my style progressed. With the development of technology over time I naturally progressed to other styles such as aerial photography.

Can you give us a crash course?

Technology plays a major key in photography and especially in droning, with drones now being more accessible and easy to use than ever before. The drones I use are manufactured by DJI and are extremely advanced in the sense that the drone does most of the work for you. The smart technology allows for you to control the drone from your phone just like a video game. One video tutorial on YouTube and a newbie is ready to go!

Can you give us an insight into your creative process, as well as the practical process that goes into an image?

When shooting I tend to find an interesting landscape with a bit of atmosphere, whether it be objects or people, and then fly up to see what it looks like. A lot of what I do with my images is done in post-production. Once I’ve made any necessary touch-ups in Photoshop, I take the image to Lightroom to do all of my colour work. I like to accentuate the blues and greens in the water and make the vibrant colours pop.

You shoot a lot around Sydney – what makes it such a good location in your opinion?

Well firstly I’m from Sydney, so it makes sense for me to shoot locations close to me. Aside from that, Sydney has so many amazing beaches and landscapes surrounding it, especially in the summer time when people flood the beaches at all hours of the day. It has such a great atmosphere and that’s something I try to portray through my work.

What do you like most about what you do, and where would you like to take it?

The thing I like most about doing what I do is having the opportunity to share amazing destinations to hundreds of thousands of people around the world and being able to express myself creatively. In terms of a vision for the future I’m hoping to produce more exhibitions of work and diversify my work and online presence into different styles.

Gabriel Scanu’s exhibition runs at Art2Muse Gallery in Double Bay 7–20 February. Its launch runs from 6pm–8pm on Thursday 9 February. High-resolution, archival quality photographs will be available for sale.

Follow @gabscanu on Instagram.