A method of camera control for a camera capturing images of a target includes a sequence of at least four steps. The first step determines in real time a location of a drone and a pose of a camera on the drone. The second step, which may occur before or after the first step, determines in real time a location of a reference object, the location of the reference object having a fixed relationship to a location of the target. The third step uses the determined locations to calculate a distance, characterized by magnitude and direction, between the target and the drone. The fourth step uses the calculated distance to control the pose of the camera such that an image captured by the camera includes the target. Controlling the pose of the camera does not require any analysis of the captured image.