Pixtus - Photography Forum, Photographers, Photo Tips

Sonny · **aerial photography -** 04-19-2007, 02:57 PM

I got a odd request today. My brother-in-law's friend want me to shoot some aerial photography. It could turn out to be work work than just him.

I have not a clue where to begin. What type of equipment? Lenses? Technique? Settings? Do I shoot with the plane door open? Do I shoot through the door glass? Shoot the subjects at an angle or wait til we fly above it? What to charge?

If ANYBODY can lead me to a source of information.....PLZ help me!

Jay Henley · 04-19-2007, 03:43 PM

In Google, I typed in "Aerial Photography Tips" and got this.... link.... It may help.

boomerd35 · 04-19-2007, 04:33 PM

Very interesting - sounds like fun. Good luck Sonny.

Troy T.

merock · 04-19-2007, 04:39 PM

That link says something about film....... *scratches head

jerrykr · 04-19-2007, 04:45 PM

We took a helicopter flight to Grand Canyon. That bird vibrated constantly. The light was strong, so I shot at 1/1000 to prevent motion blur/camera shake. The doors were closed, lots of reflections off the inside of the windows. I'd shoot with the window open if you can.

Roy · 04-19-2007, 04:46 PM

I think you probably should learn how a parachute works first.

Dsheree · 04-19-2007, 04:50 PM

I know a guy that does this and there is more to it then the pictures. Plane, gas, insurance and the most important part is map reading. You have to know how to find things from the bird's view.

CaptainTom · 04-19-2007, 05:03 PM

Make sure you have an aircraft with a "high wing" like Cessna.
Take off the door.
Make sure you aren't prone to air sickness.
Usually fly early in the day to avoid rough air.
High ISO High shutter speed.
Do NOT use the aircraft, or anything attached to the aircraft to stabilize your camera.
Try to cushion yourself from the vibration.
Set up hand signals with your pilot, it may be noisy with the door open.
Use as wide a lens a possible to get the shot to avoid camera shake.

Whether you shoot from directly overhead, or from the side will depend on what your client wants.
If possible take both angles.

There are other things to know, but this will give you an idea.

kenw · 04-19-2007, 05:15 PM

or, do as a friend did:

duct tape an inexpensive point and shoot to the wing of a RC plane.

rig a rotatry transducer to activate the shutter (cam)

worked great. in fact he stated doing some for a farm and ranch real estate friend.

seriously. it worked fabulously. attaching it to the fuselage generated too much vibration, the wing dampened it a lot. We used to fly it around the old work place a lot before/after (and during....) work.

zepp · 04-19-2007, 06:31 PM

Sonny...

See this thread. There are a few good tips in it.

http://www.texasphotoforum.com/forum...ght=helicopter

Best,

Frank

JohnRushing · 04-19-2007, 10:35 PM

I did a few for the company I used to work for. The comapny had their own pilot so I didn't have to worry about flight plans or finding the spot, but then again a large plant in the middle of a big open area right beside a major hwy isn't to hard to find, especially since the airport was only 2 miles from it. I used a 50mm and a 28-70 lens, the 50 turned out better shots so i wished I had taken a 35 or even a 24 but I didn't have one back then. The vibration is right, don't brace your camera against any part of the plane or it will look like you were bracing it against a weedeater thats out of balance ! The first time I was in a Kingair twin engine and it sucked. We opened the door and I had a strap wround e to keep me from falliing out. I wasn't able to get any decent shots unless the pilot was banking. The second time they took me up in a Cesna 154 and it worked much, much better but we didn't remove the door so I shot out the window which had been removed earlier and that worked ok, would have been better if the door had been off but it wasn't my plane so I had no say in that. Something that was freaky was when we flew about 75ft over the flare stack which is 250ft tall. Just seconds before we were over it the thing went off ! The flames didn't get near use because they rarely make it out of the stack but it has a reputation of blowing smoke rings, we flew right through one of them and the cabin filled up with black smoke. It didn't bother the pilot but I think he was a few bricks shy of a full load anyway. There's aome pretty good money to be made in airial photography especially with the oil companies.