Air to Air Equipment

[kevinbark]

Hi guys I was wondering if anyone can give me some tips on the equipment needed for air to air photography of aircraft.

[adam*]

Give the user 'wazza' a PM, i'm sure he can help you!

[ssim]

I've done quite a few fixed wing aircraft air to air. It's not that much different than shooting something on the ground. Being prepared is the most logical thing for any shoot.

I had always used the same pilot to fly my chase plane. It is important that you have a level of confidence in this pilot as well as the one that is flying the target aircraft. In many cases we were very close together to the point that the wings were overlapping but we were either higher or lower than the target. In the example below we were flying in a Navaho which we had taken the door off of so that I had clear access. It makes little sense to do this kind of a shoot through the plexiglass windows that aircraft have. I had developed a set of hand signals with my pilot so that he knew what I wanted given that it was pretty noisey inside with the door off.

You need to have a pre-flight briefing with both pilot groups and determine their comfort level (and yours too I suppose) on how close to each other they are willing to get. In my case I knew all the pilots personally and professionally and that helped alot. You need to provide them with the instructions on how you need the aircraft positioned. Are there significant land marks you want in the background, how do you want to shoot relative to the sun's position, do you want a break-away shot, etc. Of course through this whole briefing you have to have an indication of what the weather is going to be like. What altitude are you going to work at, this will give an indication of how rough it can be and hence how close they can work together.

You don't indicate what you have available to you as far as equipment goes. What you do need to take is a backup for just about everything. A second body is a must, a similar lens would be handy, extra batteries, lots of CF space. Double check everything before you go up. Get your ISO set where you think you are going to shoot. Minimize the time you are going to be airborne. This costs alot of money to facilitate and preparedness is the name of the game.

You want to maintain a relatively high shutter speed so that you don't get camera shake. You don't want it too high if you are doing a propeller driven aircraft as it will stop the blades. This movement can be added back in during post processing if necessary but it is better to get it at the shoot level. F-stop wise is you choice given the kind of DOF you want but you will be working a significant distance from you subject so it is not quite so discerning. When changing f-stop keep an eye on what your shutter speed went to.

In the attached example, I was shooting with a medium format film camera. I took along an assistant that could film for me on one body while I used the other.

In these shoots that I did, they lasted normally from a minimum of 1.5 hours up to 4. It was dependant upon what the customer was after and how far you had to fly to get their desired background. I can't stress enough the fact that it is very costly for the customer to do this so you want to be sure that you are prepared and can handle the assignment. One of mine was a reshoot for someone else that took on a job like this and it bombed. The original photographer forgot to ask what side of the aircraft they wanted shot and he ended up doing the wrong one. Ask your customer every imaginable question you can.

This was an absolute blast to shoot. We all had fun as most pilots don't get the opportunity to do this very often, flying for fun in their employers multi-million dollar aircraft.

Good luck.

Scanned off of a 6X7cm color negative
http://upload.pbase.com/image/63329970.jpg

[kevinbark]

WEll I shoot with a Canon 30D, and am wondering what range of lenses would be the typical setup for the air to air shoot. I only own the standard kit lens, as well as the 100-400mm L IS for airshow work. I am a commercial pilot and have flown a few photoships myself, so that side is convered, just interested to hear what lenses the guys recommend. Thanks

Kevin

[taygull]

I am friends with one of the best known avaiation photogs in the world, Jim Wilson.

I was shocked to learn he uses the 24mm-70mm most of the time...yes for air to air. I was also shocked that it has no IS and he shoots at shutters speeds around 1/60 so that he does not "freeze" the prop on prop planes.

I have yet to see any photog that does as good a job as him. He has an uncanny ability to "get in the zone". One of the planes he shoots from is an old bomber where the gunner hatch has been converted to a place where he can hang and shoot.

He shoots for all the big boys in the industry.


www.jimwilsonphotography.com

[Floriantrojer.com]

In general the important point have been made.

A few thoughts further:

-Best time: usually early morning or late afternoon (1-2,5 hrs prior sunset)

- If your customer didn't clarify what exactly he wants (side-on, front, back, whatever) fly a few 360°s if possible.

This way you will have the sun in all positions, you will have different results from various angles.

- RPM: in the pre-flt briefing, ask the pilot of the (if with props) aircraft you're going to shoot for as high rpm (rounds per minute) as possible. This way you could get a full prop spin, even at 1/200th. Less chance for blurry photos.

- equipment: has already been mentioned. Back-up just anything you take on the flight. 2nd body, spare lenses, filters, batt's, CF's ( a portable hd if available helps a lot ), etc.

- if shooting wide open (the aircraft / copter's doors that is :) ), make sure you are dressed appropriately. On a hot 30°C day you can get frozen fingers a few thousand feet higher.

- wind protection: cap/hat (not a baseball one, likely to be blown away by the rotor, prop, air speed), maybe sunglasses / protective glasses, warm jacket - just in case.

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this list can go on for dozends of pages, honestly. a small part comes down to trial and error.


Good luck - and have fun... it's an amazing experience

[ssim]

I was shocked to learn he uses the 24mm-70mm most of the time...yes for air to air. I was also shocked that it has no IS and he shoots at shutters speeds around 1/60 so that he does not "freeze" the prop on prop planes.

www.jimwilsonphotography.com (http://www.jimwilsonphotography.com)

He does do some amazing stuff.

There has been aerial photograhy for a long time and long before there was IS lenses. This would help but certainly isn't a necessity.

I personally would stay up around 1/200th but if one can make it work slower then that is even better.

The 100-400 lens would probably work but you might find this a tad on the long side at times. This is of course dependant on what you are shooting.

Out of curiosity, what is it that you are shooting and what are you shooting from.