Aerial Photography questions

[Harabec]

A friend and I are thinking about starting up a small aerial photography business on the weekends. He is going to do the flying and I am going to do the photography and I wanted to ask a couple of questions to those who have more experience in this.. Mainly~

Is there a time of day that works best up in the sky for clear, vibrant pictures with no haze?

Any particular equipment that you would reccomend? (filters? I have a rebel xt and was going to rent a 10-22 and use my 100-400 for any closer up shots)

Anything else you would let me know that I may have not thought of before? Tips, pointers, any help would be greatly appreciated! thanks.

[neil_r]

I have done this from helecopters and light aircraft. Best tip I can give you is take the doors off and use a gyro stabilised platform.

N

[Adrian]

I have done this from helecopters and light aircraft. Best tip I can give you is take the doors off and use a giro stabilised platform.

N

What has an unemployment cheque got to do with photography? ;)

I would recommend a gyro stabilised platform myself :lol:.

(couldn't resist that one Neil!)

[Adrian]

Mainly~

Is there a time of day that works best up in the sky for clear, vibrant pictures with no haze?

Any particular equipment that you would reccomend? (filters? I have a rebel xt and was going to rent a 10-22 and use my 100-400 for any closer up shots)

Anything else you would let me know that I may have not thought of before? Tips, pointers, any help would be greatly appreciated! thanks.

Being a professional PILOT as opposed to photographer, I would recommend the following:

Avoid high barometric pressure days, due to haze or if absolutely necessary, try and photograph on the first day rather than after a long period of high pressure. Any pressure below 1013 Hpa should do.

Avoid convective periods as this creates unpleasant turbulence. IMHO Early mornings and late afternoons are best suited (when the hot air baloons are aloft.

If possible use a High-wing aircraft EG Cessna Singles variety, much better for straight down shots/views and also it is very easy to remove the doors.

Hope this helps!

[neil_r]

What has an unemployment cheque got to do with photography? LOL. For the benefit of our non English readers, unemployment benefit in this country is issued on a Giro Cheque, and is affectionately referred to as “A Giro”.

[PhotosGuy]

use a High-wing aircraft EG Cessna Singles variety, The Skymaster works well, too.
Don't lean on the airframe or you'll transmit vibration to the cam.
vibrant pictures with no haze? Forget tele shots. Get low.

[JohnnyG]

A friend and I are thinking about starting up a small aerial photography business on the weekends. He is going to do the flying and I am going to do the photography and I wanted to ask a couple of questions to those who have more experience in this.. Mainly~

Is there a time of day that works best up in the sky for clear, vibrant pictures with no haze?

Any particular equipment that you would reccomend? (filters? I have a rebel xt and was going to rent a 10-22 and use my 100-400 for any closer up shots)

Anything else you would let me know that I may have not thought of before? Tips, pointers, any help would be greatly appreciated! thanks.
I used to be a professional pilot and have flown dozens of trips for aerial photography.

We used a mount on the bottom of the airplane with the camera mounted in the back seat of the cabin of a Cessna 172. We took out the back seat and the photographer sat on the floor and operated the camera. He had bought a kit to mount the camera. I believe the mount had rubber mounts to reduce aircraft vibration. A fairly small hole was cut into the bottom of the fuselage where the mount was screwed on and then the camera was fixed to the mount. The mount was made for that purpose of course.

He was taking aerial photos of tempeture gradients in water flows for a college. After the contract was over a small piece of sheet metal easily repaired the bottom of the fuselage.

Other recommendations such as time of day and others are excellent too!

[ssim]

I used to do alot of air to air photography of other aircraft for an airline that I worked for once. I did the occasional city scape from the aircraft as well. These were mostly done in medium format but the concept remains the same.

I always shot freehand, never trying to mount the camera to the aircraft. One way is not any better than the other it is a matter of personal preference. The two aircraft that I did shoot from were the Cessna 172 (high wing aircraft) and a Navaho (low wing). In all cases the we removed a door and wore a harness attached to the aircraft just in case one would fall out. I always used the pilot to fly the aircraft I was in. Get to know them well and work out a set of hand or arm signals so that you don't have to divert your attention away from your subject to talk to your pilot.

I did these all different times of day depending upon the effect that we were after and always being checking the smog conditions if we were shooting near a large city.

Shutter speeds are going to have to be relatively high particularly if you are using the 100-400.

I wish you luck in this and am envious. These were such good times, very exhilarating. My most memorable shoot was going up at sunset and shooting another aircraft. I'm attaching a scan from this.