Heli Photography Tips Needed

I may have the opportunity to photograph a commercial construction site in Nevada from a helicopter, and to prepare, I need some tips.

1) I have never shot from a helicopter before!
2) Lens recommendation? I'm thinking 16-35 f/2.8 and 24-70 f/2.8
3) Shutter speeds? 1/1000 or faster? What is needed to freeze heli vibration?
4) ISO settings? I hope to be shooting at the golden hour. 1600? 2400?
5) Image Stabilizaion? On or off? I read somewhere that shutter speeds faster than 1000/sec do not need IS. Yes? No?
6) Camera stabilization - I read in some cases, a gyro can be used. I'm not familiar with that, but I know about Steadicams. Is this necessary?
7) I'll bring two bodies - 5DIII and 5DS. I'm thinking 5DS so I can provide more detail and room to enlarge. Thoughts?

Has anyone here done this type of work, and can you make any suggestions or offer any tips?

Help is appreciated.

https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=815402

Shooting from a Helicopter

You need to find out if you can shoot through a window in the door (my 2nd choice), or if you need to have the door taken off (1st choice). If through a window, do not allow any part of the camera/lens to touch the frame.
Golden hour is OK to get a good side light, but maybe a little earlier would be better. Be aware that you will be shooting at infinity & won't need to stop down very much, so you probably won't need high ISO.
If you use 2 bodies, make sure that they will be firmly attached to you. Anything that you place on the floor will be subjected to screw loosening vibration.
Good luck!

Thanks, great advise!

I also agree and I'll request the door be removed for my shoot.

I heard of a photographer, Jamie Stillings, that used some sort of stabilizer or gyro. I'm guessing it was a Steadicam. It's important to keep the horizons straight, and I suppose that's why he used it.

Does this make sense? Personally, I think this will be very difficult to work with in a Heli.

Here's the link to the article about Jamie Stilings helicopter shoot:

http://potd.pdnonline.​com/2015/10/34717/

There's a brief description towards the end of the article of the tools he uses, a Nikon D800 and Zeiss lenses, and a gyro.

I'm not sure how he manually focuses and uses a gyro (steadicam?) at the same time. I tend to doubt that he actually uses Zeiss glass when he shoots from the air.

Closest I've come is shooting from a Piper Cub, and that was decades ago. Used mostly a 50mm and 70-200 on full frame (film) body. Shot ISO 400 and 1/1000th or above, whatever aperture was appropriate for the conditions. As mentioned before you're shooting at infinity so no need for focus or huge depth-of-field. A stop or two down from maximum aperture for sharpness is all you need.

I don't see how a gyro or steadycam would have helped. Maybe if it was a windy day it would help, but they don't do anything to dampen the kind of vibration you get in an aircraft. Don't brace the camera or your arms on any part of the aircraft to minimize transmission of vibration to the camera.

It will be cold with the door off. Jacket, hat, fingerless gloves and extra batteries should be considered.

And above all, don't fall out!

I never used a steadycam or gyro. We didn't even have IS back then.

bumpintheroad wrote in post #17779348
And above all, don't fall out!

Or drop something out of the bird!

I did an hour shoot over lava fields in Hawaii. We had the doors off and the pilot was pretty cool about positioning the helo so everyone could get a good shot. You want to shoot with a shutter speed of at least 1/500 due to vibration issues. having some zoom capability is useful, like up to 105mm. WARNING: DO NOT STICK YOU ARM OR CAMERA OUT OF THE WINDOW - the rotor wash will rip anything out of your hand and do bad things to your arm and shoulder.

If you aren't familiar with Mike Kelley, you should read some of his blog posts. http://www.mpkelley.co​m …port-of-la-and-long-beach

Epic helicopter photography... Arguably the best in the business. I think he used to float around the forums here, not sure now though.