Share your tips for shooting from a helicopter

I am heading to Kaua'i in May of 2023 and I've chartered a helicopter to shoot waterfalls and the Napali Coast. I've watched every "shooting from a helicopter" video I could find on Youtube and read a couple articles on the web as well. Currently, I'm planning on shooting with a pair of R5's mounting a RF14-35 F4L on one and a RF70-200 F4L on the other. This being a personal charter, I have (mostly) complete control of the bird for positioning and it will be doors off.

One thing that I'm seeing conflicting information on is whether to use image stabilization. Some say the vibration of the helicopter cannot be overcome by IS and only confuses the IS making it worse. Other articles say to use IS. Obviously, I want to get the best keeper rate possible since there won't be any do-overs. I'm curious if anyone has any experience with IBIS in a helicopter versus lens stabilization only.

Any other insights are welcome.

Bob

There are some good tips in the content at https://www.wardynskip​hoto.com …ograph-from-a-helicopter/. It by the way recommends IS to be on. One involves keeping an eye on the histogram. On a trip I made to the big island I had thankfully seen that content. You will find as you move about the island that some of the best subject matter may be in shadow. You might want to try to look at your flight time and potential subjects and then attempt to understand where the sun will be in the sky. That way, and in advance, you can determine if a desirable subject is in shadow or reflected light. https://www.timeanddat​e.com/sun/@5848511 can be worthwhile in that regard. Once at the site, scroll down to the graphic that shows the sun activity. You can position your cursor and read out the angle of the sun. For example, today at 10:00 A< in Kauai the sun is at about 138 deg relative to true north.

John from PA wrote in post #19457212
There are some good tips in the content at https://www.wardynskip​hoto.com …ograph-from-a-helicopter/. It by the way recommends IS to be on. One involves keeping an eye on the histogram. On a trip I made to the big island I had thankfully seen that content. You will find as you move about the island that some of the best subject matter may be in shadow. You might want to try to look at your flight time and potential subjects and then attempt to understand where the sun will be in the sky. That way, and in advance, you can determine if a desirable subject is in shadow or reflected light. https://www.timeanddat​e.com/sun/@5848511 can be worthwhile in that regard. Once at the site, scroll down to the graphic that shows the sun activity. You can position your cursor and read out the angle of the sun. For example, today at 10:00 A< in Kauai the sun is at about 138 deg relative to true north.

I read Mike Wardynski's info on shooting from a helicopter. He's actually the only one who said to use stabilization; everyone else said to turn it off. I've got PhotoPills, tide charts and a few other really useful apps that I use frequently. I've done a ton of map reconnaissance already and have most of the week planned out, including alternate locations. Everything saved in a custom folder in Google Maps/Nav. The earliest I could schedule skids up was 8:30am so, sunrise will be well over by then. I'm planning for side light, deep shadows, interesting clouds and unique viewpoints.

Bob

Heading to Hawaii tomorrow. Didn't get much traction on this topic. I guess that's understandable. I've decided not to take a chance with Image Stabilization. I'm planning to shoot at around 1/2000sec and f8 with auto ISO (limited to 6400) and auto bracketing with 1-2/3stop increments. Given how good the R5 handles noise and the amazing advancement in Lightroom with the new AI noise reduction, I'm good with letting the camera choose ISO for me in this situation. I also picked up the RF100-400 f/5.6-8 IS USM for this trip. This lens appears to be very sharp at f8 so it should be a good partner to the 24-105 for this adventure.

The last piece of this puzzle will be polarizers. I think it's worth sacrificing the 2 stops of light, since there will be water in most of my shots.

Bob