Shooting a helicopter in flight…Need some suggestions please…

You can see my equipment list below, I’ve been asked to shoot our company contracted helicopter as it flies in front of mountains and through a canyon, I of course will be on the ground as it flies by and they can make multiple passes to allow me time to change lenses, etc. So I was thinking of using the 100-400 for a few close-ups and possibly the Tamron 28-75 for some wider images showing backgrounds.

It should be a sunny day so shutter speed should not be a problem, what I need some help with is aperture setting, I am sure they are going to want most of the images showing all details of the landscape, so I will use a small aperture, but should I include some shots with a shallow DOF as well, just focusing on the helicopter?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

If they want pictures of the helicopter flying through the landscape, it is doubtfull that they want the background so out of focus that it is not recognizable. Try some photos using a small aperture to keep the landscape in sharp focus and some with a larger aperture so the background is slightly out of focus, emphasizing the helicopter. Let them choose which they prefer.

Do not be so certain that shutter speed is not a problem on a sunny day. If the shutter speed is too fast you will freeze the rotor, making it look like it is not moving. That can be a distracting photo because if the rotor is not turning the helicopter is crashing. You generally want a slow enough shutter speed that the rotor is blurred, but fast enough that the body of the moving helicopter is sharp.

I would also ask the pilot to fly as slow as is safely possible and to roll the aircraft toward you as they fly by (not sure if a chopper can do that...). The roll might give you a more interesting view of the craft.

Use as slow a shutter speed as possible. Try one stop under focal length (since helos are never "close").

This way you'll get a nice blurred blade. Dead stop blades look weird.

Then take some ultra crisp high shutter speed shots and blur the blades in photoshop (if you know how) and see what ones look better.

No power lines in the shot too!

A couple thoughts come to mind:

Make sure the heli stands out from the background, either by the way the light hits it or by choosing background carefully.

If the pics are really to show off the heli, you need to get close. Are there vantage points where the chopper can get relatively close to you, with a nice background (cliffs, etc.) Even with a long lens, if the heli very far away it's going to blend into the background.

Greg

"take multiple passes" while you change lenses?? It's a helicoptor -- heck, it can hover in front of you practically forever while you get your shot! Should make getting some shots much easier than a fixed-wing plane. Of course, if you can track it while moving so you get some background blur it will make it look like it's really going somewhere, which may be more dramatic and better for editorial purposes. Does you company want to demonstrate getting somewhere quickly, or the utility of a helo as it holds position for some task?

Sounds like a great chance for some interesting shots -- get it coming toward you and then overhead... post a few in the Transportation forum if you can. Good luck!

If you want sharp images, make sure you use a tripod, especially if you are going to be shooting with the 100-400 on the longer end since you're going to want to use a slow shutter speed to blur the blades. 1/250 will blur the blades but probably not enough. 1/125 will be better.

I've done aerial helicopter to helicopter shots on a couple of occassions. Although on ground I can handhold very slow, say 1/6th on a wide lens, and 1/25th on 100mm +, in the air it's a completely different picture. You have to deal with wind, and constant jolting as you're looking through the viewfinder. As a result, when shooting about 120-250mm focal length, I could comfortably shoot around 1/200th - 1/320th
1/160th or less would be more ideal, but probably less practical in the way you'll have far less keepers.

I have a few on my site with exif data too

http://wazza.nfscity.c​om/aerial.htm
First time - mostly around F8 and ISO 200 and 1/800th,

http://wazza.nfscity.c​om/aerial2.htm
2nd time around, again shooting around f6.3-f11, iso 100 and managed to get ok shots at around 1/250th.

Good luck

try it all out if you have enough time, you have 2 cameras so set them both up with different lenses and then all you need to do is change your settings...
I always find that the more you do at least you end up with some great shots and sometiems some crappy ones but at least you tried all the aspects...
Write down on a piece of paper what aperture's to try out etc.

Thanks for all the wonderful suggestions, the flight is in about 3 hours and I will bring the tripod, both cameras, and use slightly slower shutter speeds, I've frozed roters before and it really does look weird...

I will post some of the photos when I get tomorrow

I have a few on my site with exif data too

http://wazza.nfscity.c​om/aerial.htm
First time - mostly around F8 and ISO 200 and 1/800th,

http://wazza.nfscity.c​om/aerial2.htm
2nd time around, again shooting around f6.3-f11, iso 100 and managed to get ok shots at around 1/250th.

WOW! I hope my images come out that sharp

Here's a quick snapshot of a PA State Police Helicopter during a visit of President Bush to Allentown, PA (10/1/04). I was just getting to know my 300d back then. The helicopter was fairly close to the crowd. ISO 200, 100mm f/10 1/400s, sigma 100-300 f4.5-6.7 DL

HOSTED PHOTO
please log in to view hosted photos in full size.

Dude ... you must have rotor blur ...otherwise it will look like a big fat bird falling ... 1/60 to 1/120 is what you need. Practice on some helos before hand if you can. Other wise chimp to get the perfect rotor blur ... also do some pans use and at least use a monopod.

Well it’s done and I’m really not happy, very overcast day, sun on the wrong side of the canyon, too much wind to fly slow or hover so I could not get the background to look sharp…would love to do it again but don’t know when we would be able to....

HOSTED PHOTO
please log in to view hosted photos in full size.

HOSTED PHOTO
please log in to view hosted photos in full size.

3 and 4

HOSTED PHOTO
please log in to view hosted photos in full size.

HOSTED PHOTO
please log in to view hosted photos in full size.