Aerial photography for dummies

[strafer]

Is any one any good at this?

Any suggestions as to how to take decent photos from a 152 or Warrior would be welcome. Are there cheap mounts you can buy? (or even hire along with a good camera in the US?).

Assume no passengers and a pilot who's too tight to buy a decent camera.

[Piece of Cake]

(I presume you are talking about air to ground photography and not air to air.)

Suggestions.... well don't do it on your own, you mention there would be no passengers with you. Do you really think you could maintain an adequate and safe lookout for other aircraft whilst peering down a viewfinder? That shows a serious lack of airmanship if you do. I would suggest at least having another competent pilot with you who can fly the aircraft and maintain the aircraft in a position that won't break any rules of the air (with regards to low flying & being able to glide clear of a built up area etc.) (You will also not be able to make any money from any photographs you take)

There was a well publicised incident several years ago of a Fast Jet (an RAF Jaguar) colliding with a Cessna which was circling at low level, carrying out aerial photography (sinlge pilot). You can do a search on Pprune to find out more details if you wish. Needless to say 3 people tragically lost their lives as a result of the poor airmanship of the Cessna pilot.


Froma a practical point of view, it would be sensible to use a high wing aircraft, as for camera mounts, with piston engined aircraft if you mount the camera to the airframe you would just transfer the vibration of the engine/airframe straight to the camera. There are mounts available for applications that TV broadcasting and police helicopters use but they are hugley expensive.

In my experience (of the air to air photgraphy I have done) , I found it best to just hold the camera as your body will absorb most of the vibration, also make sure the canopy/windows are spotlessly clean and that there is nothing that is going to cause any reflections in the perspex, even better remove the canopy/window completely (does get a bit chilly though)..

[greatorex]

Piece of Cake,

There was a well publicised incident several years ago of a Fast Jet (an RAF Jaguar) colliding with a Cessna
Was indeed a sad and tragic accident. There was some chat about it on the Mil forum recently:Here (http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=97449)

Cheers,
G

[Dop]

What if you don't use the viewfinder? When flying straight and level, just pick up the camera with your free hand and take a quick snapshot holding the camera against the window in what you hope is the right direction. Might waste a bit of film, (unless you're using digital) and isn't much good for pics of specific things, but I would have thought should be OK for general aerial views because you can do it in a matter of seconds without restricting your lookout at all. And not if you're busy.

[distaff_beancounter]

I have always regarded the solo pilot taking photos, as even more reckless that the HGV driver, texting on his mobile, while driving his 40 tonner down the M1 :mad: :mad:

Right, having got that bit of my chest, I have taken a lot of shots, as a passenger in light aircraft, with both film & digital cameras. The digital wins hand down every time, if only because taking umpteen shots of something costs nothing.

I find that the best bet is hand-held tight to the body to absorb any vibration. Avoid the camera touching any part of the aircraft as this will cause vibration. I understand that the professional snappers have camera mounts that keep everything stable while absorbing the vibrations. So presumably such mounts can be purchased somewhere, for a lot of money no doubt.

[strafer]

Piece of Cake & Distaff,

Perhaps I should have made it clear that I'm aware that taking photos through the side window, whilst balancing the yoke with my knees as I fly into a mountain was a 'bad thing'. :=

I suspected that having a camera attached to a wing/strut with a remote operated shutter, or some such system, was probably hideously expensive, but was just hoping someone knew of a cheaper way. I'm doing some hourbuilding around SW USA early next year and it would be a shame to not have a photographic record of when I turn my transponder off and swoop through the Grand Canyon (joke!). I guess I'll just have to use my charm around the bars of California & Arizona and give the camera to Brandie or Lurlene :cool:

[Aim Far]

Strafer

Get a video camera. Most of them take stills if you want stills. They have a nice large screen which you can turn around so you can set up your shot without losing awareness. If you are panning, you get a good look round anyway. They usually have some kind of anti-shake mechanism and if it gets too bumpy you can just edit out the rubbish.

PS - the thing about footage of flying in canyons is that it never seems to look as closed in and fast as you remember it was so your viewers wont be that impressed. Still, it will bring back your own memories though;)

[pilotpaul]

Have you thought about flying inverted in a perspex canopy aircraft?
Would get some wicked pictures and make the American airspace a bit more interesting.

[Barshifter]

Surely the best place from which to take pictures is from an open cockpit.There can be no better "open" cockpit than from a Flexwing Microlight.Ideally suited especially for air to ground shots.

Ahh no license, then the back seat beckons!!


Barshifter

[Tall_guy_in_a_152]

I carry a cheap digital camera (£150) in my flight bag these days, just on the off-chance I might need it. I'm just a happy-snapper, with no consideration of composition, lighting etc (but at least I know that I'm supposed to be thinking about those things :8 ).

As was said above, the benefit of a digital camera is that you can click away without looking through the view-finder or getting distracted and a few good pictures should be possible.

The digital camera takes much sharper pictures than my similarly priced film camera. The following examples were taken this summer on a trip along the South Coast.

Shoreham (http://homepage.ntlworld.com/simon.holder/DSCN0119.jpg)
Brighton Pier (http://homepage.ntlworld.com/simon.holder/DSCN0122.jpg)
Beachy Head (http://homepage.ntlworld.com/simon.holder/DSCN0129.jpg)
Seven Sisters ? (http://homepage.ntlworld.com/simon.holder/DSCN0130.jpg)

TallGuy.

Edit : the links have stopped working. Am investigating .....

[AfricanEagle]

I take photos for fun, both air to air and occasionally air to ground.

Experience has taught me that:

- it is best to have a copilot hold the plane while you take the photos (taking photos on final on your own can be too exciting)
- clean windows well when you can't open them (Cessna 152 is ideal cause you can unhinge window)
- take off ring and watch and have long camera strap around neck
- for air to air shots know pilots well: if they are good a 110 mm lense is fine. If in doubt get them to fly at distance and use a 300mm.
- always take spare film with.

http://album.foto.virgilio.it/AfricanEagle

Ciao,
AE

[formationfoto]

There are lots of comments and lots of answers. The advice that you shouldnt attempt to do it solo is good advice. If you have some sort of window or strut mount and know your aircraft and camera you can position the aircraft and fire of shots without having to look through the viewfinder and this works better if you have a computer or similar remote monitor and remote shutter mechanism. This doesn't rellay sound like the answer for you.

Remote gyro stabilised platforms are specialist and expensive so discount that.

If you want to spend a reasonable sum you can get small gyro mounts for around £2,000 and you might be able to hire one for a few hundred.

A reasonable solution is a digital SLR (the latest canon is £750) and an Image stablising lens (cheapest around £1,000). But this really requires someone to fly the plane whilst you point the lens out of the window.

From what you describe I would suggest something like the Canon S50 which is a small digital compact camera. Using a C152 or C172 you can hold the camera pointing out of the open window and (briefly) look at the screen (not through the eyepiece) and press the shutter. Use your hand to damp high frequency vibrations. Try and fly so that the sun is behind you so that you dont get lens flare. Set the shutter speed for as high as possible (the S50 allows shutter priority).

Hope this helps a bit. Would repeat the safety message but you can achieve reasonable results with the method above providing you concentrate on flying first and picture taking a distant second.

[jumpseater]

Image stabilising lenses can be hired from pro suppliers, as far as I know they are only available in Canon and Nikon fit mounts. Expect to pay a hefty deposit for the hire of one, Calumet Photographic in Euston, London could probably assist. If you're too tight to buy a decent camera, don't expect 'decent' results. Also you don't mention why you want to take the pictures, if they're for sale that opens up the 'commercial flight' rule and regs minefield for you.

I have done air to ground twice, once from a heli, and once from a traffic spotting light twin. I think trying to do it solo verges on insanity, particularly if you're trying to get a quality shot, quite simply I don't feel one can pay the attention required to either the task of flying or photographing.

Looking through a long lense at a ground object whilst the aircraft is moving can sometimes leave you feeling very nauseous due to feeling like motion sickness, it seems to magnify the effect, not a good position to be in! :yuk:

Oh and if your using film, think about how you're going to change film, depending on your camera it can vary considerably on the ease of doing this. Does it auto re-wind the film? where are you going to put the film?, and where do you keep the un-used films?, do you need two hands to re-load the camera, can you do it without looking at the camera? and remember you've got to keep flying it at the same time!.