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ankh
9th Mar 2008, 03:50
Curious what others do. I've seen far nicer photos from pilots/crew than anything I've managed, but it's always worth trying.

ankh
9th Mar 2008, 03:53
I particularly like taking two or three shots as fast as I can and getting an exaggerated stereo pair, like this for example (if you can 'parallel view' stereo, you can probably get this to work onscreen).

Here's one of mine, a stereo pair:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wossname/2320332668/

Mt. Lassen from the west, on a flight between Portland and SFO.

Very exaggerated stereo -- as though your eyes were as far apart as the plane traveled between shots. Very reduced size so it's viewable. Lassen's the white cone in the upper right.

What I haven't photographed and wish I had (maybe you have?)

Glories up close next to the plane on the evening fog forming over the East Bay hills, seen descending from the north at sunset on an otherwise clear day. (I thanked the pilot on exit, got the usual vague nod, then I mentioned the glory -- and his eyes opened wide and he smiled real wide and said "Wasn't that fantastic?")

Next week I fly Oakland to Denver, Southwest. Hoping for a window seat in front of the wing, of course. Which side??

Mark in CA
9th Mar 2008, 18:25
Port side, of course, away from the sun (assuming it's not early morning). You'll be heading east, so sit on the north side of the plane. Otherwise, you'll be shooting into the sun.

Nice stereo effect.

ankh
9th Mar 2008, 23:32
I've had luck with both, though I agree it's useful to have the sun behind the camera and that's my default.

I don't know the ground track for this route (any pointer welcome, I don't know how variable flight tracks are, I don't fly often enough).

For Oakland to Denver and back, I think Mono Lake and Yosemite are likely visible, but don't know which side to try for, in either direction.

Other reasons to take one side or the other depend on particular interest during takeoff and landing -- city views. Of course flight track depends somewhat on the weather at the time. But I've gotten some nice backlit thunderheads, for example, from the sunny side, and climbing through clouds backlit by sun is dramatic.

Of course the odds are best on the shady side -- no chance of a glory without seeing your own shadow.

My favorite didn't-have-a-camera image:

Atlanta, takeoff a bit before dawn in fog, and we turned over the city and it was a smooth, flat, pearly gray sheet without a visible ripple, the fog just flowing like a sheet very slowly -- except for a couple of places where the city skyscrapers were just barely poking up through the cloud, the antenna masts visible, and downwind from each was a beautiful long alternating ripple, the vortex, lit by the sunrise coming flat across the fog.

Sometimes photography doesn't need a camera. Still I wish I could share that image better. Wonder who else has seen it and how common it is.

Mark in CA
10th Mar 2008, 05:31
If you're flying out of SFO, you'll probably take off on 01R and turn east heading out over OAK and miss the city altogether. Out of OAK, you'll take off on 29 to the west, but likely turn north as you pass the Bay Bridge and then east, putting the city on the port side. I usually see Tahoe off the port side heading east, with Yosemite Valley on starboard. Of course, your mileage may vary depending on cloud cover, etc.

whiskeyflyer
12th Mar 2008, 11:21
i carry a little handheld (canon ixus the best) best trick I found is not to use zoom, as camera seems to tries to focus on the scratches/dirt/ice on the window. Try be forward of engine so no jet gas in photo. The rest is down to luck.

Some people see me and probably think it my first time flying,as I am taking photos (I am in the aviation industry and have my own aircraft) but I have some great aerial shots from cabin windows. Coming into Vegas a few months back had some great desert shots. London never seems to work for me due to weather