Above the fog
Thread Starter
Joined: Dec 2013
Posts: 30
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From: England
Above the fog
Hello, long time reader but first post.
Fortunately today managed to get above the fog in SE England, our home airfield was clear for much of the afternoon. It struck me how fortunate we are to get views like this from time to time.
Did anyone else get up?
Fortunately today managed to get above the fog in SE England, our home airfield was clear for much of the afternoon. It struck me how fortunate we are to get views like this from time to time.
Did anyone else get up?
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 805
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From: U.K.
Yes: they are lovely pictures indeed and give me happy memories of the views obtainable in similar conditions. Unfoirtunately, I also remember such a view of a fog bank heading for my airfield and having to race it home. Within three minutes of a safe landing the viz dropped to 50 metres!
P.P.
P.P.
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 5,982
Likes: 1
From: In the boot of my car!
Great pictures 
especially like number three taken under the wing.
One word of caution not so relevant in this case as the fog is well broken and gliding clear should not be a problem but beware in a single over fog and not being able to glide clear as well as the usual warning with fog that it can form quickly even over the field that you left in the clear on departure 10 minutes before.
I can remember only too well flying into Southend at night and being cleared onto the ILS in a Citation. Between being cleared with good vis and a missed approach and diversion into Biggin Hill the fog rolled in in seconds reducing visibility to 200 meters so beware.
The old saying have fuel can travel springs to mind
especially with fog around!! Minimal fuel your stuffed!
Pace
especially like number three taken under the wing.One word of caution not so relevant in this case as the fog is well broken and gliding clear should not be a problem but beware in a single over fog and not being able to glide clear as well as the usual warning with fog that it can form quickly even over the field that you left in the clear on departure 10 minutes before.
I can remember only too well flying into Southend at night and being cleared onto the ILS in a Citation. Between being cleared with good vis and a missed approach and diversion into Biggin Hill the fog rolled in in seconds reducing visibility to 200 meters so beware.
The old saying have fuel can travel springs to mind
especially with fog around!! Minimal fuel your stuffed!Pace
Last edited by Pace; 12th December 2013 at 12:58.
Thread Starter
Joined: Dec 2013
Posts: 30
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From: England
Thanks Pace, there were 2 of us onboard (both pilots) with one flying/keeping an eye on our home airfield whilst the other took photos. At all times we had 2 extra airfields visible (Stapleford nearby, and Southend in the distance) - we told ourselves that if either of these fogged over then we'd immediately land. As it stood, the fog stood rooted in pretty much the same spot for the entire 2 hours that we were airborne!
A few more below for anyone interested.
A few more below for anyone interested.
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 5,982
Likes: 1
From: In the boot of my car!
I take photos on my I phone and it's not unusual to take 20 shots to get one good one!
One observation you get better shots early morning or in the evening when there is more colour about and not such intense white light especially around clouds
Pace
One observation you get better shots early morning or in the evening when there is more colour about and not such intense white light especially around clouds
Pace
Thread Starter
Joined: Dec 2013
Posts: 30
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From: England
mr_rodge, you can open the window on the C150 but I didn't fancy it yesterday, too cold!
Do you have a DSLR? If so I'd follow these:
- Adjust ISO according to lighting conditions. If it's semi-sunny (as in these shots) then ISO 200 should do. ISO 400 starts to make the images quite grainy, so I avoid this unless it's particularly dark.
- Set manual mode, aperture around f8 gives you a good depth-of-field and shutter speed of around 1/200 should be manageable if you don't zoom in too far. Remember though that 1/200 is still relatively slow, so you need a steady hand otherwise you'll blur it. If you're blurring them still, raise the shutter speed to around 1/320. Don't go too high, as you'll get darker images.
- Don't rest the lense on the window, as it'll vibrate and give you a blurred image. Steady your hand on the window and hold the lense very close but not touching.
- If possible, have someone turn the aircraft so you're looking down at the ground, rather than having to point the lense down which tends to give reflections.
- The window will take out a lot of the sharpness and natural contrast from the image. Simply use photoshop (or another free editing software) to add some sharpening and contrast so that you get proper shadows.
That's about all I can offer in a quick summary!
Do you have a DSLR? If so I'd follow these:
- Adjust ISO according to lighting conditions. If it's semi-sunny (as in these shots) then ISO 200 should do. ISO 400 starts to make the images quite grainy, so I avoid this unless it's particularly dark.
- Set manual mode, aperture around f8 gives you a good depth-of-field and shutter speed of around 1/200 should be manageable if you don't zoom in too far. Remember though that 1/200 is still relatively slow, so you need a steady hand otherwise you'll blur it. If you're blurring them still, raise the shutter speed to around 1/320. Don't go too high, as you'll get darker images.
- Don't rest the lense on the window, as it'll vibrate and give you a blurred image. Steady your hand on the window and hold the lense very close but not touching.
- If possible, have someone turn the aircraft so you're looking down at the ground, rather than having to point the lense down which tends to give reflections.
- The window will take out a lot of the sharpness and natural contrast from the image. Simply use photoshop (or another free editing software) to add some sharpening and contrast so that you get proper shadows.
That's about all I can offer in a quick summary!
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 814
Likes: 52
From: Lechlade, Glos.UK
Nice pics.
I remember, very many years ago, navigating around Germany at 250 feet in a Canberra B(I)8 above 8/8 fog (100% cloud was called that in the sixties). We flew from church spire to church spire (no GPS in those days)
I remember, very many years ago, navigating around Germany at 250 feet in a Canberra B(I)8 above 8/8 fog (100% cloud was called that in the sixties). We flew from church spire to church spire (no GPS in those days)
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 1,549
Likes: 63
From: UK
mr_rodge, you can open the window on the C150 but I didn't fancy it yesterday, too cold!
Do you have a DSLR? If so I'd follow these:
- Adjust ISO according to lighting conditions. If it's semi-sunny (as in these shots) then ISO 200 should do. ISO 400 starts to make the images quite grainy, so I avoid this unless it's particularly dark.
- Set manual mode, aperture around f8 gives you a good depth-of-field and shutter speed of around 1/200 should be manageable if you don't zoom in too far. Remember though that 1/200 is still relatively slow, so you need a steady hand otherwise you'll blur it. If you're blurring them still, raise the shutter speed to around 1/320. Don't go too high, as you'll get darker images.
- Don't rest the lense on the window, as it'll vibrate and give you a blurred image. Steady your hand on the window and hold the lense very close but not touching.
- If possible, have someone turn the aircraft so you're looking down at the ground, rather than having to point the lense down which tends to give reflections.
- The window will take out a lot of the sharpness and natural contrast from the image. Simply use photoshop (or another free editing software) to add some sharpening and contrast so that you get proper shadows.
That's about all I can offer in a quick summary!
Do you have a DSLR? If so I'd follow these:
- Adjust ISO according to lighting conditions. If it's semi-sunny (as in these shots) then ISO 200 should do. ISO 400 starts to make the images quite grainy, so I avoid this unless it's particularly dark.
- Set manual mode, aperture around f8 gives you a good depth-of-field and shutter speed of around 1/200 should be manageable if you don't zoom in too far. Remember though that 1/200 is still relatively slow, so you need a steady hand otherwise you'll blur it. If you're blurring them still, raise the shutter speed to around 1/320. Don't go too high, as you'll get darker images.
- Don't rest the lense on the window, as it'll vibrate and give you a blurred image. Steady your hand on the window and hold the lense very close but not touching.
- If possible, have someone turn the aircraft so you're looking down at the ground, rather than having to point the lense down which tends to give reflections.
- The window will take out a lot of the sharpness and natural contrast from the image. Simply use photoshop (or another free editing software) to add some sharpening and contrast so that you get proper shadows.
That's about all I can offer in a quick summary!
My approach would be to use Aperture priority and dial in f8 as that is around the sweet spot for most lenses including mine. However I'd quite happily open up if necessary, and for this sort of shot depth of field isn't usually an issue - everything beyond the plane itself will be at infinity. Depends of course on what focal length is used but with the usual sort of kit lens it will all be fine even at f5.6.
However when an image is substantially white - snow, fog for example - the camera will underexpose. Dialling in a stop or two of overexposure can help, though it can be fixed in post-processing. The problem with dialling in overexposure is that you can accidentally end up with some over-exposed photos.
I've taken photos in gliders and sometimes the reflections rather add to the images. I was in a 2-seater with someone else doing the lookout and flying...
Thread Starter
Joined: Dec 2013
Posts: 30
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From: England
cats_five, thanks for the info. Do you have any to share?
You are quite right about the ISO on modern cameras, and it depends ultimately what you want to do with them. However, I find that whilst ISO 1600 out of the camera can be acceptable, by the time you've edited them (sharpen, contrast, saturate for a bit of colour) then you introduce more grain. Therefore the less you start with, the better! Particularly if you like to publish them, or have them printed. If you're sticking them on the internet i.e. facebook for friends to see then it doesn't really matter too much about which ISO you use and I agree you may as well go higher to minimise the risk of having a bunch of blurred shots.
You are quite right about the ISO on modern cameras, and it depends ultimately what you want to do with them. However, I find that whilst ISO 1600 out of the camera can be acceptable, by the time you've edited them (sharpen, contrast, saturate for a bit of colour) then you introduce more grain. Therefore the less you start with, the better! Particularly if you like to publish them, or have them printed. If you're sticking them on the internet i.e. facebook for friends to see then it doesn't really matter too much about which ISO you use and I agree you may as well go higher to minimise the risk of having a bunch of blurred shots.
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 50
Likes: 0
From: Belo Horizonte, Brazil
Thanks dn. Temp was dropping pretty quickly by the time you landed!
I used to live in the SE, but closer to Shoreham so didn't see anything I actually recognized but certainly brings back memories.
I used to live in the SE, but closer to Shoreham so didn't see anything I actually recognized but certainly brings back memories.
