So one of the guys at work is having a big beach wedding and hired a sight seeing plane to fly over around and take some shots. He was looking at some of my shots from the 4th and asked if I wanted to go up and shoot.
Lets see, I’m an aviation nut, a free 1 hour sight seeing tour and all I have to do is take some pictures, something I really enjoy anyway. Yeah, I guess I can go.
Anyway, got some tips for some interesting photos? I’m guessing I’ll be using my 55-200 lense mostly, program mode, -.3 to -.7 exposure compensation since the D40 meters a little high. Shutter speed should be high enough to deal with the moving plane, plus my 55-200 has VR. We’re going up at 4pm and the plane is chartered for an hour so I’ll probably be dealing with bright sunlight. Worth picking up a U/V filter?
Any suggestions would be appreciated. Not like I’m getting paid for this, but I still want the pictures to come out good for the guy.
EDIT:
Did find this:
Shooting from a plane – For the best results, don’t rest your hands, shoulders or elbows on any part of the plane - let your body cushion the plane’s vibrations. Hold the lens as close to the window as you can without touching it. During landings or takeoffs, use a shutter speed of 1/200 sec or faster. At other times, a 1/100 sec shutter speed will be adequate.
I once flew over Cleveland in a little 3 seater plane a few years back. I don’t know what kind it was, just that is was small and slow. Once we were up we had the windows opened and our cameras hanging out snapping away, was a pretty cool experience.
My girlfriend at the time was big into photography and was granted a free ride from our school to take pics for a book she was putting work into. There was an extra spot so that’s how I got in:)
I can’t offer much help as far as how to use your equipment, but maybe check to see if a window can be opened???
don’t worry about the filter, unless your ready to spend the money on a really good one. I’ve found that some filters screw up my shots a bit when zooming on the 55-200.
Your best bet is to try and cut down your exposure as much as possible. Put in “A” mode and bring the F-stop as low as possible. That will let the camera adjust for the fastest shutter possible, and help out with taking clear shots. That or try “P”.
Should be fun. I’d love to take a helicopter ride to get some shots.
Thanks for the tips. Micah, definitely bringing the 18-55 as well. Paulo, I’ll do some experimenting with “A” mode because it’s something I’ve never used.
And yeah, the guy hired the plane just to get some shots. I got a seat on it because I have a bunch of shots I’ve taken since I started playing with this hobby as a screen saver here at work that he’s seen. It was only $180 for the hour in a little Cessna. Hopefully I’ll be able to get the window open enough that I’m not shooting through the glass.
If you can find a gooood polarizer, I’d say try out some stuff with that. However, test it out in full zoom before taking shots on the plane. My circular polarizer fucks up my shots BIG TIME when zooming. Makes them really blurry.
You most likely will have to shoot through the window, so get a polarizer.
And like that article said, those things vibrate like crazy so keep the shutter speed fast and don’t rest the lens or camera.
Also, don’t spend too much time getting the shot set up once you see it. Have everything ready. From a fixed wing aircraft you only have a few seconds at the right angle. When I was up in a piper warrior II last summer it took 4 flybys to even see my house.
Did someone say shots from a plane?
These were with a point and shoot. Hence they suck. There are a couple of mildly better ones, but I don’t have them with me. Are you going up in the morning or evening so that the lighting doesn’t suck?
