My advice on this subject is to keep your arms and hands from touching any
part of the airplane while taking the picture as vibration is induced into
the camera. I would alter the window to have it fully open (Cessna) during
flight as the 3-inch opening is pretty tough to shoot through (but can be
done).
My favorite planes for shooting from are highwing taildraggers such as the
Maule, Piper Cub and any 6-seater that allows the rear door to be removed
(Cessna 186). Just make sure you are well strapped in! Stay out of the
slipstream as the buffetting (not referring to old-people dining habits)
can render a picture unsharp or misframed. The pilot can also side-slip
the plane by stepping on the right rudder pedal which will reduce the wind
at your window/door dramatically. (refer to speed notes below).
For air-ground pictures you should maintain the 500 foot minimum altitude,
but I prefer about 750 as this does get you above the majority of the radio
towers that seem to proliferate like rabbits. A 100mm lens does a pretty
good job of pulling in the subject without being too difficult to frame.
Any wider and you have too much difficulty keeping the wheels and struts
out of the frame. The widest lens that you can practically use without
including airplane in the shot is 35-50mm. I've got plenty of 24mm shots
in my files, but unless you are after "aviation" shots, don't bother. You
might want to have a long zoom on a camera body for those "secondary"
shots, but plan on the bulk being taken with a mild telephoto.
At 750 feet, another benefit is that you don't have to go quite as slow.
In a Cessna 172 I prefer to have 15 degrees of flaps and a manouver speed
of around 80-85 knots. This gives the engine a high-enough RPM that it
smooths out a bit, keeps the carb from icing up, and is plenty above stall
speed for a comfortable margin. Besides, in case of engine failure, you
are close to your optimum glide speed. The pilot should have the plane
trimmed for that speed to avoid having to chase the the airspeed indicator
all the time. (few pilots really know how to use the trim wheel beyond
basic cruise). At 500 feet, even at near stall speed your subject passes
by awefully quick. The extra altitude slows things down a bit.
Shoot in the morning. The air hasn't gotten hazy yet and turbulance is
minimal. Advice given regarding air-sickness is pretty good, except for
the empty stomach thing. Scientifically it is proven that you are no more
likely to "toss lens caps" with a full stomach than an empty one. You are
more apt to get a headache from the empty one. Avoid any acidic foods or
drinks--especially orange juice. Why airlines continue to serve orange
juice is beyond me. Avoid Coke and Pepsi as there is something in them
that causes your eustation (sic?) tubes to close off making ear pressure
equalization nearly impossible. Take two Tylanol (or equivelent pain
reliever/muscle relaxer of choice) immediately before the flight as you
will have your neck twisted so severely for so long that it will help
prevent a tension headache. Do not eat anything that would induce an
increase of blood pressure and avoid coffee and any other diaretic. If you
start feeling sick forget about pictures for a few minutes and take on the
task of looking for other airplanes. Get your eyes out of the cockpit and
keep them looking at the sky for clouds, planes, UFOs, and severely sliced
golf balls.
Wear your fisherman's vest and keep your film and extra lenses in the
pockets. Two camera bodies with winders and different focal lengths on
straps around your neck. Don't bother with more than two bodies and three
lenses as the space is extremely limited. Have everything ready before you
close the door on the airplane. What isn't securely in your vest and on
your lap before takeoff doesn't get used. Turning around to get a lens out
of the bag is guaranteed to make you start thinking about barfbags.
Film? Oh, this is easy. For slide film, Fuji Velvia shot and
push-processed at ISO 100 absolutely rocks! No filters necessary!
Otherwise Provia or Velvia shot straight. Print film should be Kodak Gold
100. I've heard of other films being used, but Gold 100 is guaranteed to
be fine.
Filters? Some say UV filters are necessary. Possibly, but they probably
work better at protecting the lens from dinging internal parts of the plane
or other cameras than cutting haze. Polorizers? Well, I vote against them
unless you are shooting around water (boat pictures). If there is a smoggy
haze in the air a polorizer will tend to turn your pictures a little brown.
I've got a file full of pictures taken during the summer Yellowstone
burned that were rendered useless thanks to a polorizer.
Angles? Unless you are aiming for some artistic type of shots, you should
maintain around 30 degree angle to your subject--meaning at 750 feet
altitude you will be around 1000 feet horzontally away. This will make
life easier for both you and the pilot. Another oddity worth noting: When
circling around the subject for a second pass the pilot should do a left
hand oval turn. This allows him to keep the subject in sight and better
position for the pass.
Ken (eager to get flying again) Norton
< This message was delivered via the Olympus Mailing List >
< For questions, mailto:owner-olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx >
< Web Page: http://Zuiko.sls.bc.ca/swright/olympuslist.html >
|