Tomorrow I'm taking a small plane trip over the New Zealand Alps. Any suggestions specific to photographing from a plane? I'll be using my travel outfit--a Nikon D5200 and 18-200 lens.
Sorry for the short notice; we were only booked last night.
Interesting you bring this up. I was just think of summer and planning some stuff. I have shot out of fixed wing, Helicopter, and Balloons. I did that in the old days with film. I directed a shoot with movie cameras over Teton by Chopper in December way back when. I carrier two films camera. We had doors of and flew sideways a great deal. My camera man stood on the skids most of the shoot. My still shooting was with Canon Ftb/28mm. This documented the shoot. We also went into the Yellowstone Park and shot the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.
Here is what I found and it may applies today and to you but remember 30+ years ago with film still and movie camera.
It was so cold adding in wind chill from flying sideway that the movie camera ate batteries and the actually quit running to the point we had to stop and warm it up. The scenes were much more lite than I thought. It seems that the higher you go the more light you have. This was specially true of shooting from Balloons. The chopper I was in had lots vibration. It's my understand it's not that way now. With dig I can now crank up the ISO.
J. R.
Thanks RWR. I can always count on Hoggers for a prompt reply.
Excellent information, Gifted, but I think I'll try to avoid the skids!
- - - and I suggest warmer than we had! Wind chill is a killer. Hope to fixed wing balloon and glider this summer!
J. R.
wthomson wrote:
Excellent information, Gifted, but I think I'll try to avoid the skids!
Polarizing filter. If not a UV filter on your lenses. If you have a bean bag that may help. Have fun and use a high shutter speed.speed
wthomson wrote:
Tomorrow I'm taking a small plane trip over the New Zealand Alps. Any suggestions specific to photographing from a plane? I'll be using my travel outfit--a Nikon D5200 and 18-200 lens.
Sorry for the short notice; we were only booked last night.
I've done a lot of it. A long time ago I even got a cover shot on an national aviation magazine.
In most Cessna's you can open the window. It will be loud and windy, but the dirty, scratched glass won't make nasty reflections.
Make sure the camera is not touching any part of the airplane. You use you as a "vibration dampener".
Tell the pilot what you want to aim at. He can "cross control" in ways that might feel weird, but will help get you better shots. "Can you get the wing up" is an appropriate thing to ask.
Higher ISOs and shutterspeeds are good. Long lenses are not good.
billnikon
Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont
wthomson wrote:
Tomorrow I'm taking a small plane trip over the New Zealand Alps. Any suggestions specific to photographing from a plane? I'll be using my travel outfit--a Nikon D5200 and 18-200 lens.
Sorry for the short notice; we were only booked last night.
Take an incident light reading while your on the ground and then use that reading from the air.
Hand hold only - the vibration if your camera touches the aircraft in any way will be problematic. Any lens that you use for landscapes will work fine, but keep the shutter speeds FAST.
Keep the camera fastened - the wind can easily tear it from your hands if you lean too far out.
Clean the windows! shooting away from the sun will minimize dirt or scratches on the windows.
we took that flight about 20 years ago because my wife insisted on it. I am a pilot and I was appalled at the carelessness of the pilot that we got. He violated many safety standards of flying a small plane. I hope yours is better.
John Howard
Loc: SW Florida and Blue Ridge Mountains of NC.
I did this in January with open door. Had a cloudy windy day but got some good shots. I did a bit of research - I had two cameras, one with 24-120 and the other with 16-35 lens. Must, and I mean MUST keep your exposure at 1/1000 or faster. Looking at my shots any that wee 1/800 or slower are a bit soft. I let the aperture go to 5.6 and then moved ISO to where it needed to be. Keep your camera away from the plane. Nothing should touch but your feet and butt to separate vibration.
Also, do not go hiking. The very next day I was supposed to fly up to Whare Kea Chalet and our guide tried to get us to walk from a steep ledge. The rocks in the grass on these slopes are very soft and unstable. I fell 80 meters and am pretty broken up. Be careful and good luck.
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