Aerial Photography

Barney Strumble said:
wow! those aerial pics are awesome, think I need to hire a local cess, I would like to use a gopro mounted somewhere outside the aircraft, then use the remote to control video and stills, I'm wondering would the pilot allow this if at all possible?
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A balloon flight might be easier - all the time in the world for photos!
 
I took these in 2010 when I was heading back into Heathrow at dawn. I always take a camera with me on business trips abroad, but it's normally a compact hence these were from a Panasonic LX3 so are rather noisy. I had the rare presence of mind to have the camera on me during the trip and when I saw the sun rise over London, I couldn't resist taking a few.


First Light Over London by The View From The North, on Flickr


First Light Over London by The View From The North, on Flickr


First Light Over London by The View From The North, on Flickr
 
I've found that cruising at 70mph @ 3000ft seems to do the trick with a 5d2 and a 17-40L, most will know that with a micro lite you can take your hands off the stick and control the roll with your knees while rolling a fag :D (I put a video on Youtube but will have to find it) If my instructor saw what I got up to these days I would be grounded!

I took up hang gliding last year and that is seriously fun, I've been in touch with a few chaps that have made some quick release plates for a DSLR so you can snap away on the hand rails with no effort and effect on concentration!
 
r1flyguy said:
I know some of the go pro mounts are tested up to 100 mph but not sure how much more!
Basic Cessna's and Warriors cruise between 90-120'ish wind & aircraft type pending.

There's a couple of locations you can mount one, maybe the tie-down hooks underneath the wing etc, another option would be to 'make' a holder that fits over the fuel cap so its clamped down when you put the cap on!!!
I've never done it, other than from the inside of the 744 cockpit as I don't fancy seeing a £300 GoPro disappearing into the agriculture a few thousand feet below me ;)
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We're currently going through the motions of testing GoPros on our fast-jets, although they're on brackets inside the aircraft. I have seen the Russians mount them externally and perform a full-display (MiG-29) but their H&S is a little bit less-strict than ours!

If you're looking at hiring a light-aircraft, the civvies who come to our place tend to opt for a beech-craft Bonanza if that helps as it'll fly at a good pace for our Spits/Lanc, but the fast-air is usually done from a Hawk or faster. Lens-wise (as with everything) it depends on what you want to achieve, fish-eyes can be fun and if it's air/ground I probably wouldn't go much beyond 70mm unless I was looking for something in particular.
 
a very interesting thread indeed some spectacular sights to ,i have taken the liberty of smoothing out the hong-kong one for you i.e reducing the noise and sharpening a tad .it could probably be done better from the original but shows what can be done ,i hope LOL

h.k by blackfox wildlife and nature imaging, on Flickr
 
Go Pro mounts aren't bad at all, I've tested a suction mount to 227mph on an F15 model that I have (model turbine powered) you just need to make sure the surface is clean. I started off with the cheap end radio control cameras and lost 3 on take off (even one version had a screw in type mount) I also bought one of these: http://www.cameragrip.co.uk/acatalog/hague_sm10_car_suction_mount.html
which we flew to around 180mph without any problems, a friend has a mount that he took up to 417mph but I can't honestly remember the manufacturer name at this moment! P.s. the link to that suction mount - it will hold a 1DX with a small lens on the front, it can take quite a battering for the money!
 
:D

Alt won't be the issue but the G's definitely will! I remember seeing the Mig versions, weren't the mounts just literally drilled on to the v stabs?
 
Flightphoto said:
which we flew to around 180mph without any problems, a friend has a mount that he took up to 417mph but I can't honestly remember the manufacturer name at this moment! P.s. the link to that suction mount - it will hold a 1DX with a small lens on the front, it can take quite a battering for the money!
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I don't think i'll be sticking my GoPro externally to the windscreen of our 747 anytime soon, with the Chinese creating military zones anywhere they like, they might think I'm a spy and shoot us down !!!! ;)

Its no F15 but M0.86 with 150kt tailwinds to Tokyo is quick enough for our big bird :)
 
the black fox said:
a very interesting thread indeed some spectacular sights to ,i have taken the liberty of smoothing out the hong-kong one for you i.e reducing the noise and sharpening a tad .it could probably be done better from the original but shows what can be done ,i hope LOL
h.k by blackfox wildlife and nature imaging, on Flickr
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Hi Jeff

What photo edit software programme are you using to do that as I near maxed out the sharpening on the iPhoto editor !!!! :confused:
 
by the look of it your using a mac thats a good start ,i use aperture 3 for any initial processing its a laid back easy one to learn ,then export finished file to desktop as a 8 bit tiff file (gives you something to compare the finished job to) then import into elements i find elements 10 a easy one to use ,once there layer your main subject and apply noise reduction to the background layer (i use imageonic de-noise plug in filter) then resize for the web i.e. flickr as the host site .then simply apply sharpening to the subject matter ,re-name as a j-peg and send back to desktop to compare before using .
if you need any help send me a p.m and i'll send back my phone number
 
the black fox said:
i find elements 10 a easy one to use,
once there layer your main subject and apply noise reduction to the background layer (i use imageonic de-noise plug in filter) then resize for the web i.e. flickr as the host site
if you need any help send me a p.m and i'll send back my phone number
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Cheers Jeff, you may regret that :lol:

Yep, i'm using a MBP but find the 13" screen not the best so may go larger in the future at home.
I've recently purchased Elements 12 as amazon was doing a great deal on it, so will try to get to grips with that if i can!!!

cheers again:thumbs:
 
no problem .if i can do it at nearly 70 you can :wave:
 
r1flyguy said:
My most recent,

Taken downwind for runway 07L into HKIA

This is Kowloon & Central, Hong Kong from 9000' at 1am
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Minus the noise, good shot.

Jeff - nice job on the edit there.
 
viewfromthenorth said:
I took these in 2010 when I was heading back into Heathrow at dawn. I always take a camera with me on business trips abroad, but it's normally a compact hence these were from a Panasonic LX3 so are rather noisy. I had the rare presence of mind to have the camera on me during the trip and when I saw the sun rise over London, I couldn't resist taking a few.
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Nice set. Love the molten like look and feel of the lights.
 
I did a couple of heli flights in NZ a couple of years back when I was just getting into photography (which was entirely down to NZ itself - what a place). At the time it never occurred to me ask for 'doors off' and I now wish I had as the number of keepers would of been higher. There are a few places in the UK I'd like to do similar, but it was very expensive!

I used a Nikon D5100 for these and opted for a super-zoom lens to give me the flexibility of being able to frame wide and tele views. Light wasn't a problem and found that I could stop down as far as f/16 and maintain base ISO at usable shutter speeds. I have a D800 now and often dream of taking it back in time :)



Good old Lake Boomerang by Tom Green Photo, on Flickr




Razerback Ridgeline by Tom Green Photo, on Flickr




Fiordland by Tom Green Photo, on Flickr




Mount Elliot & The Arthur River by Tom Green Photo, on Flickr
 
r1flyguy said:
Very nice Tom, maybe head over to Snowdonia :confused: not quite NZ though
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Absolutely. I like mountains and at this time of year when the first signs of snow are approaching I've got Brecon Beacons, Snowdonia and The Lakes on my hit list - all not too far from home, closer than a 32 hour flight anyway :)
 
INCREDIBLE first shot!
ACW said:
Some great shots there, I think some of them could be further bettered with a few tweaks.

Whenever I take shots through plane windows I find the results need a contrast boost. I do get a bit carried away with the contrast sometimes,

This is an example at 34000ft over India last month with a 5DII and 50mm 1.8:


Cloud Bomb by ACW#, on Flickr

This shot is stopped right down to f/6.3 and a shutter speed of 1250th. Apart from the occasional dirty window, I don't usually find any need to shoot wide open at f/2.8 f/1.8 and the like.

Then this is an example taken with my humble point and shoot over Arizona:


Somewhere over Arizona by ACW#, on Flickr

This was f/5.0 on the compact, so plenty of depth of field.

The point and shoot didn't capture as much detail, and there wasn't as much room for image adjustments but as a window snapper I think it held up ok.

Both had a fair dose of slider movement in Lightroom.

What kind of adjustments do have you tried on yours?
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Took this one air to air a few weeks back, quite pleased as I actually flew lower on purpose to get the shot when I saw the light change (in other words I used the balloon as a camera platform rather than just shooting what I saw)

Alina by Brian of Bozeat, on Flickr

These are from the same flight over Northampton.

Saints Ground by Brian of Bozeat, on Flickr

Church by Brian of Bozeat, on Flickr
 
r1flyguy said:
I was wondering if there was anyone, amateur or otherwise who did this and what lens they used
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There's no one answer. Like in any other kind of photgraphy, you may want a wide view, or you may not. VR would be useful, as depending on the aircraft, things may not be as smooth as you'd like.

One commissioned job had me hanging out of a Robinson R22 helicopter with no doors...... the vibration was so bad it was quite hard to get a sharp shot.

A1AAm2R.jpg


Never again. I love flying, but that was just a bit too bonkers.


I'd seriously consider a decent octocopter for low level stuff... hovering over an area and having all the time in the world to point a SLR at it from a few hundred feet is better than flying past and shooting through a plane window as you fly over at 160 knots or whatever.

Yeah... for commercial stuff.... an octocopter is the way to go. You fly a 747 for a living... you can afford it :) The shots of buildings, parks etc you posted earlier, are all taken from quite an altitude with a long lens, which makes the perspective look flattened and unattractive... a decent UAV will allow you much lower level shots with wider lenses.


For high level stuff, looks like you already have more experience than most people I can think of, so just carry on doing what you do :)
 
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