Need to get the camera up high, suggestions appreciated.

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Featherlake

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Hello, I'm new here, my real name is Jez and I am from the UK, but currently live in Spain. :wave:

I have recently started a business taking photographs of peoples properties when they want to sell them. The idea behind the business is to offer a much better service that the estate agent can provide with optional extras such as 360 deg. panoramas of rooms, virtual tours of the house etc.

Basically I need to offer the client extras that the estate agent cannot, and charge for them of course.

My latest idea is to offer to provide some "aerial" photographs of the properties without having to hire a helicopter. Somehow I need to get the camera about 20 ft off the ground and keep it safe and steady. I can view the image through my laptop via a USB cable, so that is not a problem.

Does anyone know of a product on the market that allows me to do this?

Thanks in advance!
 
If you are into your DIY you could make one of them pole jobbies I would have thought.
 
Hi,:wave:

Have a look at my first thread here, and you see I offer an elevated photography service in The UK.

The kit I have goes 60' into the air and I do work for some estate agents (although commercal work is much better paid).

You can buy systems ranging from the cheap (and to be honest, dangerous:shake:) to expensive but professional. My kit cost in all over £10,000.

Don't forget to be fully insured (I have £2M public libility).

Good luck!
 
Featherlake said:
Somehow I need to get the camera about 20 ft off the ground and keep it safe and steady. I can view the image through my laptop via a USB cable, so that is not a problem.
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A 20 foot USB cable?
And what if the cam is 40 or 60 feet up?
I'd go for a wireless remote trigger.

And to get the cam up there: how about suspending it from a helium balloon on a windless day? Tethered of course.

Or, if you want to go higher, how about a remotely controlled model airplane?
The Yanks use Predators for recce and to shoot Taliban all the time.
 
Hmmm, this thread got me thinking, what is the cheapest way to get a camera up high ...


Easy... A rope extending triple ally ladder (50-60 feet)...some long straps and tightening ratchets (4)...some ground anchors (4) ... A clamp for the camera ...possibly motorised with the steering rack out of a remote controlled car if your so inclined, I know I would be.


:D .. I have posted a dated link of this thread to my solicitor as proof of my genius on this invention. :lol:
 
You can buy two 12' x 2" alloy tv aerial masts and a coupler for about £50, lightweight and compact enough to fit on a roofrack. A wireless trigger and a decent wideangle lens are all you need, with a wee bit of practice you can forget the cable connection to the laptop.
 
One thought though, as you raise and lower the boom the stress on the camera mount will be very high so make sure it's well made and strong.
 
Trust me, unless you use 'proper' kit:

a/ The Estate Agent will not be happy to pay (something knocked up in the shed is not good enough for professional use).
b/ You'll kill someone.

I have an 80' USB cable, plus other cables to control pan, tilt and zoom, advanced software which gives me full control over the camera, plus loads of other hardware which allows me to shoot almost anything anywhere.

The very best masts come from Clarke Masts (mine did).

Budget to spend some money on buying proper kit, and sell your services based on this.
 
Just to add:

StevieF8 said:
http://www.photographicgroup.co.uk/Shop/Catalogue.aspx?CatId=5

Try here but they aren't cheap but it might be what your looking for
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That is a Clarke mast. The head fitted to that system is the same as almost everyone uses (not me though) ~ it is very limited as it only gives a +/- 15 degree tilt. Mine gives 360 pan and (almost) 360 tilt (yes, I can go upsidedown!)

You need it to be very stable as there is nearly always some wind up there, even on still summer days.
 
Hello Jez,
Try looking for a lighting stand, such as those used for TV and film use. There is an Avenger four lift stand in there Black Magic range which will lift 200Kg six meters (19-29 foot) high. I don’t know the price, I would expect it to be costly but probably hundreds rather than thousands. There may be another one in the range with the same height but lower load capacity; you would need to see a brochure.
It should be easy to get a spigot that takes a tripods head. If you wan remote adjustment you could try CCTV mounting units (have a look at security products in Exchange and Mart or similar) or you could try an Astronomical mount. Broadhurst Clarkson and Fuller can advise you on Asro’ mounts.

Hope this helps.
 
Buy an RC helicopter and learn how to fly it. A decent sized one should be fit to take an SLR fairly handily and you can either trigger photos from the radio or have a friend with a remote shutter.
 
Guys,

In the nicest possible way, you are all missing the point.

Featherlake wants to offer a professional service to a paying client. Why would that client pay for someone to turn up with a load of poles/tubes/clamps/helicopters/ballons when for the same money they could have someone like, well, me, offering them full preview of the subject in real time on a laptop, the camera and pan/tilt fully controlled, and a set up time of less than 10 minutes, operating in almost any weather?

At the risk of repeating myself, someone is going to get killed using some of the cheaper systems out there, let alone a DIY kit. You also need insurance to work professionally and you will not get that if you don't work in a professional way/with professional kit.

Plus, you will find 20' is not high enough. 30' to 40 is more like it, and often I have been to the full 60'
 
JumboBeef said:
Why would that client pay for someone to turn up with a load of poles/tubes/clamps/helicopters/ballons when for the same money they could have someone like, well, me, offering them full preview of the subject in real time on a laptop, the camera and pan/tilt fully controlled, and a set up time of less than 10 minutes, operating in almost any weather?
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Why?
How about price?

Anybody considered how they are going to control camera shake when it's on top of a 20/30 foot pole . . . ?

LOL! :bonk: :bonk: :bonk:
 
As a kiter there is a guy who goes by the alias of Burt on the Flexifoil kite forums. He specialises in aerial photographj using kites. May not be what your after or appropriate for the site, non the less he produces some remarkable pictures this way.
 
Plugus Maximus said:
As a kiter there is a guy who goes by the alias of Burt on the Flexifoil kite forums. He specialises in aerial photographj using kites. May not be what your after or appropriate for the site, non the less he produces some remarkable pictures this way.
Click to expand...

after a bit of searching I found some of his stuff on flickr - http://www.flickr.com/photos/burtskitecam/sets/ - looks impressive.
 
I heli mount should be fairly easy to make and just operate the shutter remotely via the radio. I remember reading about it in a book a number of years ago about how to wire up a film slr and control the film advance with a servo.

I would be tempted to give it a try myself.
 
Interesting thread this...................

Everyone here has an interest in photography, ranging from keen amateurs to professionals, shooting all sort of different subjects, however there is one thing in common and this it is: to get that killer photo, you need to get the camera off auto and use the manual settings.

Right?

So why all the talk about ballons/helicopters/kites/poles etc with a shutter release? I looked the helicopter option, and dimissed it because all you'd be able to do is point and shot, everything on auto.

With a camera mounted on a mast, you can have it in full manual mode. It is steady, no camera shake and you can take your time composing the shot, and altering the settings (via a laptop) to get that killer shot.

Sending a camera up in a helicopter has it's uses, but not, I feel, for professional photography. You would be too concerned with keeping the thing in the air to shoot anything other than on full auto.
 
Talking about helicopters: you can use them to get that professional shot, as these guys do but you need to spend proper money to get proper results (and have one person flying and another shooting).
 
My idea with the helicopter was using 2 people as to hover steady enough at that height would require a fair bit of concentration. Then just rig up the camera properly to a radio so you can control it.
 
mole2k said:
My idea with the helicopter was using 2 people as to hover steady enough at that height would require a fair bit of concentration. Then just rig up the camera properly to a radio so you can control it.
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Good idea, it just gets a bit expensive as you then need a two man crew..............
 
JumboBeef makes some good points.

A couple of years ago I was quite keen on getting into aerial photography as a side-line to my normal business. All the homemade pole ideas are all well and good but a fibreglass or aluminium pole, with a camera on top gets pretty unstable and tricky to handle.

I fast realised that the only way to go was with a purpose built pneumatic mast and you need a heavy duty one otherwise you have to use guy ropes in anything but the lightest of winds. Then you need something to fix it to, so you have to factor in the cost of a van or 4 wheel drive and quickly the costs escalate.

At one point I came close to doing a deal with a guy for a mast on a trailer, but someone paid more than I was prepared to and in the end, after about 12 months I came to the conclusion that it would take so long to cover my set-up costs, it wasn’t worth the hassle and gave up looking.

No doubt if you had about £20,000 to invest and the time to promote and run it as a full time business you could do ok.

Helicopters are out of the question because you need permission from land owners to fly them and cant do so in built up areas.
 
I wouldn't imagine that the helicopter would "get off the ground" due to the cost either to be honest. By the time you've built the copter, or bought one capable of flying with the weight of the equiptment etc, you're at the sort of sums of money as one of the poles mentioned in the first page, add to that the issues pointed out by Smasher, and you're back to the pole / pneumatic lift kits or a scissor lift.

There are Boom lifts on the market that reach to around the 50ft mark, which would enable you to stand on the platform, securely with the camera in your hands.

Don't expect them to be cheap though. Plus you need a vehicle to move them.
 
I think rather than cost one of the bigger flaws with rc heli's is they are by no means easy to fly. It would be a full time commitment for somebody who's never flown one to learn to fly up to a standard where you could hover at 40ft steadily.
 
Now ignoring the professional side, I came up with an idea for us amaturs.

What you need is that old compact digital camera that you have lying around, the one you lets the kids use. It needs to have a timer.

Set the timer, estimate when it's going off and throw it high into the air. I was thinking of adding a small parachute - like those toy paratroopers.

I might have a go this weekend :D
 
Smasher said:
No doubt if you had about £20,000 to invest and the time to promote and run it as a full time business you could do ok.
Click to expand...

My kit cost around half that, £10,000. The problem with digital is almost anyone can buy a good camera nowadays and take pictures ranging from 'OK' to stunning. If you are looking to work professionally, you really are up against many, many others.

Doing what I do, there are not that many others around who do it, and very, very few (I am one of only a handful in The UK) who use D-SLRs, so it makes business easier to find.
 
JumboBeef said:
Doing what I do, there are not that many others around who do it, and very, very few (I am one of only a handful in The UK) who use D-SLRs, so it makes business easier to find.
Click to expand...

Here you are, one example: this was taken yesterday at about 4pm. By the way, the photo has not been manipulated in any way, apart from a crop, it is how it was taken:

hilton.JPG
 
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