Aerial Photography Question

I'm continually impressed with all the great aerial photos that are posted. It seems my shots are never quite as good. Many of mine are washed out by the canopy or haze, or there are reflections etc. Are there some basic do's and don'ts that you photographers are willing to share?

Thanks
Dick Flunker
RV-6A 1025+ hours

DickF said:

...Are there some basic do's and don'ts that you photographers are willing to share?

Thanks
Dick Flunker
RV-6A 1025+ hours

Click to expand...

There is no way to make shooting through a canopy be like shooting with a removed door, but it is amazing what some people can get with the built-in handicap. I think Doug Reeves does about the best, but he does use some high-tech equipment like gyro stabilization.

I'm not a great example, but have learned a few things. As for the reflections just learn to notice them and adjust your angle so they are not there. If you get some in a picture anyway, throw it away. For atmospheric haze, maybe a polarizing filter would help, never got into that. Best solution is to move west.

The canopy itself seems to add sort of a hazy effect. I have found that a little tweaking in photo-software helps there. A little increase in contrast seems to often make it look a bit better.

I am completely converted to image stabilization in the camera. It is absolutely amazing the difference this makes in turbulence. The photo below was taken at midday in the desert with a telephoto lens and it was pretty choppy.

Have fun.

REFLEXIONS

I have used circular polarizer filters on my camera and it is amazing how much of the reflexion it will remove. I don't have aerial photography experience but a reflexion is a reflexion... ymmv

Rubber skirt...

DickF said:

Are there some basic do's and don'ts that you photographers are willing to share?

Thanks
Dick Flunker
RV-6A 1025+ hours

Click to expand...

Hi Dick,
Over the years I've had quite a few of my farmers ask for pictures of their farms. I used a 35mm Canon AE-1 for years and made some good pictures by leaning the lens against the plexi door to eliminate reflections. The downside is that you can scratch the plex. A better way is to go buy a rubber boot/skirt that fits the lens and have it press against the canopy/window, etc. I now use a digital camera and have the same problem.

Regards,

Circular polarizer and billions of pixels!!!

Try and shoot "down sun" and take lots of pictures - the more you take, the more likely that you will have one that turns out....

And then use a good software package like Picassa to adjust the images!

Paul

Sundowners

The easiest technique I've found is to shoot a) early morning or late afternoon and b) make sure your airplane is between your camera and the Sun (you should be in shadow when you shoot). You'll be amazed how much of the glare disappears when you do these two things.

And, as Paul alluded to, a simple contrast tweak in Picasa (free) or Photoshop afterward can make a world of difference.

Good luck!

b,
dr

neat trick

My wife discovered this and I am still amazed at how well it works. Using MS Photo Editor, first sharpen, then soften, then sharpen again. Repeat as necessary. Somehow this will improve a shot that was not so sharp to begin with and it's better in the cases she showed me than just plain sharpening. Given all the relative motion and vibration in the aircraft, this might help save a shot. Photo Editor comes with most MS Office installations that I've seen.

polarizing filters are great but only work from a 90 degree angle from the sun. If you extend your pointer finger and your thumb, then point at the sun, your thumb will show you the direction the filters are most effective. Also you can use photoshop to "crush" the black levels which usually help alot with "haze".