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by Friday Morning Flight Plan at [date]
One of the things we love about flying is the beauty we get to see from altitude. Most people catch glimpses here and there of nice views through the small window of an airliner, but as GA pilots, we enjoy broad views and the ability to fly anywhere we wish. It freaking rules.
Naturally, we occasionally want to share these views with our friends and family, sometimes even on social media, with a comment like, “This photo doesn’t do it justice,” and a few hashtags to establish definitively to our followers that we are #avgeeks with an abundance of #wanderlust, lest they get it twisted.
Or you can share the photos with your friends in real life. Whatever lifts your plane.
Regardless, with some knowledge and practice, your photos can get closer to hitting the mark and truly wowing your earthbound friends. I sat down with a professional aerial photographer, Harvey H. Madison — who happens to be my father (hi, Dad!) — to get the skinny on how to get photos from the sky worthy of your mantle and the ultimate photography flex, #nofilter.
Taking photos out the window
Ideally, don’t do it from behind the glass. The Plexi in most planes is scratched and stained and often provides a warped view.
If you can do so safely and legally, open a window so nothing is between your camera and the target. Even though Harvey flies a Grumman Lynx with a bubble canopy, he still opens it in flight to take photos. Always check the POH before opening windows, and strap your camera to your wrist.
Get the airplane out of the shot unless you're keeping it there intentionally. This is easier said than done in some planes. However, in something like a Skyhawk, you can fly alongside your target and wait until the wing strut and wheel are out of the frame.
If you still get some unwanted airplane in the shot, that's where photo editing apps come into play.
Consider angle and lighting. You’re in a GA airplane, so you can usually fly around your target to get a more desirable angle and distance.
Also, how’s the lighting (sun, clouds, haze)? It goes without saying: Even when no clouds are reported, P6SM foretells better pictures than otherwise.
When you like what you see, get it. Snap that shutter! I confess that dear ol’ Dad didn’t give me this one, but it’s a mistake I used to make.
Waiting to see if the view improves can cause you to miss it entirely. Smartphone photos are free, so click away before, during, and after what you perceive is the best vantage point.
Always fly the plane first. They don’t teach you that one in photography school, but that excuse probably won’t hold up in an expensive insurance claim.
Getting photos inside the cockpit
Hand your camera off. If you’re the pilot, hand your camera to someone else unless you’re the only one who can take the photo.
Turn off the flash. Triple-check that the flash function on your camera is disabled, especially at night. If you’re working with a smartphone, you can quickly verify the flash is off by tightly holding the phone face down against your leg and snapping a shot.
Pay attention to contrast. Most smartphones allow you to tap different parts of the screen to change the exposure level.
Doing so can turn a photo from a silhouette of a person in the plane to a well-lit picture everyone will recognize as Uncle Howard. The same goes for forward-facing photos in which the sky is very bright relative to the instrument panel.
Fly the plane first to avoid an embarrassing NTSB report, a costly insurance claim, etc. I don’t want to say you get the picture, but you get the picture.
Adding a professional touch
Go beyond the usual preflight briefing items. Consider how visibility will impact your photographs and how conditions such as winds, obstacles, time of day (lighting), and visibility will impact the safety of your flight. If you can’t get the shot you need without pushing your personal minimums, scrub the mission.
Low wing is almost always better than high wing for oblique shots. There are two kinds of aerial photos: vertical (down) and oblique (to the side). High-wing struts are difficult to keep out of wide-angle pictures.
Get the airplane in the right spot. Just as with landing, the approach to the point of photography is key. Keeping all your preflight information in mind (mostly wind and sun angle), get the plane to the correct position, heading, and altitude to ensure you only have to make the photo pass once.
Get ready for some tight maneuvering. As a pro in a very slippery airplane, Harvey has stories about flying what looks like an odd turn around a point.
He banks around 40° left, nose on the horizon, and full right rudder, giving him about four seconds to get good vertical images of a target out the left side of the plane. After that four seconds, the camera goes back to the right seat and his hands back on the controls to perform a steep turn to the right, then immediately back to the left, such that he returns to the same distance from the target but around the compass a little.
He does this until he has all the photos required by a client. But remember, you’re just “doing it for the gram,” so don’t get too adventurous with the maneuvers unless you’ve trained for them first.
Experience is the best teacher as long as you maintain safety at all times. For example, it won’t take you long to recall the effect an unbalanced fuel load has on an airplane’s willingness to maintain the desired bank, or eagerly turn into it.
If you’re left-handed and inclined to fly with a real-deal DSLR, you’ll also learn that life is going to be a lot harder unless you learn to operate the camera with your right hand.
Maximize situational awareness. Always know where obstacles are, stay alert for traffic, and if you’re in or near controlled airspace, be prepared to work patiently with ATC until they get you into the position you need.
Harvey has had a lifelong love affair with the sky, which made it easy for him to dedicate the time, money, and effort to becoming skilled enough to sell his wares. But by following the basic tips he provided here, you can take your photos to a level that will have other people wondering why you haven’t considered becoming an aerial photographer yourself.