Tips On Photographing Aircraft

[cubflier]

I recently started as an extension of my flying the hobby of photography. During my attempts to advance my skill stumbled across a twist to the typical way to shoot aviation shots that some of you might be interested in.

Night shooting with ambient light can add an interesting effect to a photograph. This picture was taken at night in the dark at around midnight. It was totally dark out and me and a good friend were having a beer around the fire pit when I noticed the moon creeping out behind the clouds.

I took a few attempts at this shot till I got it right. It's a 134 second shot taken on a tripod. Good news is that beer can be consumed with the shutter open. The light that built the picture was the campfire and that from the moon.

The next shot is one I took at Palmer Airport again at around midnight.

The light that built the photo was the moon light to build the background and the sweeps of the rotating beacon at the airport as they passed on the ground in the foreground. The result is what gives the grass it's orange appearance and the only regret was not having my cub parked on the taxiway. This was a 30 second shot.

Of course to take these shots you need a tripod and a camera that will take take long exposures but I've seen plenty of you with Rebels and upper end Point and Shoots that have this capability and wanted to share this with anyone that might be interested.

Finally, I have seen some amazing shots from some of you so if anyone else out there has any techniques they wish to share I for one am interested.

Take Care - Jerry

 

[Grant]

Jerry,
Photography is my other hobby to. I shoot nikon and i want a Hasselblad. I have both film & Digital. D-100 & 2 N80's. I think your shots are great. Were these film or digital? I like the Fuji 100 Speed for long exposure shots. Not quite as grainy as others I have shot. I recently bought the 12-24 Lens for my D-100 and have been thouroughly disappointed. Sure its perfect for the nice wide architectural shots but it kinda sucks otherwise. It was a $1200 lens so I'm a little mad. Anyway good luck and post some more photos. I'll try to dig a few of mine up and post them too.

My nieghbor in colorado was a pro photographer (Not wedding pro But cover of wine spectator, cigar afficianado, & Robb report Pro) He does some neat things. On trick he showed me was how to get a good interior architectural shot. You take the shot at night with all the lights off and shoot that exposeure for however long it needs to be to make the night sky look blue (like you Did) then very quickly flip the lights on & off once. this will expose the interior part of the shot while keeping the windows from being blown out like they would be during the day.

 

[cubflier]

Grant - They are digital photos shot raw and converted. I use Adobe CS2 for post processing. The first is a blend of two exposures and the second is pretty much right out of the camera minus the conversion to jpeg.

I have a Canon 30d and these were both shot with the 24-105L F4 lens. At first I did not like the lens but it got better with time if you know what I mean.

I'd like to see you shots so post on!

Jerry

 

[WindOnHisNose]

Hey, nice pics! I have a Canon 20D but really haven't gotten past scratching the surface of it's capabilities. Thanks for the tips on how you got these shots.

Randy

 

[Speedo]

Jerry:

Very nice. Wonderful color balance, and the clouds show a remarkable amount of detail for such a long exposure. You're really onto something: I see some 2008 calendar photos in the making!

Have you tried really long moonrise time exposures - like 20 minutes? The moon will trace an arc along the image. Combine that with aircraft position lights and lights from a village, and you get a really special image. Another fun one is to aim at Polaris and let the other stars trace an arc around it. This only works if the moon is out of the image, but you can use the moonlight to illuminate another object (like your plane) provided it's not a full moon (which would produce too much light and wash out the image).

It's also interesting to use your handheld strobe to silhouette an object on a dark night. It works best to keep the object between the strobe and the camera: if you accidently allow the strobe to shine directly on the camera lens you'll obscure parts of the object (of course, this can be used to your advantage, too).

 

[cubflier]

Randy

I'm not sure if you have been to Dpreviews forum. They have a lot of great tips on the 20/30d cameras.

http://www.dpreview.com/forums/

Also try the retouching forum they have for any post processing stuff. They have some real pros discuss some amazing techniques for enhancing photos.

PA12_pilot - Sounds very interesting. I think I would need a bigger battery. I'm guessing noise would be an issue going that long?

I'm also wanting to shoot a plane on skiis at night with the northern lights a blaze in the background. Still thinking on how to do that one.


Thanks - Jerry

 

[Grant]

that is the best site for reviews. & i am sure he gets to keep all those cameras. :evil:

 

[Cubus Maximus]

Nice stuff Jerry!

Tried this a couple years ago with a 206. I can't remember the 35mm SLR I was using (borrowed) but illuminated the airplane with a flashlight and the lights of the cabin. Just picked up a Canon 400D (Rebel XTi) and hope to try some more of this when I can burn unlimited practice shots!

Here's a link to the 206 shot:

http://pix.tckid.net/gallery2/v/BradT/album39/206+at+night.html?g2_imageViewsIndex=1

Brad

 

[cubflier]

Brad - Nice shot.

I took the liberty of knocking some of the noise out of the original.

Original:

New Version:

And I bet you will like your 400.

Thanks for the reply,

Jerry

 

[Grant]

Okay what did you do to clean up the noise. I have photoshop but mostly use it to resize & Crop.

 

[JP]

My favorite shots are here:

http://www.lunita.com/aviation/index.htm

 

[cubflier]

Grant

I use the Neat Image Pro+ plugin for photoshop. Photoshop has it's own noise reduction under the filter menu that is ok. I also mask out the plane to preserve it's detail and sharpened it (the plane) a bit.

This was a quicky but if one wants to spend time can restore images to stunning perfection.

I would be glad to discuss in detail via pm.


Jerry

 

[cubflier]

My favorite shots are here:

http://www.lunita.com/aviation/index.htm

Wow!! Who is the shooter. Are you related? Amazing shots.

Jerry

 

[JP]

Not related; a good friend from NYC. Now an editor of sorts at Plane & Pilot magazine. Very, very talented photographer. Wish I had that eye. We'll be seeing a lot more of her photos in the future.

 

[Cubus Maximus]

Thanks Jerry! That really helped a lot! I've got Photoshop 6.0 here in the office (on a PC :-? and the latest version out in the hangar on an older G5 Mac. Just getting into it more seriously for our business pieces (no one likes mangy and fuzzy looking cattle and horses) and I haven't figured the noise thing out yet.

I may PM you for help now and then on stuff like this.

Brad


JP, tell JA that Ben, Jerry and Jim from Minnesota say hi. Also, Ben sent me a shot of her flight instructor friend (brunette), made me want to learn how to fly all over again! "checkride already!? No no, I think I need more practice on long cross country's." 8)

 

[JP]

JP, tell JA that Ben, Jerry and Jim from Minnesota say hi. Also, Ben sent me a shot of her flight instructor friend (brunette), made me want to learn how to fly all over again! "checkride already!? No no, I think I need more practice on long cross country's." 8)

:lol: Will do! Must be something about the water out there on the Left Coast... I'll tell both of them to be at NH next year. JA got her tailwheel endorsement and is a natural...

 

[JMBreitinger]

Photoshop is great but really learning to use it is a second full-time job.

 

[Bill Ingerson]

Cameras

I went to a camera class one time. The instructor had several shots of the space needle at night, holding the lens open for several minutes. He said with the camera on the stand at midnight he would let the lens stay open for several minutes. He said several people walked in front of the camera but you could not see them, no reflective light given off the person walking by. All you seen was the space needle lit up. The next picture had bright streaks through it. He said, anyone guess what caused that? No one could. He said it was someone pushing a bicycle passed the camera, the chrome reflected light and the lens picked it up. I think cameras are very interesting.

 

[Torch]

Great thread. Nice to see something other than the normal post.

I really enjoy taking pictures with the digicams. I have an Olympus 8 megapixel camera. I am strictly an amateur. Every time I get around someone that knows a little about cameras I try to pick their brain. I do know that you just shoot a lot of things and don't be afraid to try things. Every once in awhile one of those pics is special. I want to try some night shots also. I just have to wait til it warms up enough for me and the camera to live through the experience. Some of my better shots.

This pick was taken with a Minolta camera using film. The picture was used by the National Corvette Museum for their main web page. It was there for about 5 months. Mid America Corvettes used it in their calendar. It was -25F. I ran outside and snapped the pick real fast and ran in the house. I got real lucky with the lighting.

This is probably my personal favorite. The sad part is I only had a low resolution digicam with me. I was in Dutch Harbor sport fishing for halibut. It was raining. This eagle was sitting on one of those crab pots you see them launch off of the boats in Deadliest Catch. I really wish I had had the Olympus 8 megapixel camera with me.

 

[TrapAK]

Have been wanting to get a nice camera for a while now. Glad I didn't a while minus a year! Every couple months something new, most significantly digital in high res.
Sooo, still no nice camera.
Was in Comp USA a few weeks back. Sales rep. said 90% of professional photographers used Canon. In ways of home printers, he said 90% of them used Epson.
I see mostly Canons mentioned on various posting here.
I'm leaning toward the xti 10.1.
Is the 20 or 30 d worth the extra money?
On our last annual visit for family pictures (geez Honey, I guess I gotta comb my hair?) I noticed she shot a 30d. She said she could tell and mentioned some other number Canon she'd like. Maybe it was a 20d. Which is more expensive?
Also, along with the stock lens, what would be a good long range shooter? 50-300?
I'm sure its apparent I don't know what I'm talking about.

 

[mhack]

Jerry

That first picture is great. That spot looks familiar. Could it be at Coho Lake on the Kenai. Reminds me of a firepit and lots of beer at a certain cabin on that lake.

Mike

 

[cubflier]

Have been wanting to get a nice camera for a while now. Glad I didn't a while minus a year! Every couple months something new, most significantly digital in high res.
Sooo, still no nice camera.
Was in Comp USA a few weeks back. Sales rep. said 90% of professional photographers used Canon. In ways of home printers, he said 90% of them used Epson.
I see mostly Canons mentioned on various posting here.
I'm leaning toward the xti 10.1.
Is the 20 or 30 d worth the extra money?
On our last annual visit for family pictures (geez Honey, I guess I gotta comb my hair?) I noticed she shot a 30d. She said she could tell and mentioned some other number Canon she'd like. Maybe it was a 20d. Which is more expensive?
Also, along with the stock lens, what would be a good long range shooter? 50-300?
I'm sure its apparent I don't know what I'm talking about.

TrapAK,

I have a 30d and really like it. I was encourage by a member on this forum toward the Canon line and I have no regrets.

Here is a thread on Canon vs Nikon you might be interested in.

One of the posts in this thread has some really good lens lineups if you go with Canon.

Here is a compairison of the xti and 30d side by side.

I would focus on the lens lineups since the bodys will evolve much faster than the glass.

Remember that DSLR has a learning curve to it so make sure you are ready for that.

Jerry

That first picture is great. That spot looks familiar. Could it be at Coho Lake on the Kenai. Reminds me of a firepit and lots of beer at a certain cabin on that lake.

Mike

That is the spot!

Jerry

 

[CarlM]

A different perspective on Canon vs Nikon at:
http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/nikon-vs-canon.htm

 

[Chuck-Fairfax]

Ken prefers Nikon DSLR's over Canon, and explains why. A lot of it is lens related. I studied his website, and everything on dpreview, before making my decision. I had worn out two high end Cannon 35mm camers doing industrial photograpy, and went to a Nikon N70, which was doing great. Work and the world required switch to digital. Open minded after all the research, and talking with "pro" shooters, I went to a big manufacturer's Tent Sale at Penn Camera near D.C. I handled the Canon 30D a lot, and had their rep explain features and the lens choices. Also handled the Nikon D200, and talked to their guy. The menus and operations of the D200 were far and away the easiest to understand. Also, the available vibration resistant 18 - 200 mm lens sounded really good. Went with the D200, and the VR lens, and never looked back. Last outside job I was on there was another hired shooter, company guy, with a D200. Looked at mine, and said, hey, you got a better lens! Just wish I had beautiful stuff to shoot like the Alaska folks do. Also need to learn more about Photoshop post processing. Not too necessary with most R&D automation pictures, but is for people (don't do much) and outdoor stuff.

 

[TrapAK]

Thanks Jerry.
I just have to decide if the 30d is worth an extra 30someodd% more. Probably not for me. I'm a NOVICE. Maybe the xti would be a good stepping stone. The 30 is much heavier! Why would that be? Quality of glass/inner lense?
I've also heard that you get good bang for your buck with a tamron lense for the reach way out there shots. Any thoughts on Tamron?

 

[Chuck-Fairfax]

I would say stick with the factory lenses. Even if some of them are made outside by a company that also sells its own brand, the Canon or Nikon lenses will be guaranteed by the company, they will fit, and you can't go wrong.

 

[JMBreitinger]

One more oportunity for creative expression:
http://www.aopa.org/photocontest/

 

[JMBreitinger]

I bought a Nikon D200 this year and love it. The ergonomics are great. I love having all the dedicated buttons on the outside. Had a chance to use the Cannon EOS 5D too. It was great but not as natural in my hands.

 

[Cubus Maximus]

Playing with the new Canon 400D (Rebel XTi) this afternoon. Am waiting for the replacement lens to finally get here (from New York...) so used an old beater 35-135 Canon lens that has been through the wringer.

http://sparky.supercub.org/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=14129&size=big&cat=

 

[cubflier]

Playing with the new Canon 400D (Rebel XTi) this afternoon. Am waiting for the replacement lens to finally get here (from New York...) so used an old beater 35-135 Canon lens that has been through the wringer.

http://sparky.supercub.org/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=14129&size=big&cat=

What will the new lens be?

Jerry