Aerial Photography

[keith204]

Recently I've had a couple bizarre requests of "Do you do aerial photography? So, lucky for me I know a few pilots who own little 2-seater airplanes.

Questions:

1) How much do I charge?
2) Any pointers on taking photos from a plane?

 

[Alpha]

I might ask this on APUG. Most people here think aerial photography means taking photos of airplanes. I'm not kidding.

 

[jstuedle]

Around here I charge $100.00 hr. plus the cost of hiring a pilot and plane. For 2 hours it averages about $450.00. Then show proofs/files and charge what you normally charge for your prints, or CD or whatever.

 

[Snyder]

I take a few photos of landscapes while im flying but ya my main focus is fighter aircraft. Any tips you say, well shoot at a 45 degree angle when taking the photos.

 

[keith204]

I take a few photos of landscapes while im flying but ya my main focus is fighter aircraft. Any tips you say, well shoot at a 45 degree angle when taking the photos.

are you saying to tilt the camera 45 degrees? Why's that?

 

[skieur]

Recently I've had a couple bizarre requests of "Do you do aerial photography? So, lucky for me I know a few pilots who own little 2-seater airplanes.

Questions:

1) How much do I charge?
2) Any pointers on taking photos from a plane?

I charge $1200 per hour. As far as taking photos from planes the main issues are blue haze and poor contrast and colour. I shoot from an open cockpit which means make sure that you take gravol. Air sickness is standard if you are leaning out to take photos.

The lower the better. Early in the morning or late afternoon is better for lighting. An enhanced polarizer is probably the best filter. A really fast lens is necessary because vibration from the plane can soften shots that are not at a fast enough shutterspeed.

Postprocessing aerial photos is a specialized skill. If you can find it, Popular Photography had an article on it about a year ago.

Good luck.
skieur

 

[Snyder]

are you saying to tilt the camera 45 degrees? Why's that?

It gives the trees, buildings and so on a third dimension look. Not all flat like its a photo from a space satellite.