How to set up for pictures taken from the air.

[jens_martin_christensen]

I have resently been set the task of becomming a prof. photografer in

no time and been set uppon the task of taking pictures from the air

at about 120 km/hour and a distance of approxemitly 330 meters or

less. As I know nothing about taking pictures I would like to know

what the shutter speed and the apperature should be set to on my

digital camera. The camera is a Finepix S5000 with 10*optical zoom

and should be able to do the job.

The pictures which I need to take are of, sorry I know not the word

in english accept "the shit containers which farmers keep their shit

from animals in" (sorry for the laungauge)and they need to be sharp

so one can determine wheather they have established a membrane which

will hold back the vapor from the feeses.

 

Summery: Taking a picture from a moving aeroplane moving at aprox.

120km-130km/hour from a distance of aprox. 300 meters..

 

I hope one can give me the recepie for setting up my cammera so I can

keep my job as pilot :)

[dizzy1]

It looks like you got into a tough job if you do not know much about photography. I have had the experience of shooting from a plane a couple of times for skydiving and here are some of the suggestions I will give you.

 

- First of all you are better off if you use shorter focal length instead of zooming in all the way, since the vibration of the fuselage is going to drive you crazy and it will be impossible to get anything sharp above a normal lens focal length.

 

- If you have manual fcosu override on your camera, try and set your focusing distance to infinity or the longest distance and keep it there. This will spare you the time for the camera to hunt for focus with all the vibration.

 

- You will need to get the highest shutter speed you can get without sacrificing quality. Try putting your camera in `sports` mode and by all means avoid using the `landscape` mode for this will give you a very slow shutter speed.

 

- Try to take as many pictures as you can because the chances are you are going to have a lot of throw aways. If it is possible avoid shooting from behind a glass and get your camera an unobstructed view of the subject you are shooting. Another way to overcome this would be to get a polarizing filter which would greatly improve the look of foliage and cut through any reflections on the windshield. But a polarizer is likely to slow down your valuable exposure times.

 

- Getting a hood for your camera will be a great idea if you have access to one because you are more likely to encounter lens flare because a clear view of the sun is more likely to reflect off of somewhere.

 

Last but not least, enjoy the flight and be safe :)

[rich_steward]

As an ex Air Force Photographer, I agree with most of the above comments. Air to Air and Air to Ground are two different "animals"

One more comment, that was not covered. Try and get your pilot to remove the door of the light aircraft. This gives you much more flexability to line up your up coming shot, and the clarity is much better. Safety first though. Get you pilot to circle your target. This gives you a better idea of the best angle, and saves time.

Hve fun