10 tips in Aerial Photography, part 2

continued from 10 tips in aerial photography, part 1 in colloidfarl.blogspot.com


6. International flights often have TV screens for entertainment. When available, I always set mine to the flight channel which charts the progress of the flight against a map. I regularly take a snapshot of the channel screen so that I can place the location of my photographs at the later time.

7. Use your sharpest lens. Long lens are fine but only if they are sharp, otherwise you have a lot of post-processing to do. My favorite lens in most of my aerial photographs is my 18-55mm kit lens. I have a 70-300mm lens but it is soft and sensitive to camera shake.

8. Photography inside a plane is much like action photography. I often set my camera at the widest aperture or adjust the ISO so that a proper exposure of at 1/500s or faster can be achieved. The plane moves in such speed that is magnified at lower altitudes.

9. When the wide world below becomes your photographic canvas, always remember the fundamentals in composition. Think before you shoot. You may not be able to pass that way again.

10. Cut out glare. Depending on the light conditions, this may mean keeping the lens as close to the window as much as possible. Sometimes the shirt you’re wearing, even when it is all white, could get reflected on the glass and come out in the exposure. A plain dark shirt, especially black, works best for me.


more aerial photographs


Canon EOS 350D Digital, 1/800s, f/5.6, 55mm, ISO 100, -1/3EV
a highly populated island near Makassar, South Sulawesi, Indonesia, July 31, 2008



Canon EOS 350D Digital, 1/800s, f/5.6, 55mm, ISO 100, -2/3EV
an island in South Sulawesi, Indonesia, July 31, 2008
an unpopulated island off Makassar, South Sulawesi, Indonesia, July 31, 2008



Canon EOS 350D, 1/640s, f/6.3, 54mm, ISO 100
Tawi-Tawi, the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao, Sulu archipelago, the Philippines, March 27, 2006



Canon EOS 350D, 0.005s, f/8, 55mm, ISO100, -1/3EV
Makassar, South Sulawesi, Indonesia, September 13, 2006



Canon EOS 350D, 1/800s, f/8, 55mm, ISO 200, -1/3EV
Laguna de Bay (?), Manila, the Philippines, September 12, 2006



Canon EOS 350D, 1/250s, f/10, 55mm, ISO 100
over Myanmar, SE Asia, November 18, 2005



Canon EOS 350D, 1/80s, f/6.3, 55mm, ISO 100
35,000 feet over Dhaka, Bangladesh, November 18, 2005



Canon EOS 350D, 1/250s, f/11, 55mm, ISO 100
the dunes near Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, East Africa, November 10, 2005



Canon EOS 350D, 0.031s, f/5.6, 22mm, ISO 100
the desert dunes of Dubai, UAE, November 7, 2005



Canon EOS 350D, 1/160s, f/5.6, 55mm, ISO 100
Lantau Island, Hong Kong, January 8, 2006



Canon EOS 350D Digital, 1/800s, f/9, 55mm, ISO 100
West Madagascar, East Africa, November 16, 2005