Window Seat: Air to Air Photography
Hello Everyone and welcome back to Window Seat! Last week I had the amazing opportunity do my first air to air photo shoot and I'm super excited to share this experience with you!
Our subject aircraft was a 2020 Super Decathlon based at E16, San Martin Airport. As you can see from the images it's a flashy, badass, acrobatic machine. ??
The photo ship was our Cessna 182. ?? (photo by AOPA/Mike Fizer) Pat was flying while I took photos from the backseat!
The two planes were really well matched in speed and we didn't have any trouble staying together.
We started our mission with a hangar meeting to discuss our departure, flight to the coast, and shoot. The subject aircraft's pilot did not have a lot of formation experience so we maintained nose to tail separation nearly the entire flight as the #2 aircraft. This is why you won't see any images of the front of the Super Decathlon.
Once established and joined up I started shooting. Something to note about photographing aircraft: you NEVER want the propellor to look like it isn't moving. A perfect example of this is the AOPA cover shot our airplane taken by the AMAZING Mike Fizer (seen above). You don't want your shutter speed to be so fast that it stops the prop but not so slow that the subject aircraft isn't super sharp. This is easier said than done, especially when there is so much movement happening in the air. There is a lot that goes into getting the right settings for any shoot and I did my best to find that sweet spot.
Our main goal for this shoot was to capture an image of the subject aircraft flying inverted (upside-down). Once again, this task is easier said than done. The subject aircraft may gain or lose quite a bit of altitude and speed when transitioning to this attitude. Thankfully after a couple of tries I finally snapped a few good ones! This one is my favorite!
As you can see, our subject pilot really put on a cool show for us and I enjoyed every second of the flight. I can't wait to get back up there and try this again soon! After checking out my images, I definitely need a lot more practice to hone this challenging craft!
For my photographer friends that are interested in my equipment & settings:
- Nikon D850
- Nikkor 70-200mm F/2.8E
- F/18
- 1/125
- ISO 500 (My Nikon can be noisy, I make it a rule to keep my ISO on the lower side)
I hope you enjoyed my latest adventure! To stay up to date on all things 111th Aerial Photography, visit our webpage or follow me on Instagram @EyeInTheSkylane
Talk soon! ??