Hi all,
I will be shooting the World of Outlaws season opener in Ga. I have hooked up with a pilot who will take me up to shoot the track. It's an overhead winged plane and he is going to see how to remove the window. Though he isn't sure about the removal.
My plan is to get airborne right around sunrise after all the teams are there and get some shots of the track and all the haulers. But I have never done this kind of thing before. Any words of advice, help, tips?
I know I am mostly in sports, but I was told about here and thought I would ask here as well.
I shoot with a 1DMkII, 40D, 24-105, 70-200, 100-400, 400. I clearly won't be taking the 400 up with me.
Are you shooting on behalf of the series (i.e. hired by them), or are you an independent just trying to get some interesting images for yourself without having any link to the series itself. Sounds like you're doing this on their behalf, but I'm not clear on it.
If I understand you correctly and you're doing this as part of the series team, it seems clear to me that you should shoot from a helicopter, as an airplane's high speeds, difficulty in placing you at a precise point over the ground, and inability to stop will make shooting much more difficult. Having an opening (removed window, door, or otherwise) through which to shoot would also seem to be a must. And, an airplane will necessitate higher altitudes than a helicopter, which will also lead you to using longer lenses.
From an airplane, you'll get fewer shots, with less flexibility, from more limited angles, from greater distances, and I think your overall success rate will be much lower. Given what I think I understand from your question, I would not recommend trying this in the way you've described.
P.S. Single-engine high-winged airplanes are usually Cessnas, and I believe all of those are OK to be flown with the entire door removed. Removing or opening the window is a much less attractive proposition, and in some models can lead to damaging the door or the window. Obviously, your pilot should check and know for sure... but I'd also caution you on the importance of working with a pilot who's very competent and comfortable operating an aircraft close to the ground. Airplanes are very safe, but you're talking about a pretty high-risk scenario, and you can only die once.
Thanks for the feedback.
Rodolfo: I am shooting for a magazine. We tried to get a helo, but where we are shooting the cost to get one there was way to prohibitive. The nearest ones were unavailable (not for the race, thankfully). I really don't know the type of the aircraft, though I do know it's a high-wing. Thanks for the advice!
First, and above/beyond everything else, ensure that your pilot understands that you want a nice, boring, safe low-level flight and that he/she is perfectly comfortable with that. Also make sure he/she isn't going to be tempted at all to look at you or at what you're doing out of curiosity. Then, make sure you tell him/her that the pilot's judgment comes first in terms of safety and that you will abide by the pilot's choices (no asking "can you get me even lower?"). Very-low-altitude flying is inherently somewhat riskier than average, and it's important that the pilot be focused only on getting you back home in one piece.
It's quite possible you already know all this... but I don't know you, and I'd rather err on the side of overemphasizing the need for caution.
Ask the pilot to ensure that you have an opening through which you can shoot safely. As I mentioned above, it's probably OK to remove a door, but the airplane's POH will mention that and the pilot will know how to find out for sure whether it can or cannot be done safely and legally. But try to avoid shooting through glass or Plexi if it's humanly possible.
I'd suggest that you take two bodies at least to minimize lens changes. Based on the vague idea I have in my head right now from your description, and given that you're shooting stuff on the ground from an airplane, I'd probably use the 70-200 on one body and the 100-400 on the other. I shoot Nikon, so I can't remember whether "Mode 1" or "Mode 2" is the right way to use your IS, but you should figure out which one will compensate actively for all vibrations (without deactivating one axis if it thinks you're panning), and use that mode at all times.
Don't touch the airframe with your camera or lens while shooting, and don't lean on the doorframe either. Anything like that will just transmit a bunch of vibrations to your gear and give you blurry pictures. Do a lot of pixel-peeping after each pass, while the pilot is turning around to give you another go, to make sure that you're getting what you want. Don't be afraid to raise the ISO to get a good shutter speed... there's a lot of things working to give you unsharp images, so do everything you can to counter.
Not that you've heard of it already or anything, but we have this "Mustang Air-to-Air" thread that you might find useful...
Mike is definitely into motorsports and a great shooter. Tim Adams is another with killer images, and there are several others around.
Can you give us a little more detail as to the venue? Can you ask your pilot what is the minimum altitude at which you will be allowed to fly, or at which he feels safe and comfortable flying? Can you get a little more detail on the aircraft? All those might help give you another tip or two.
I saw the thread, Rodolfo but thought it was just for taking shots of airplanes. Thanks for the heads up.
The track is a 1/2 mile dirt oval. What I am hoping to get is a shot at sunrise or as close as possible, weather depending, of the track and all the teams and haulers.
I only briefly talked to the pilot on Friday. He said it was a fixed high wing plane. He actually runs the airport and said we have a choice of a few. So I don't know much more than that. But as the time comes more near I will find out more. I did ask if a door or window can be taken out, he said he will check on that. From my understanding he also does all the service on all the aircraft there.
And get a rubber lens hood if you're shooting through plexi, too. You're highly likely to scratch the glass with the end of the lens otherwise. The rubber ring will save both the glass and your worrying!
Another piece of advice is if you are able to shoot out of an open window is to not use a lens hood as it is not something that you want to stick out in a 90 knot slipstream. As Rodolfo mentioned if youre planning on using multiple lenes, its better to have them each on their own bodies. It gets kinda cramped in GA planes. Good luck
If you don't fly much, consider taking something for motion sickness. I did about 400 hours in news helicopters back in the day, and still never quite got used to it while looking through a viewfinder. I used Bonine myself so I wouldn't have the drowsiness of most Dramamine products.
I don't know how low/high you will be flying. I have a fair amount experience shooting from a helicopter but no fixed wing experience. From what you said, I think you might want to take a wider lens if you are trying to get one shot that includes the entire 1/2 mile track, transporters, ect. Sounds like a lot of real estate to cover in one shot. I'm jealous. Sounds like fun.
