Aerial Photography - Ray Janko - Photographer

Get into position to capture a picture that most people can't:
That's where the simple stuff ends. First get a camera and learn how to use it. Then while you're at it, pick up a pilots license and a plane to fly. I started flying and acquired my pilot's license with a night rating back in 1975. I was lucky to have been able to take out my license back then. The cost of getting a license today is out of reach for all but the very devoted wanna-be pilots with a rich uncle. Back in 1975 I was renting a brand new Cessna 150 for $21 per hour, and a Cessna 172 rented for $27 per hour. That included fuel and insurance! Today renting a 30 year old Cessna 150 or 172 runs between $70 and $130 per hour. Today the cost of acquiring a private pilot's license with a night rating can easily cost over $12,000. To make any money at today's prices you'd have to charge serious money for a picture of some guys farm house. I've only done a few shoots where money was no object. One was for a court battle, the twenty or so pictures I took on that shoot were needed to show encroachment of property lines. Money wasn't a big issue for that customer.

Go down to your local airport and hire a flight school or charter a plane:
They will charge you the prices I listed above, and also an extra $40 to $60 per hour for the pilot. The pilot will be commercially licensed and will want to be helpful, but likely won't be very interested in your photography. Undoubtedly the pilot won't get you into a great position for your shot because only you know what you want, and what you see through the lens. This assumes you aren't too scared to open the window and hang your camera out, or that you can even find your place from the air. There are some serious tricks to finding places from the air, you'd be surprised how hard it can be at times. Sometimes the only sure way to find the subject is to drive to the property and waypoint it into a handheld GPS so you can find it later from the air. Even once you've slowed down to 80 or 100 miles an hour, the shot you want still comes and goes pretty quick. Things like landing gear get in the way of a good shot. Also low wing aircraft are a total waste of time for aerial photos. It's been my experience that the only way to get a decent shot is if you can fly the plane and shoot the picture yourself. Another way is to use a helicopter. Just wait until you check what they cost per hour.

Just hire a professional photographer to handle the whole thing:
That's what most people do. Go to the yellow pages, look up a local photographer, and talk aerial photography. That's probably the worst thing that anyone could do if they have any regard for money. First of all, its almost a guarantee that the photographer isn't a pilot, and now has to make a bunch of arrangements about things totally unknown. Time is money, so not only will you be charged for the obvious costs I listed above, but also a healthy percentage for the arrangements made. Then there's the cost of the professional photographer. For some situations money is no object, and quality is of paramount importance.

I've actually done a shoot for $40:
Not that I'd ever do it again. Making money on the photography isn't always my main issue. I want to fly and photography helps make it affordable. In the last few years I've flown more than 200 hours and most of that flying was paid for by taking pictures (well over 2000 digital pictures). To fly that many hours, without a small business venture helping with the costs, would be almost impossible to imagine. Certainly the fun would be gone having to pay huge rental bills with no reward. In case you're wondering about actual aircraft ownership over renting. It's long since been determined that it's cheaper in the long run to rent. With aircraft, any bad luck usually means no more flying, and huge repair bills. Ownership works only if your main intention is to lose money for a tax write-off. Or if you're going to fly all the time. Or out of simple love for a particular plane. I've never fit any of those criteria.

Then there's the aviation laws to deal with:
The most ridiculous law, until you fully understand the reasoning, is that it's illegal to take aerial photos for hire unless you are alone in the aircraft. I have to do the flying and the photography myself. Having someone with me in the plane while taking pictures for hire from the air is illegal. Even another pilot for safety reasons isn't allowed! Believe it or not it does make some sense. It's to do with commercial air operation guidelines. The law states that the aircraft must be commercially registered and licensed and the pilot must hold a commercial license when involved in a for hire air operation. That increases the cost factor considerably. However If a private pilot like myself, flying a private plane, wants to scoot along at 500 feet above your house and take a picture, that's fine, so long as there's no one else in the plane. If there was someone else in the plane it couldn't be proven that the other person wasn't paying for the flight, or doing the photography. That would be a commercial air operation. The fact that I sell you a picture after the flight means I'm engaged in professional photography, not commercial air operations for hire. Just like you, how I get to my workplace is irrelevant.

The right camera is hard to find: Originally written in 2002.
Its hard to find a camera that will do the job with good results and still be easy to use. The biggest problem is the weight of the camera. Flying the plane and taking pictures at the same time requires the camera to be able to be used one handed. That limits the choices real quick. You need a good quality camera to get a good shot, and in general, the more quality the more weight. A zoom lens is an absolute must, and a high quality zoom lens weighs a ton. Not only is it an expensive procedure to find the right camera and lens, quite often you have to actually use the camera in action to find that it doesn't do what you thought it would. The lens has to be fast so the shutter speed can be kept high. Taking a picture at a shutter speed less than 500 will guarantee you a creatively blurred shot, I've found it hard to sell blurred pix. Its surprising how little light is available for an aerial photo, in most cases the subject has a great deal of dark green foliage. Also the shadows play an enormous part in the available light. Even on a bright day it can take a lot of lens to get shutter speeds real fast. Fortunately focus is easy, set it to infinity and start shooting. Depth of field is of no concern at all. Of course having to manually advance the film is no good. Currently I'm using a Pentax MZ-7 with a 28-105. I tried the popular 28-200 but it was just too heavy. Ideally a composite high quality 35-150 would be just about perfect. Anymore telephoto than 150 will just magnify the haze and dust in the air. Surprisingly at ground level the haze factor isn't noticed, get up to 2000 plus feet and take a look down, its a different story. So far digital cameras don't cut it. No doubt they will, but not yet. Digital is still light years away from comparing to film. Quite often the resulting aerial photo will be enlarged considerably and be displayed on someone's wall. Film is the only way to deliver quality enlargements beyond an 8X10. However digital images can be scanned from the film negatives, and then used as digital pictures for the Internet and web site development. Film allows both options, digital doesn't. Note: Read the following update.

Update April 2006: Finally digital is comparable to film!
I've now found a digital camera and lens combination that allows me to switch from film to digital. This will allow for a significant increase in captured shots of the subject properties, which ultimately increases the probability of the perfect shot being captured. No more changing film every 24 shots. This is a gigantic move forward and will change my approach to aerial photography forever. Costs of doing the aerial shoots will drop due to the savings on film, processing and printing all the photos. The time in the air should also drop due to not having to fumble around changing film. I have done several tests with this new digital and am literally amazed. I no longer have to worry about whether or not the film will be processed and printed properly. Standard enlargements of 8 X 12 are perfect. There is also the added advantage of being able to re-work the digital images in an enhancement program before sending the photos for printing or over the Internet to the client. I can now deliver higher quality at less expense. The camera I now use is a higher end digital SLR with a zoom lens. Although this new digital is my main camera now, I will still shoot 35mm film as backup or when requested.

The plane facts:
Actually this is the easiest part of the whole equation. The simple little Cessna 150 is about as good as it gets. Rent any 150 and with just one small modification you're ready for photos. The Cessna 150 is easy to maneuver, it responds very quickly. Quite often shooting straight down requires a serious left bank to get the landing gear out of the way. It's a snap type of maneuver. The 150 responds to that command instantly. If you're very careful the 150 can be flown as slow as 60 miles an hour safely. Safe slow fight, while looking through a camera lens, and trying to concentrate on a good shot, while keeping the plane under control is a tough task. More plane than the 150 requires more pilot attention. There are several better planes to use, but they will never be found for rent. The 150 can be rented at virtually any airport in North America. That means, with a camera in hand, and a airport handy, you're in business anywhere. The only modification that must be done to the plane is that the pilot's window has to be able to be opened totally. The 150 has a small retainer that allows the window to only open about 6 inches. Remove the retainer and once up to flying speed the window can carefully be opened and allowed to swing up under the wing. The air pressure flow under the wing will hold the window in place. This modification allows an unobstructed view out a good sized window.

September 11th changed things:
The aftermath of the terrorist attacks has made a noticeable difference in the overall aviation industry. You would have to be asleep at the stick not to see and hear what has happened to the airlines. Small private aviation hasn't been exempt from this damage either. Ask anyone trying to acquire insurance on light aircraft. I have lost use of a few planes I used to have at my disposal anytime I wanted due to insurance. One flight school and rental facility I still use reports a 60% increase in their insurance since Sept. 11. It would appear that things are probably going to get worse not better with the insurance companies, and just like your car, aircraft must have insurance too. Costs have risen, keeping private aviation out of reach for most. Too bad.

Don't quit your day job thinking you've just found an exciting new career!