HOW TO MAKE PHOTOGRAPHS OF AIRPLANES INSTEAD OF TAKING “PICS” OF THEM

 Wednesday, 21 January 2015   Jon Hohman   Business Aviation   2292 Hits
Part One- The Gear:

Awhile back, I told one of my mentors, Dan Sellers, that I’d send him a pic I took of an airplane for a broker to get his input. After viewing it he recommended I not call it a “pic”, but instead call it a photograph. He said calling it a pic is belittling the time and effort I put in and the end result. He said anybody can take a pic, but what I’m doing is making photographs or creating images. I liked that and it made me take the photographic process more seriously.

So if you’re reading this and you’re interested in how to make photographs of airplanes, instead of taking “pics” of them, read on and I’ll share some of my recommendations in this little three part series.

I’ll be covering the equipment I use at AeroPhotographic in this first part of the series and some I recommend you take with you to capture photographs of airplanes outdoors. In the second installment I’ll go over part of my actual shooting process from a photo shoot for Swartz Aviation Group, and I’ll finish with a final installment, that will probably include a video too, illustrating some techniques to get you started developing digital negatives or post processing and editing your photos on your computing machine.

If you’ve never picked up a camera you still may benefit from this section, but most of what will follow after assumes you know some photo lingo. The methods discussed can be applied to photographing other vehicles and architecture as well, since the subjects are similar in many ways.

If you need to learn the fundamentals of photography I think a lively way to do so is by joining a group of other novice photographers through somewhere like Meetup.com. Devouring some Scott Kelby books and getting some reading in at websites like CambridgeInColour.com, Digital-Photography-School.com, and Luminous-Landscape.com is also invaluable.
The Gear:

Of course you can spend anywhere from two figures to over six figures on photography equipment. If you’re reading this, you’re probably not up for the six figure route, but are interested in doing more than the compact camera route is currently allowing you to do. So I’ll be going over the work-a-day photographer’s few-thousand-dollar DSLR or digital single-lens reflex camera route.

If you are using some form of compact camera then you may discover here new ways to capitalize on how you’re using it now while you may be contemplating, or better yet, getting excited about, the possibilities of an interchangeable lens system!

I consider the first priority to be your lens choice. You will inevitably change camera bodies but your lenses will stick with you. Lenses are the real investment and determine what brand and system you’ll be committing to for awhile. DxoMark is a popular research tool for comparing lens and camera image quality. They test them both and post the results for you to mull over.

I use prime, wide angle and general purpose zoom lenses while I’m on the verge of acquiring another good prime or non-zoom lens. Prime lenses are exceptional for the very reason that they don’t zoom; the glass is tuned for only one particular focal length, like a master of one trade instead of a jack of all.

A lot of times a “top shelf” lens on a “well” body will get you a better photograph than vice versa. Lenses are one piece of kit I don’t recommend getting used because they are such sensitive pieces that one drop could’ve thrown their performance off or there may be mold or moisture inside, etc. You may not notice the effects until later on or until you scour a magnified image on a computer. Plus you’re going to live with them for a long time so it
doesn’t make as much sense to me as buying a used camera body or tripod head, etc. You might consider renting a lens from somewhere like LensRentals to get a feel and try before you buy, or to rent an exceptional lens for that special shoot. Make sure your lens comes with a hood because hoods reduce glare and off axis lens flare, especially on wide angle lenses.

You can rent camera bodies to test out from your local camera store as well. Arlington Camera is my very fav here in DFW. Which brings me, and a thousand other authors to the question of what camera to buy. You can find contradictory answers for weeks at places like Digital Photography Review, and of course there’s those personal preferences and loyalties involved.

As I understand it, and for our purposes, it is mostly about resolution, dynamic range, and how much information or detail a sensor can resolve from a lens, and then how the camera processes and interprets that information. Sometimes a lens will even out-resolve the camera its mounted on while other times the camera can out-resolve the lens.

Today, the highest resolution you can capture is still captured by the same basic daguerreotype era camera design invented in the 1840s! Yep, the one with the person behind it under the black cloth. It is known as a view camera, field camera, technical camera or large format camera. It’s the luxury camera route – I couldn’t even source prices online.

While it’s not always practical, my much more affordable film based 8×10 view camera is a joy to use. After the 8×10 inch film is scanned on a drum scanner it out-resolves every digital sensor on the market, minus a couple of the highest end digital backs offered by companies like BetterLight and Sinar.

Below the view camera or large format camera is the medium format camera, which is still staggeringly incredible, and I’m looking forward to the day I can afford a Hasselblad.

Back down to reality we arrive at what’s commonly referred to as the DSLR or digital singlelens reflex camera. I use a full frame DSLR, with a 35mm film-sized sensor. More affordable alternatives are the mirrorless cameras or crop sensor cameras using APS-C, Four-Thirds sensors, etc.

I recommend saving up for a full frame sensor camera system as the jump in quality from crop sensors just blew me away. If you buy a crop sensor camera, you’ll be stuck there because you won’t be able to transfer the investment you’ve made in crop sensor lenses as you can’t use most of them on full frame bodies. It is a different lens system altogether, notwithstanding
Sony’s recent full frame mirrorless options, which are definitely worth looking into.

After you’ve got a camera system you’re thrilled about, you will need to mount it on a quality tripod head on top of a quality tripod. I use a Manfrotto 410 geared head on a Vanguard Alta Pro 263AT tripod. The geared head allows me to tilt my camera in small increments, helping me adjust my composition and camera level. The fact that the Vanguard’s legs can splay out up to 80 degrees gives a lot of flexibility, especially on uneven terrain. The tripod also comes with a piece of canvas that you can add weight into that attaches to the legs to help stabilize it and reduce vibrations. Amazon and B&H Photo reviews are a way to research here. There’s a great many tripods, though not many geared heads to choose from. Even slight vibrations will blur a photo and metal tripods vibrate more than carbon fiber or fiberglass while wood vibrates the least.

To make your camera level I suggest a plain ole spirit level be placed on top of the hot shoe because I’ve found out the hard way that circular bubble levels, like those on tripods and heads, are not all that precise.

If your camera can’t be controlled by a smartphone or tablet, then you might find a wired or wireless shutter release online while you’re there because even on a sturdy tripod, pushing the shutter release button on the camera itself will cause it to vibrate and this will blur your photos. If your camera has a mirror then you can reduce vibrations even more by using the mirror lock up function available on some models.

To help keep your sky blue and minimize reflections, I recommend a circular polarizer filter. You want to spend some money here because you’re dealing with glass and your lenses. I use circular polarizers from Schneider Optics. Cut rate filters will cut down resolution and add artifacts and change color.

Speaking of color, for achieving accurate color and white balance in your photos, check out the offerings from X-Rite Photo. Their business is giving you color consistency from capture to print and I find their tools really make a difference in how your colors come out. At the very least, get yourself a matte 18% gray card and get it from a reputable dealer so it will actually be 18% gray. White cards, laminated gray cards, etc. will not cut it.

For spotless skies in your photos I recommend keeping your optics and sensors squeaky clean. Sure you can Photoshop out dust spots, but sometimes it can involve a tedious or near impossible cloning job in Photoshop if the dust lands in just the right places in the image. There is no consensus I’ve found online on how to keep your lenses and sensor clean. Even large telescope manufacturers don’t agree on the methods! From all the research I’ve done on the topic, I’ve settled on a Lenspen for my lenses, the D-SLR Brush from Germany for my sensor, and a Giottos blower. I advise against using liquid cleaners of any kind because it can foster condensation and mold growth inside your lenses. If you come across a spot on your sensor that the D-SLR Brush won’t dislodge, then I’d take your body to the camera shop for a nice pro cleaning, fifty bucks is the going rate here.

When your packages arrive and you come across those little packets of silicon, store them next to your camera and lenses to keep moisture out. The silicon will reach capacity after a few months so swap packets out whenever you come across them.

Lastly, to develop your photos, or digital negatives, max out the RAM on a good computer then install some photo editing software, preferably Photoshop and Lightroom, which come in a subscription together for a ten spot a month right now. I’m also really impressed with Capture One Pro. It isn’t cheap, but look out for their specials. There are many fun plug-ins out there for effects, sharpening, raw conversion, etc. too, but just make sure you choose editing software that are compatible with the plug-ins you want, i.e. some will run on Photoshop and Lightroom but not on Gimp or will only run stand-alone, etc.

If you’ve gotten this far then thanks so much for reading! I hope I’ll be adding something beneficial to your photographic process with this article series. Surely I’ve forgotten some things and can only cover so much here, so please feel free to write me with a question or comment via aerophotographic@gmail.com.

Also many, many thanks to Michael Flannelly of Business Aviation Network for suggesting I write these 🙂 Look out for the next article: Part Two- The Shoot