Aerial Photography Know How

[gsrcrsx68]

Anybody have any ideas on setting up an aerial photography service? Type of digital equipment that would work? Details of aircraft setup? When shooting from a plane do you normally shoot trhough the glass or rig windows to open fully? Orders on demand or shoot photos and try to find customers? Pricing for photos?

Looking at horizontal(almost that is) photagraphy as opposed to survey or vertical.

 

[Brierpilot]

Aerial photos

I did aerial photography for 3 years. It’s a great way to built time. I worked for a surveying company and we had 2 setups. One was a large format mapping camera mounted in the bottom of the aircraft. That setup is a very expense setup. It sounds like you are interested in doing oblique photography, which is the picture taken from the side or window of the aircraft. The aircraft we used were a Cessna 206 and 172. The 206 had a small door in the rear that opened but we used the windows as well. The windows will open full if the hinge is modified. The problem with the window photos you have to be careful of the wing struts in the shots. You were asking about clients, real estate companies.

PM me for more info

 

[gsrcrsx68]

Thanks...The only other question I have is camera equipment for oblique photography. I have a nice 5 megapixel cam. The picture quality is good but from like 200ft...might be a problem.

Would an 8 megapixel digicam with a good lens get the type of quality required? That seems about what my budget could handle.

 

[A Squared]

Thanks...The only other question I have is camera equipment for oblique photography. I have a nice 5 megapixel cam. The picture quality is good but from like 200ft...might be a problem.

Would an 8 megapixel digicam with a good lens get the type of quality required? That seems about what my budget could handle.

Be careful, here, 91.119 is still applicable. that means 1000 ft above any obstacle over congested areas. (The FAA uses a pretty loose definition of "congested") Otherwise, at least 500 ft AGL. unless you're over a "sparsely populated area" then you still have to be 500 feet from any person, vessel, vehicle or structure.

REmember, the most common regulation violation is 91.119. One of the reasons for this is that many people don';t like airplanes, or thier noise, so if you're circling around trying to get pictures, you may be pissing off someone with the local FSDO on speed dial.

You *may* be able to get waivers for the photography, I don't know, but it's worth looking into. Anyone with experience in the real estate photo business know about getting an altitude waiver?

 

[gsrcrsx68]

The 200 ft thing was a joke...shoulda used a smiley face. As far as the 1000 ft thing, I gotcha.

 

[Espalda Mojado]

Anybody have any ideas on setting up an aerial photography service? Type of digital equipment that would work? Details of aircraft setup? When shooting from a plane do you normally shoot trhough the glass or rig windows to open fully? Orders on demand or shoot photos and try to find customers? Pricing for photos?

Looking at horizontal(almost that is) photagraphy as opposed to survey or vertical.

We will be offering very low-cost aerial photography with our new ferry flight service. We will use digital cameras and customers will be able to download directly from our website. Starting prices will be somewhere around fifty cents for a download, and a dollar per printed photo.

 

[DrProc]

We will be offering very low-cost aerial photography with our new ferry flight service. We will use digital cameras and customers will be able to download directly from our website. Starting prices will be somewhere around fifty cents for a download, and a dollar per printed photo.

I figured the way you operated, that you would pay the customer to look at your photos.

 

[Espalda Mojado]

LOL! No, the idea is to do some fun flying on days off. Nobody in our network will by ferrying or taking pictures for a living. We are all professional pilots with 121 or 135 jobs. We don't need to charge much for the pictures since we will probably only use that to maintain the web site.

 

[navigator72]

$1.00 per image printed? Wow...... can you do my photography and I will sell the images to my clients for the $100's that I usually charge.

 

[navigator72]

I recommend a digital SLR, I started with a 6.3MP with a bunch of low quality lenses and have since uprgraded to a higher end camera with a much more high quality lens with IS (Image stablilization). You won't need a mega zoom, The image becomes very grainy from the vibration in the aircraft.

 

[gsrcrsx68]

Thanks Navigator

Espalda Mojado, you crack me up.

 

[777-2H4]

I also suggest a Digital SLR. I took some photos out of a C172 and they came out beautiful. You dont need a lot of zoom - Canon has a nice 17-85mm with image stabilizer (which I use) and its great. That lens should be just the ticket for good basic aerial work. When planning a shot you'll want to plan on which direction to shoot from depending on the sun and time of day.

 

[gsrcrsx68]

Cool...And to make it even better I just found out a friend has a Canon 30d 8 megapix with a variety of lenses. Just be whipping up my website and test run wome photos.

 

[navigator72]

Ya got a name for your website yet?

 

[gsrcrsx68]

I've got some ideas, but nothing that I've registered yet. I'll let you know when I do. How bout you?

 

[wizbang]

I operate a small AP business in Australia, i am i full scale pilot and use C-172 above 500agl, but use a Petrol powered RC Heli, with a gyro stabalized remotley operated camera mount in an underslung configuration, can carry up tp 6kg payload, we use sony vx 2000 for video and various cameras for stills, depends on the job. Sure helps with shooting below 500agl.
The camera mount is fairly inexpensive, because its gyro stabilization uses gyro units that are normally used for tail control in all rc helicopters. Three of these on the mount can give you stabilization in pan tilt and roll, that in conjunction with a 2.4ghz downlink and a ground staion and you have a proffesional AP setup for low level applications. Of course there are other complications if you want to make money with these setups as FAA and CASA downunder have thier own set of rules regarding operating UAV for financial gain. and there is the safety aspect as these things could kill quite easily if not operated in the right manner.
Insurance is available if you know where to look.

PS if there are any spelling mistakes I dont care!

 

[navigator72]

I have a domain that I recently registered for another idea but have decided to go with something else.
www.ProAerials.com
If you want it, make an offer