Aerials From Airliners
Taking aerial shots from an airplane can be frustrating. The plane’s thick, multi-layered windows often cause images to lose contrast and acquire a color cast. Mitigating this issue usually requires some significant image processing.
While it’s impossible to control all of these factors, there are a few things you can consider that may help to improve your results.
- Seating: Choose a window seat so that the sun is behind you when you take your photos. Shooting against the sun will only make any imperfections in the window more noticeable. To avoid convection turbulence caused by the hot engine exhaust, try to get a seat in front of the wing. Websites such as AeroLOPA, SeatGuru and SeatMaps provide detailed information on cabin layout and seat map information s for the most common airliners.
- Window: Wipe the window with a lens or eyeglass cloth to remove potential fingerprints and other grease.
- Photo Gear: No matter how advanced your camera is, it won’t be able to make up for the loss of image quality caused by the atmospherics and the window. Using a smartphone can be a perfectly adequate alternative.
- Camera Angle: Keep your camera as perpendicular as possible to the window plane. Any tilt will accentuate the issues with the window.
- Focal Length: Avoid extreme focal lengths. Telephoto shots will magnify any imperfections in the window. Wide angles may include the window frame in the shot.
- Shutter Speed: To avoid motion blur in your aerial shots, use a shutter speed of around 1/1000 for “normal” focal lengths. For wide angles, you may be able to get away with lower shutter speeds of around 1/400.
- Composition: Depending on how bumpy your flight is, you may find it difficult to frame your shot as intended. Shoot a little wider to allow for cropping in post-production. Historical flight data will give you an idea of the views you can expect along the way. Use a platform like flightradar24.com to find out more.
Have a safe trip and enjoy taking some great aerial shots!
