Last week I posted about Aerial Photography: Las Vegas Sunset . This weekend I finally got around to sorting through the video footage I recorded from that adventure as well as some key shots from each segment of the trip around the strip at sunset. Without further ado, here it is. Hopefully it gives you a sense of what the experience was like and you enjoy it. Let me know what you think.
aerial photography
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Sunset as Sin City wakes up – Canon 7D Mark II + EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM
The only way to see the Las Vegas strip and city lights is from 3000 feet, strapped-in, with the doors open, at sunset. About a week ago I had the opportunity to experience this unique perspective on Sin City. After searching for a unique vantage point on the city for my ongoing collection of limited edition skyline panoramas, I decided to look into taking one of the helicopter tours. However after some research and talking to some of the folks in the business, I concluded that I would have to charter the whole helicopter for an extended period to be able to realistically get a good shot of the skyline.
This was a much more sophisticated endeavor than it seemed at first blush. For starters, a separate flight plan would have to be filed with the FAA 72hrs prior to flight time, I would have to determine where exactly I wanted to fly to, and what I wanted to photograph as much a possible. The folks at Maverick Helicopters were most helpful from the very beginning. Their agent, chief pilot and staff went the extra mile to get me up to speed on the process including fast tracking the flight plan filing and approval process with the FAA.
Our amazing pilot Mike took the time to work out all the final details of the flight, points of interest, safety procedures and local airspace. I was able to communicate some of my objectives as far as framing my shots and he took all my feedback and integrated it into is flight patterns, even when I least expected. The helicopter ride was very smooth and stable. While I had previously worked through some of the challenges of aerial photography (see my previous post Aerial Photography: Sacramento to San Francisco Bay) I encountered some new challenges.
I was only too happy to be strapped in with the door open the entire flight. This meant that I would not have to shoot through the polycarbonate windows. However what I forgot to consider was the fact that I would have a huge rotor above my head creating a downward draft the likes of a hurricane wind. The rotor draft was also not a steady stream which I could compensate for, but more of very fine, high frequency pulses that introduced a corresponding resonance through the lens and camera body. It was so powerful that even the world class Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II lens and it’s 4 stops of image stabilization, could not cope at all. The down draft alone ensured a “keeper rate” of less than 40%.
I shot primarily with the Canon 7D Mark II and the EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 lens. From past experience, speed and responsiveness of the camera are the most critical characteristics for aerial photography. Even then, at times I did wish I had the 1Dx on hand for some of the shots. The 7D Mark II kept a steady stream of shots coming through. In all I shot over 150GB or photo and video. I will be posting more detailed shots and video as I get through sorting and processing it all.
It was a grand experience. Even though it was also my first time experiencing a helicopter ride, I am convinced this is the only way to do it, the only way to take in Sin City, the only way to photograph it, the only way to experience it – strapped in with the doors open. It was well worth it.
I would also like to say thanks to Cindy, Joe Bishop, Jim Ogletree, Mike Martin and all the folks at Maverick helicopters for making this possible. I look forward to flying with you folks again in the future.
Heading out to meet the folks at Maverick.
Maverick limo waiting to pick us up.
Going over the flight plan, helicopter and safety with our pilot Mike.
All strapped in, ready for lift off.
Lift off at sunset
Heading up the east side to the strip towards the Stratosphere
Pushing hard to get my shot given the storm of variables.
A celebratory champagne toast with our pilot
Rob, great guy, cool and took care of anything we needed.
Jimmy my bodyguard taking care of business.
Mellowing out on the ride back to the hotel. Taking it all in.
Teaser: getting creative with one of the ultra wide shots.
Teaser: getting creative with one of the ultra wide shots.
Teaser: Sunset over Sin City
Teaser: Sin City waking up.
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San Francisco from 1500 feet over the SF Bay
About a month and a half ago, I had the opportunity to go flying with my good friend Eric. We had been talking about getting out and flying the friendly skies for a while and everything seemed to be aligned for that to happen. We booked a fairly new 2008 Cessna 172 single engined aircraft. I had just taken delivery of the Canon 7D Mark II and thought it would be the perfect camera to explore aerial photography. This was meant to be as much an exercise in private aviation as a study in aerial photography and the challenges it poses. I hoped to learn enough about it to develop my techniques and understand what questions to ask as well as the requisites to successful photography of ground subjects.
The short version is this: Arial photography is a completely different beast that simply cannot be tamed. Below are what I feel are the requisites. Understanding these does not guarantee a successful capture of your subject but it will increase the odds of success.
- Weather
Before your excursion, you need to understand the weather around your subject. In this case there was a cloud blanket over the pacific, to the right, up to the SF Bay and coast line. This meant we couldn’t fly VFR along the coast and exercise the creative flexibility needed to get a good capture of the city. Given where the sun was in the sky, this was the ideal vantage point to capture the city. - Flight Plan
Consider the flight plan, what angles and perspectives on your subject it will offer. Is there restricted airspace around your subject that prevents certain key routes? We had to fly close to restricted airspace which added yet more complexity to the exercise. Also consider the time of day and where the sun will be relative to your subject and flight path. As you can see, from the photos, the best position for that time would have been flying along the coast and not circling the bay. However a few hours later, the best route would have been the circling the bay waters again at magic hour as the city starts to light up. The sun was still too high up and the vast bodies of water caused too much glare. Even with a circular polarizer. - Aircraft windows
Most light/private aircraft windows are not made of glass but of some kind of polycarbonate plastic. This is especially aggravating as it further cuts out saturation, reduces contrast and diffuses light. As a result it will soften (to put it mildly) and blur your shots. It also vibrates a lot and causes distortions in the image. I used the Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM and was unable to get a sharp shot of the city. The more the ambient light, the more pronounced the problem. Magic hour may yield slightly better results. I have been able to photograph the city at a similar angle and distance from twin peaks and been able to resolve people walking down the sidewalk with the same lens on the 7D. Opening the window was not an option this time and on this aircraft unfortunately. - No composite shots
Any type of composite shots are very pretty much impossible. Be it HDR or panoramas, you will have a very hard time overcoming extreme parallax. The aircraft is moving much faster than it feels this combined with the extreme perspective means you will not be able to stitch any two shots together. As for HDR you will need a very fast shutter speed. There was no point using the 5D Mark III for aerial stills (I used it mainly for ultra wide angle video) as it is just too slow. The 7D Mark II’s 10fps enabled only a few somewhat successful HDR composite shots but only after cranking up my ISO in broad daylight to keep my shutter speed in the thousandths or a second. Still the results were painful due to the plexiglass windows. I spent a good deal of air time attempting composite shots that went nowhere.
Overall this excursion was a success. I learned a great deal. I’m planning another aerial photography excursion sometime this year. I’m also considering a helicopter instead of an airplane and will also consult with private aviation authorities on what other options are available to me. It was a fun exercise flying the friendly skies, checking in with ATC (Air Traffic Control) and seeing who’s up there doing what.
We took off from Sacramento Executive airport, flew over Travis AFB and onto the SF Bay via Sausalito. ATC folks were a very nice and friendly bunch and took interest in our photography outing. It is humbling to know that they are there 24/7, all over the country, keeping the skies safe. Cheers to them!
Below are some highlights. The shots are straight out of the 7D Mark II and have not been processed.
Sacramento Executive Airport
Selfie
Tripple Niner Hotel Echo
Taking off from Sacramento Executive Airport
SF Bay approach
Golden Gate Bridge
Exploratorium
Downtown SF
Downtown SF
Alcatraz
Alcatraz
San Quentin correctional facility
Eric doing what he does best
Instrument Cluster
PhotoSnob 