Aviation Photography
my long trek to taking better pictures
Part 1
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I've had a love affair with photography for almost 50 years.
| For me, this began when Dad would pull out his large twin lens reflex camera, usually around a holiday, birthday or family event. As a youngster, I recall watching him bury his eye in the lens hood, his hand to the knurled knob on the side and see the bellows move back and forth as he zeroed in on his focus. Then he'd snap and the shot would be done. We'd wait weeks, sometimes months, to see the results. After all, a full roll of film had room for 12 negatives! |  |
When the film was finally developed, we were thrilled to see the results. Here are two photos, one from the 40's and another from the 50s, but they both share the same "feel" - the subjects are dressed up for a special occasion, some of them are posed comfortably and others more stiffly, but always in full black and white.
 Aunt Emma, Aunt Millie and Mom circa 1940 |
 I took this family picture as a youth circa 1957 |
For our family during the 50's, color photos were reserved for special occasions only. While Dad sometimes shot color, the cost of the film and print processing was too extravagant for normal use. But for those special times when we did use color, we sent the exposed film to one of the discount processing services to save money. The downside: developing by mail took an additional week to complete.
As a youngster with sparse earnings, I turned to Uncle Tom who was in the Air Force at the time. He agreed to buy a camera for me at a huge discount on the Air Force Base PX, but I would have to wait a whole year until he returned from service overseas to get my hands on a state of the art Canonflex RM SLR camera. In the mean time, I learned to develop film and make my own prints. A small corner in the basement became my darkroom. I covered the windows to keep out the light, fashioned a processing area from discarded planks of wood and used Mom's washroom sink to provide water for the chemicals. I spent many nights mixing developer, stop bath and fixer; processing film and making black and white prints. Later I would learn to make color prints. It would take take three hours of preparation to make the first color "test" print and perhaps six hours to get an acceptable "final" color print. Wow, I can't believe that I had that much patience back then.
To further my interest, something great happened. Mom arranged for me to get a part time job with John Margotta, an old acquaintance who happened to be a professional photographer. For three years, after school I would head to John's photo studio to learn the photography business. In the studio I was his assistant. I would hold lights and set up equipment for weddings, bar mitzvahs, anniversaries, birthdays, modeling shoots, funerals (yes, funerals) and more. And of course John taught me many darkroom techniques.
My photographic education continued. During high school I proudly served on the yearbook staff as one of the three student photographers with access to sporting and entertainment events. In the following examples, you'll see that we continued taking black and white photos since the cost of color was prohibitive at the time.
 The friendly cheerleading squad of New Rochelle High School circa 1967 |
 Motown's Four Tops performing at New Rochelle High School circa 1966 |
I've had a love affair with aviation too as the opening photograph testifies. Armed with phototaking knowledge, I began taking pictures of all things aviation at a young age. I recall with joy visiting the airport to pick up relatives and racing to the rooftop viewing areas to catch a glimpse of the planes.
Growing up in the New York area, I was familiar with both LaGuardia and Idewild (later to be renamed John F Kennedy), the local airports. These two photos were taken early on in my "career".
 My love of photography and aviation started long ago. Here's America's first jet airliner, the Boeing 707 Astrojet. |
 I took these photos about 1960 at Idewild Airport in New York. The airport is now known as John F Kennedy Airport (KJFK). |
During my college years, I completed my formal photo training by working at two different high end processing labs servicing the Madison Ave advertising agencies; taught at the college photography club; and introduced my girlfriend to darkroom techniques. By the way, she's now my wife and hates the darkroom. Shortly thereafter, serious photography took a backseat to raising a family, putting bread on the table and becoming involved in the software publishing industry. Although I took and accumulated thousands of photos during this period, the bulk of these were of family faces and of the scenic vacation variety.
Skip forward 30 years to the mid-1990s. Our company Abacus, has already become involved with Flight Simulation. I find myself immersed in the emerging new world of digital photography. The stars are finally aligned and I'm now ready to marry two of my long time interests: photography and aviation.
With digital, the equipment and processing techniques are radically different from conventional film photography. But the basics of photography haven't changed much. So I'm in a position to benefit from my prior photographic know-how.
The remainder of this article are a collection of tips that I hope you can use.
My first TIP: you don't have to buy an expensive digital camera to take quality aviation photos Below, I've listed the camera used for each photo. But you'll see from the wide range of equipment I've used, that the camera's maximum resolution isn't all that important unless you are going to make large, printed enlargements. You'll see that for web pages, resolutions that starting at 1.4 MP and increasing to 10+ MP are all quite satisfactory.
The vast array of digital cameras make taking aviation photos very forgiving .... and very inexpensive - verging on free. And with instant development that's faster than a Polaroid, the built-in color LCD gives you immediate feedback so you can try again when you need to reshoot. You can hardly miss using a digital camera with silicon film and a computer as your darkroom.
The first digital camera that I used was an single lens reflex (SLR) called the Olympus C-1400L. With a resolution of 1.4 MP and 3x zoom lens, it produced very acceptable images. To take the photo of the Beech B200 below, I was standing behind a chain link fence. You can clearly see the vignetting of the image (shadow) at the upper left corner due to the fence. TIP: avoid fences Click the thumbnail below of the Beech B200 to see the full size image. You'll see that the photo is quite sharp and has a lot of detail. So you can see that 1.4 MP is quite adequate for photos that are destined for web pages.
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 Beech B200 at Lake Tahoe (KTVL) taken with C-1400L in 1998. 1280 X 1024 pixels (1.4MP) |
A few years later, I graduated to the Olympus C-2000 with 2.1 MP resolution, also with a 3X zoom lens. The picture of Lake Mead was taken on approach into Las Vegas. TIP: sit by the window From my window seat, I was able to capture the rugged shoreline of the Colorado River / Lake Mead and the Hoover Dam. The resolution here is fine enough to capture the boats skimming across the water. Minimize the glare by keeping the lens close to the window surface. If the sunshine is falling on your window, you may not be able to take quality shots since the glare may be excessive. When you're ready to take a picture out of the windows, sometimes the direction of sunshine is a matter of luck.
 Olympus C-2000 |
 Lake Mead shortly before landing in Las Vegas (KLAS) taken with C-2000 in 2000. 1600 x 1200 (2MP) |
Most flight simmers know that aircraft normally make left-hand traffic. So before the flight from Paris to Nice, I requested a window on the left side of the plane. This would allow me to see the approach to the airport over the blue Mediteranean. Had I been sitting on the right-hand side, I would be looking at a lot of sky as the pilot made left-hand turns! TIP: choose a window seat on the left side of the aircraft
Olympus C-2000 |
 Flying downwind leg for landing in Nice Cote D'Azur (LFMN) taken with C-2000 in 2000. 1600 x 1200 (2MP) |
Many photos of aircraft are taken through the window of an airport terminal. While this is often the most practical way to get your snapshots, shooting through the glass introduces an extra layer which can degrade the final image. TIP: when possible, get out from behind the glass Many airports have rooftop viewing areas which not only are glass free but get you closer to the the action. On the roof, you may have views of the tarmac that are totally inaccessible from the terminal below.
Pentax Optio SV |
 Shot from the rooftop viewing area at Amsterdam Schiphol (EHAM) taken with Pentax Option SV in 2003. 2592 x 1944 (5MP) |
Many of the most impressive aviation photos are of planes that are either taking off or landing. TIP: take shots of takeoffs and landings For takeoffs, wait until the nose wheel is lifting off the runway. For landings, wait until the main wheels are just making contact with the runway. With a little practice you'll hit it just right.
 Canon Digital Rebel |
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One common complaint is that photos taken with digital cameras often lack contrast. TIP: boost contrast with software This problem is often solved after-the-fact after you've transferred your images to the computer. Many photo editing programs offer the "auto levels" feature which enhances the contrast, adjusts the white balance and make the overall photo snappier and more pleasing.
 Olympus 720SW |
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When shooting with lower cost digital cameras, there is often a delay between the time you take the first shot and the camera is ready for the next. If the delay is lengthy, you may miss an important photo. More capable cameras are able to capture multiple shots rapidly. TIP: be patient and don't hurry the shot Very often, you'll get the best shot by waiting patiently until the plane passes at the closest point to the camera. Below, you can see that by waiting for only a short time I was able to capture the right hand shot with much more detail.
 Canon 20D |
  Shot a few seconds apart at Grand Rapids (KGRR) taken with Canon 20D in 2005. 3504 x 2366 (8MP) |
For action shots, you'll need to use a high shutter speed. TIP: use a shutter speed high enough to stop the action A shutter speed of 1/300 or shorter is usually able to stop the action. Most digital SLR cameras have a sports mode which can be used to photograph flying aircraft. With other digital cameras you can set the shutter speed manually. The fast-moving A-10 below was shot using the sports mode.
Canon 20D |
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Get the lighting right. For maximum detail, you'll want to make sure that the sunlight is shining over your shoulder as you shoot. TIP: keep the sun shining over your shoulder Backlighting (light coming from behind the subject) makes for great silhouettes and shots of the sun, but it usually hides or obscures the detail. For best results, keep the light behind the camera.
 Canon 5D |
 A DC-9 departing Grand Rapids (KGRR) taken with Canon 5D in 2007. 4368 x 2912 (12MP) |
Now is a good time to take the camera out of its case and head on down to the airport. I've found the best way to gain proficiency is to take shot after shot after shot. Afterwards, review the captured images to see your results and adjust your techniques accordingly. After all, digital film is free.
I have more tips to share with you and I'm planning additional articles shortly. But for now I've run out of time.
For other examples, visit our Photo Gallery that has many more aviation related photos.
To view another fantastic site with very impressive photos taken by talented photographer Ralph Duenas and other members, visit Jet Wash Images
Quick Definitions MP - megapixel (million of pixels) - measurement of camera resolution (e.g. 3504 pixels x 2366 pixels = 8,290,464 pixels = 8 megapixels) SLR - single lens reflex - a type of camera that allows you to view the subject directly through the lens LCD - liquid crystal display - a small viewing screen that displays the subject, the captured image (or both) |
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Author: Arnie Lee
Unless otherwise noted, photos are from the author's personal collection.
If you have any comments or feedback about this article, please contact Arnie via email