As aviation enthusiasts we have access to an area that
is teeming with photographic possibilities. That area
is the airside of airports if you are a pilot, and other
surrounding areas if you are not, perhaps airside if you
know a few pilots! There is a trick to getting the best
lighting and angles, and knowing how to use what equipment
you have to get the best possible shot, whether you want
a print for your wall, a record shot of your aircraft,
or for attaching to articles in magazines like Pacific
Flyer.
If it flies, I like to photograph it, be it powered aircraft,
gliders or hot air balloons.
Modern technology takes a lot of the technical guesswork
out of creating properly exposed and focussed images,
although it helps if you have a modern film or digital
SLR (single lens reflex). High-end consumer digital cameras
(often called prosumer) like the Canon Powershot or Fuji
S9500 also work well, the telephoto capabilities they
have can be useful in some circumstances. Small compact
digitals are not suitable for anything other than static
shots on the ground, but they are capable of dynamic images
if used correctly.
Finding a location
Security concerns these days tend to restrict some areas,
but there are still plenty of opportunities. I mainly
hang around Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport, which has
plenty of good spots still available for both spotting
and photography. Regional airports can offer possibilities;
you will sometimes find me around Moruya on the south
coast of NSW as well. Many years ago I was on an outback
trip around White Cliffs in NSW, I just happened to turn
around and see a spectacular sunset forming, so I walked
about 2 km to the airstrip to see what I could get, and
one of the resultant images is reproduced here. The camera
was set on fully automatic mode for this. If you want
to photograph military aircraft near a military base,
be aware it is an offence under the Defence Act to photograph
military installations, but you can photograph military
aircraft on approach or take-off as long as you do not
include any part of the base in your image.
Do your homework
The best way to find vantage points around airports is
to get in touch with a spotters group, and do a bit of
homework. For instance, www.vpmag.com/yssy is a good one
for Sydney. Some of the better spots take a bit of walking,
and there are restrictions on where you can park you car.
The Sydney Airport website lists daily schedules of international
and domestic arrivals and departures, so if you are after
a specific airline it is easy to see their schedules in
the one place.
Airports that do not have that information readily available,
such as a regional airport, necessitate taking a drive
around the perimeter, looking for little access roads
that might get you to a good spot, always of course obeying
relevant signs. At Sydney, if you are in the wrong spot,
you will quickly be pounced upon by the airport security.
I wanted to get some images of the regular south coast
Rex service at Moruya, so I drove around looking for good
spots, ending up on a sandy access road at the northern
end of the airport, almost bogging my two wheel drive
car and finding it very difficult to turn around. A bit
of reconnaissance indicated that the flights from Sydney
and Merimbula mostly made a straight in approach or take-off
in the direction they were heading, so the flights from
Sydney landed into the south, and when continuing on to
Merimbula they took off into the south. This knowledge
allowed me to get into the best position. Checking flight
schedules allowed me to know when to be there!
Equipment
I am assuming that readers will know the basics of photography,
imparting detailed photographic knowledge is beyond the
scope of this article and outside the theme of this magazine.
As mentioned before, most modern cameras will allow you
to create good images. A problem with the small digitals,
however, is the delay between pressing the shutter and
the photo being taken, this can cause you to miss an otherwise
good shot as the subject, a fast moving aircraft, will
be out of the frame when the camera fires. This delay
can, with practice, be anticipated, and, on most cameras,
if you hold the shutter button halfway to focus, compose
and set exposure, this will reduce the delay. The small
digitals often do not have enough telephoto range to get
shots of smaller aircraft, but larger ones present no
real problems if you can get close enough.
Ideally, a 35mm, (yes, I still shoot film) camera or its
modern digital equivalent by one of the major manufacturers
like Canon or Nikon will do the job well. The camera should
be capable of high-speed operation, with a shutter speed
of at least 1/2000 second, because, in many situations,
if you are photographing an aircraft in flight, it is
moving reasonably fast and you need to freeze action.
Propeller aircraft and helicopters are a little different,
and require slightly different techniques, because for
a dynamic image that indicates motion you really need
to show the props as a blur, or even a full circle, and
you need to use a slower shutter speed to achieve this.
In bright sunlight, this means a small aperture, even
with low ISO settings. This can be advantageous, as it
gives greater depth of field for your main subject, but
there is a trade off in image sharpness due to an effect
called diffraction.
Your camera should have a good metering system; once again
most modern cameras have this. Getting good lighting can
be difficult, as often you will be shooting into the sun,
creating a backlighting situation that can result in the
aircraft being too dark, even with modern metering, so
your camera needs to be able to either adjust itself for
this or have manual override. Your flash will have nowhere
near enough power to overcome this, unless you are really
close, so it is nearly always better to have the light
coming from behind you, to illuminate the whole aircraft.
Light overcast days can also be very good for getting
great lighting.
Continuous shooting modes can be very helpful, especially
with digital, as you can take a number of images in quick
succession without having to worry about film costs, and
if you press the button as soon as the aircraft moves
into frame, you have a good chance of getting an image
that is well framed. You can then easily delete the ones
you don't want.
Filters can be useful, the most common one I use is a
polariser to enhance blue skies and reduce reflections,
although this does cut down on exposure considerably.
With modern digital technology, other filters are not
really necessary, as all those effects can be created
in the computer. Almost all commercial printing these
days is done digitally, so it is easy to modify an image
by giving it a sunset look, etc.
Lenses
A moderate telephoto of up to 300mm is needed for most
images created around airports of aircraft in flight,
and 400mm is even better. Fast lenses are not really necessary,
as the best images are created in bright, sunny conditions,
so you will be shooting at around f8 or smaller. You are
also trying to get the sharpest image possible, so a monopod
is almost essential, further reducing the need for a fast
lens. For aircraft that are parked, any lens will do the
job, assuming of course you can get close enough, sometimes
not possible at major airports. Stationary aircraft lend
themselves to dynamic images with wide angle lenses, as
the depth of field is quiet large, and you can get some
dramatic images by moving in close, using a small aperture
and concentrating on small areas like the propellers,
wings, etc.
Straight portrait style shots can be obtained with a lens
or lens setting of around 50mm if you can get close enough.
A 35mm or wider will generate too much distortion for
an accurate rendition of the aircraft. On any day though
at Sydney there are always a group of enthusiasts in the
area just below the control tower, and it is easy with
a moderate telephoto to get good side-on shots of the
aircraft as they taxi out for take-off.
Creating That Great Image
Images that fill the frame generally work best, creating
a dynamic image. However, if you like to leave some space
around the main subject, leave some space in front of
the aircraft so it looks as if it is moving into the frame,
not out of it. Of course with a fast moving aircraft,
this can be problematic at times. Also, having space on
the left side of the frame does not look as good as having
space on the right of the frame, in cultures that read
from left to right.
Stationary aircraft at airports can be difficult to get
images without ground clutter, such as stairways, ground
maintenance carts and so on. As previously mentioned,
the aircraft should be well lit, with light coming from
behind you or behind and to left or right. White painted
aircraft can result in images that lose detail in that
area, so light coming from an angle of about 30-45û
is best here, sometimes depending on the camera that large
white area can result in an underexposed image, so you
need to open up by about 2 stops.
Airshows
Finally, a brief word about airshows. Although few and
far between in Australia these days, they create a great
opportunity to create images that might not be possible
otherwise, especially of military and rare aircraft. If
you can get to them early before most of the crowds arrive,
or stay late after they have mostly gone, you have the
advantage of being able to move about more easily and
being able to get good close up images.
Being an aircraft nut, I have a lot of fun creating dynamic
aviation images. I have not as yet done any air - air
stuff, but one day, maybe. I hope this article will inspire
you to combine two great pastimes, see at an airport somewhere
in the near future.
