Air to air photography with only 1 plane...

tawood

tawood

En-Route
Joined
Sep 22, 2015
Messages
2,558
Location
SE Michigan
Display Name
Display name:
Tim
b.JPG j.JPG d.JPG e.JPG
So my girlfriend and I are experimenting with a photography technique:
We went to a quiet, out-of-the-way airfield. I put her on the ground, then I did several low passes while she took photos. As I went past, I did the hardest slip I could to point the wingtip in her direction, to try to make the photos look like they are "air-to-air"...
What do you think?

d.JPG e.JPG j.JPG b.JPG
 
Last edited:
If you look close at the rudder or the nose wheel, you'll see I'm stomping on right rudder to slip. I think having clouds as back drops, and a good angle on the sun, can help with the "air to air" illusion.
 
I did something similar for a helicopter pilot friend. We went up, he dropped me off on top of a very steep hill and I took pictures as he made close passes. Worked great.
 
I think you accomplished your goal, nice work by your girlfriend who did all the work, all you did was fly.
 
Turns around a point would work too
 
Nice pictures... If you hadn't told us I wouldn't have known they weren't air to air shots...:goofy::goofy::goofy:
 
SkyDog58 said:
When I read your thread title, I envisioned a very long selfie stick. :goofy:


Nice pics.
Click to expand...

I was expecting him to use a drone.

Very nice photos, indeed.

Interestingly, it's possible to estimate the shutter speed used by the girlfriend, from the propeller's arc. I'm guessing 1/500 or 1/1000 sec.
 
To me, air-to-air usually means that you can see something below(air, ground, water) the aircraft.

To me it's obvious that these were taken from the ground.

The last pic is the closest one.

Keep in mind I'm not saying they are BAD pics at all, just not what I'd expect to see after an air to air shoot.
 
Nice pics. I agree that whatever you can do to get something other than blue sky behind the plane helps with the illusion. Getting the nose down a bit might also help, too. So maybe find a mountain as a backdrop and try it with the flaps down?
 
Maybe if she jumped and snapped one then you could say "Air to Air" w/o the explanation of the trickery. ;)
 
Not to be an Eeyore, but meh. It's pretty obvious it's not true air-to-air.
 
CC268 said:
Beautiful plane
Click to expand...

Yeah, it's sweetI I'm going to go for a ride in it at the next Cable air show (Jan. 2017). It's usually parked right in front of the restaurant on the field, so we can ogle it while having breakfast.
 
RyanShort1 said:
Not to be an Eeyore, but meh. It's pretty obvious it's not true air-to-air.
Click to expand...

It's not obvious from the first few. Later ones are obviously from the ground but I was fooled by the first few. I thought he might have used a 2nd-party operated drone over a (non-airport) field and did a fly-by.

I agree with the idea that a turn-around-a-point might have worked also but not so much if traffic was present at an airport.
 
petrolero said:
It's not obvious from the first few. Later ones are obviously from the ground but I was fooled by the first few. I thought he might have used a 2nd-party operated drone over a (non-airport) field and did a fly-by.

I agree with the idea that a turn-around-a-point might have worked also but not so much if traffic was present at an airport.
Click to expand...
Shots with only sky showing are very common - especially airshow pass style, which is what these look like. In fact, so common that I would presume them to be from the ground. How many great air-to-air shots don't show something underneath the plane - be it water, the ground, or clouds?
 
SkyDog58 said:
When I read your thread title, I envisioned a very long selfie stick. :goofy:
Click to expand...
Like Chuck's? :D

2016-06-17-cw0904.jpg


Nice pictures, ignore the nay-sayers. As long as you had fun and are happy with the outcome, it's all good.
 
Your pictures looked like they turned out great. I would love to have some of my airplane like that.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top