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Advice on night photos during flight

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Advice on night photos during flight

Old 03-17-2014, 10:14 AM
  #1  
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Default Advice on night photos during flight

I'm going to be flying the hudson exclusion this weekend at sundown and am looking to get some good photos of the city at night! However, I once tried to take some pictures of KRME at night once, and the photos were a disaster. I had streams of light everywhere, messy, blurry, etc.

I have a cannon kiss 3x SLR camera.

Any recommended settings/strategies? I tried the sport shot mode because I thought the quicker the shutter, the less time there would be to get messy, but that didn't work.

Any advice would be great!

Thank you very much.
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Old 03-17-2014, 10:35 AM
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You're finding why guys doing long exposure shots use a tripod! A longer shutter speed requires the camera to stationary during the exposure otherwise you'll get the blurs and streaks (as you've found).

Aside from using a gyro stabilization rig, you might try exposure bracketing which your camera can do. I think you can get 3 bracketed images per shutter release at up to +/- 3 stops of exposure on EOS models. This is an HDR technique, but please don't. HDR is WAY overdone. Instead in photoshop you can mix elements of different exposures to get the pic you want.

When you bracket, make sure the shutter has priority so that each exposure is the same length, then the camera will overshoot and undershoot the exposure with the aperture. RTFM.

It should go without saying, but I'll risk saying it. Keep your on-camera flash off.
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Old 03-17-2014, 11:07 AM
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I'm not too familiar with your camera, but you should make it so that it is at a high ISO and your lens is wide open. You should be able to have the camera set to exposure priority which will determine the best shutter speed for a given ISO and f/stop. I can't really give much more advice as I really don't know much about shooting digital.

Exposure priority is usually setting AE I believe and aperture priority is A(p??)
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Old 03-17-2014, 11:21 AM
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I've shot NYC and this is what I've used.

Canon 5DM3, 70-200mm L
F2.8
ISO 3200
Shutter Priority

You want to find a day when there is zero turbulence and zero haze. You can typically find these conditions after a cold front with a large air mass behind it has passed (typically about a day). This more or less allows you to be in the cold dense air that's typically free of weather and atmospheric particulates and allows for smooth air.

This goes without saying but there's already enough vibration from the engine to ruin a good shot. Therefore, avoid shooting in single shot mode. You're going to want to take a LOT of photos. Out of 50 shots, you might get 1 that's usable. So use continuous shooting mode.

Depending on what type of airplane you are using, consider blockage from the wing. For low wing airplanes, you'll get better shots from low altitudes. For high wing airplanes, you'll get better shots from high altitudes. If you're flying a high wing, you might want to consider flying above bravo over NYC. There's nothing quite like doing turns around a point at 7,500 feet while shooting out the window. If you're looking to shoot the Statue of Liberty, just be aware that there may be other GA airplanes flying around that location as well. Helicopters tend not to be an issue at night as their operations typically stops after sunset. But be alert. Keep in mind that turns around the statue is left turns. A low wing airplane will provide better shots vs. a high wing for the statue. Just stay out of Newark bravo. Circling around the statue will put you very close to the lateral surface boundary of that airspace.

You may consider slow flight. This will reduce blurring. Depending on how good of a shooter you are, blurring is a foregone conclusion in many of your shots that you will take home. Of course, no need to remind you that slow flight puts you closer to stall. If you are going to have a second pilot, have a plan before you launch so that your flight path and your subjects are understood. You do not want to be making last minute decisions as to where to go and what to shoot. The night that I shot, I flew solo, and had a nice headwind from the west to keep me really slow over the ground while I shot.

If you are going to fly above bravo just be careful with all that jet traffic. Just because you're outside of bravo doesn't mean you're in a jet free environment. Get on with NY Approach and explain your needs. If you choose not to talk to them, I highly suggest you get on 125.7 and monitor that frequency as if your life depends on it.

Shoot out the window instead of through it. The plexiglass is just another layer that light has to transmit through. If you can avoid shooting through it, all the better.

Good luck.
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Old 03-22-2014, 04:31 PM
  #5  
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Originally Posted by Flying Ninja View Post
I've shot NYC and this is what I've used.

Canon 5DM3, 70-200mm L
F2.8
ISO 3200
Shutter Priority

You want to find a day when there is zero turbulence and zero haze. You can typically find these conditions after a cold front with a large air mass behind it has passed (typically about a day). This more or less allows you to be in the cold dense air that's typically free of weather and atmospheric particulates and allows for smooth air.

This goes without saying but there's already enough vibration from the engine to ruin a good shot. Therefore, avoid shooting in single shot mode. You're going to want to take a LOT of photos. Out of 50 shots, you might get 1 that's usable. So use continuous shooting mode.

Depending on what type of airplane you are using, consider blockage from the wing. For low wing airplanes, you'll get better shots from low altitudes. For high wing airplanes, you'll get better shots from high altitudes. If you're flying a high wing, you might want to consider flying above bravo over NYC. There's nothing quite like doing turns around a point at 7,500 feet while shooting out the window. If you're looking to shoot the Statue of Liberty, just be aware that there may be other GA airplanes flying around that location as well. Helicopters tend not to be an issue at night as their operations typically stops after sunset. But be alert. Keep in mind that turns around the statue is left turns. A low wing airplane will provide better shots vs. a high wing for the statue. Just stay out of Newark bravo. Circling around the statue will put you very close to the lateral surface boundary of that airspace.

You may consider slow flight. This will reduce blurring. Depending on how good of a shooter you are, blurring is a foregone conclusion in many of your shots that you will take home. Of course, no need to remind you that slow flight puts you closer to stall. If you are going to have a second pilot, have a plan before you launch so that your flight path and your subjects are understood. You do not want to be making last minute decisions as to where to go and what to shoot. The night that I shot, I flew solo, and had a nice headwind from the west to keep me really slow over the ground while I shot.

If you are going to fly above bravo just be careful with all that jet traffic. Just because you're outside of bravo doesn't mean you're in a jet free environment. Get on with NY Approach and explain your needs. If you choose not to talk to them, I highly suggest you get on 125.7 and monitor that frequency as if your life depends on it.

Shoot out the window instead of through it. The plexiglass is just another layer that light has to transmit through. If you can avoid shooting through it, all the better.

Good luck.

Thanks Ninja! Hey, let me tell you my settings and tell me if they sound good.

Ok so i have 2 lenses for my cannon kiss and i'll prolly just use the standard one because my alternate is a zoom lense. It says EFS 18-55mm.

I tried putting it on the Tv mode, and adjusted the settings to the following:

Shutter 1/30
ISO-3200
Exposure Comp/AEB Setting - +5 (all the way over to the brightest)
One-shot mode/continuous shooting.


Do those sound good? I took practice shots out of my window thinking that a faster shutter speed would be better to avoid blurring but the picture was basically black at 1/125 so I switched to 1/30 and it's a bit better. Any recommendations for that?

I can't seem to control the "Fnumber" in this mode, but it seems to just stay at F3.5 and it blinks when i go to shoot which in the manual indicates the shutter speed isn't compatible with it. but the problem is if i make it stop blinking by going down further, the longer shutter speed would mean blurry lights.

Anyways, do those settings sound good? Should i be using a different mode? As far as manual ones go there is A-DEP, M, Av, Tv, P, and CA.

Thanks again! I'm going tomorrow and am very excited!
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Old 03-27-2014, 02:13 PM
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Suction cup tripod is best tripod! I wasn't able to block the light from the cabin well enough so the pictures didn't turn out as I had hoped.



Otherwise, your settings sound good. High ISO and shutter speed equal to about your focal length. (1/20 for an 18mm lense, etc..). Wide open aperture. Good Luck!

This is also where a 'nifty fifty' comes in handy. The lense above is a f/1.8 50mm prime. Cost me only about $75. By FAR my favorite lense.
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Old 03-27-2014, 06:54 PM
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Originally Posted by Globerunner513 View Post
Suction cup tripod is best tripod! I wasn't able to block the light from the cabin well enough so the pictures didn't turn out as I had hoped.



Otherwise, your settings sound good. High ISO and shutter speed equal to about your focal length. (1/20 for an 18mm lense, etc..). Wide open aperture. Good Luck!

This is also where a 'nifty fifty' comes in handy. The lense above is a f/1.8 50mm prime. Cost me only about $75. By FAR my favorite lense.

Oh wow nice!! yeah eventually i should get a better setup for flying. Unfortunately i didn't even get an opportunity to attempt the night photos due to running into trouble at TEB. Thank you for the advice! I will use it on my next night flight
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