Aerial Photography

[TAILspin38]

Does anyone do any aerial photography from the DA40? We have a top notch camera and looking at a possibility of using it in the plane, possibly some shots with the small side window open for better quality?

[Boatguy]

My wife shoots out the open passenger side window with a Sony A7Riii. Just have to make sure there is nothing loose in the cockpit that will get sucked out the window.

I have a spare right window that I was going to use to try to fashion a bellows/housing around the camera, but never quite got it done...

[Don]

During the pandemic, when we had no where to fly to, I was asked by a friend at our local library district if we could document the coastline of the Palos Verdes Peninsula and the South Bay area of SoCal for their archives. During this time, my wife and I took hundreds of photos. My wife flew the plane as I handled the camera. That said, we never opened the side window during these missions. The biggest issue is you are fighting interior reflections from the canopy. To reduce and/or eliminate reflections, it is best to wear black shirts as they do not reflect light back on the canopy. Also, you can purchase black rubber rings from a camera store that attaches to the end of camera lens. This allows the lens to make contact with the inside of the canopy which reduces reflection and you do not have to worry about scratching the canopy. We ditched our large cameras and used a pocket size Canon SS620HS with a 40x zoom lens as room in the cockpit is limited, plus you can maneuver the camera quickly to get the shot you are looking for. Here are a few examples below.

[TAILspin38]

Oh wow, those are nice shots. Thank ya'll for the information. Leilani Rosenbaum 222AD

[Don]

One thing to add and I though was kind off unique when we were doing the photo shoots. Since during the first part of the pandemic, the city had a strict lock down policy, so there was nearly zero vehicles on the roads and most everyone was inside. When the first photos were presented to the library archive staff, they were excited that most of the photos were taken during the lock down. They stated that this will become a historical time period and never before had photos been taken with ghost town like lack of people and activity on the streets. Anyway, I though that was kind of cool.
Below, a Twilight Zone like appearance of downtown Long Beach with no one on the streets. Redondo Beach with the Palos Verdes hills without a soul on the sand.

[Boatguy]

There is also a complete set of fairly high res pictures of the entire California coast, Oregon to Mexico, at the California Coastal Records project.

https://www.californiacoastline.org/?

[dmloftus]

I regularly shoot out of the open window with my Sony super zoom mirrorless. The challenge is usually trying to avoid getting the corner of the canopy at the edge of the shot. But it gives far better quality shots than shooting through the canopy. Whatever you are holding, be sure to keep it at least 3-5 cm inside the opening. Once I tried shooting through the open window with my iPhone but a small bump caused my hand to come too close to the window and the iPhone got sucked out at 11,500 feet. I posted another article on DAN about the successful recovery.

[TAILspin38]

Good morning, thank you,I Leilani once got my hand to close & as it was bent backwards it didn't feel to good. Amazing you recovered your phone. How can I put a picture of our plane on our profile? I have tried several times. Thanks Leilani

[Boatguy]

Good morning, thank you,I Leilani once got my hand to close & as it was bent backwards it didn't feel to good. Amazing you recovered your phone. How can I put a picture of our plane on our profile? I have tried several times. Thanks Leilani

In your profile you can upload an avatar / picture of yourself or anything else.

[photoSteveZ]

It's always best to photograph through an open window if you can arrange it: reflections and loss of contrast and resolution when shooting through acrylic are the pits. The other reason to keep the end of the lens inside the cockpit when doing so is to avoid buffeting and camera shake.

An alternative to rubber rings for your lens barrel: photo outlets also sell collapsible black rubber bellows that fit around the front of the lens and can be safely used to seal against the window to reduce reflections, without having the lens touch the acrylic.