Most of my aerial photography experience with trains has been from helicopters. They are great for rail photography but there are many things to keep in mind if you choose to go that route.
1. Helicopters are very expensive. Even the cheapest ones like the Robinson R-22 (only aircraft I know of that gets smaller the closer you get to it) go for more than $100 an hour. The light turbines like the Bell JetRanger and MD-500 go for $400-550 an hour depending on the locale. So...the ideal way to use helicopters is to have someone else paying the bill (client). 2. The only way to shoot out of helicopters is out of an open door...they are easily removed, although it does cut down on airspeed. Open doors mean it gets windy/cold/uncomfortable, so everything must be secured. Unsecured camera bags, jackets, etc., become airborne and fly out the door...generally landing in the tail rotor system. That makes landings interesting. If you are shooting lots of film, you should have an assistant with you to change film and keep track of exposed/unexposed film. Take off all sun shades from your lenses. They catch air and make it impossible to hold the camera/lens steady. 3. Only fly with pilots who know the area where you plan to shoot. One of the wonderful things about helicopters is the ability to fly just a few feet off the ground and hover. At these altitudes, wires are chopper killers. Fly with someone who knows where the wires are, or make a test flight to reconnoiter (more expense). Discuss your flight objectives before you leave the ground. 4. The more people you have in a helicopter (ie splitting costs) the worse the chopper's performance gets. And the highter you go (like mountain flying, etc.), it gets harder and many times impossible to hover. 5. Try to use some kind of stabilized lens (Canon users take note) or a Ken-lab gyro stabilizer (rent one) if you are doing something artsy (panned shots, etc.) Otherwise shoot wide on manual focus and use a high shutter speed. 6. Be aware of the position of the rotor blades when you are shooting in flight...they will sneak into your photo as big blurs if you are not careful. 7. If you are chaartering out west, see if the copter is "carded"...the term that describes something that is available for USFS firefighting. Among other things, this means that the chopper will have a radio system capable of receiving and transmitting on rr. frequencies. 8. Do not fly with any pilot who claims to (a) fly upside down (b) shoot pictures while flying (c) never get airsick. 9. Stay away from the tail rotor when the helicopter is on the ground. Keep your head down. Always approach from the front of the ship so the pilot can see you. 10. Get a job like mine where they pay you good money to fly every day in an air-conditioned helicopter with a pilot who is sympathetic to your train photography hobby! Seriously, this is one hell of a neat way to shoot trains...and if you ever plan to do this kind of thing, feel free to contact me for any more specific advice. I have never shot trains from a fixed-wig plane before but would like to try it sometime, although I know I'd be barking at the seals before the flight ends. Mel Finzer's aerial BN shot in Mike Danneman's last book is one of the finest aerial train shots I've seen. --> SPORRS: Serious Photographers of Railroad Related Subjects X-Mozilla-Status: 0001 Content-Length: 3131
