September 2005 Cover Story:
How to Take Good Airplane Photos With (Almost) Any Camera
Story and Photographs by Jim Baker
Hikari Photography, Scottsdale, Arizona

Airplane portraiture is the art of taking pictures of airplanes that are evocative of the character of the airplane, pictures that elicit reactions of "Wow, what a beautiful picture!" rather than reactions of "Awww, not another airplane picture." The purpose of this article is not to recommend equipment; rather, it is to give general guidelines that will help the reader avoid common pitfalls in airplane photography. Good pictures can be shot with almost any camera. These guidelines apply to almost any camera and format.

Which camera?
If you are considering purchasing a camera to take pictures of airplanes, select the highest-quality camera that fits in your budget. Generally speaking, SLR (single-lens reflex) cameras are the most versatile, while compact cameras provide fewer options. When using a SLR camera, the photographer looks through the same lens that the picture is taken through rather than a separate viewfinder or a digital display on the back of the camera.

A 6-megapixel digital SLR will generally give you better images than a 6-megapixel automatic compact. "Pro-sumer" cameras, having some professional features and priced at the top of amateur level equipment market, fall in the middle. Considering that a very capable entry-level digital SLR only costs a few dollars more than a "pro-sumer" camera, there really is no reason to consider this type. As with all high-tech equipment, the prices of these types of cameras have gone down. For a good quality digital SLR camera, such as a Canon 20D or a Nikon D70, you can expect to spend between $1200 and $1400. Some excellent buys are available through online auction sites and used camera outlets.
Compact cameras are small and easily portable, and some contain very high-quality optics. However, the LCD screen on the back of a digital compact, often required to aim, are very difficult to see in bright sunlight, and their slow refresh rate makes action photography a challenge to time correctly. This problem is aggravated by shutter lag; all compacts and "pro-sumer" digital cameras hesitate a split-second after the shutter button is pressed before making the exposure.

You get what you pay for. A high-quality film or digital SLR camera with manual controls, properly used, will always capture better pictures than a fully automatic camera, compact or otherwise. Film cameras are usually considerably less expensive than the digital equivalent, and provide excellent results. And because most major manufacturers' SLR lines include both film and digital models based on the same chassis, the lenses, flashes, and other accessories and components are usually compatible and interchangeable.

It is unlikely that you will get high-quality pictures from a single-use (disposable) camera. They are handy to have around in case of an emergency, but not recommended for the serious amateur photographer.

Six main guidelines:
1. Move close to your subject.
2. Watch your backgrounds.
3. Keep the sun behind you.
4. Use the slowest possible film speed/ISO and the largest possible file size.
5. Hold your camera level and steady.
6. KNOW your equipment.

Move close to your subject.
Moving close to your subject will fill the frame with what matters: the plane. Don't be afraid to shoot only part of the airplane; airplanes present a unique problem to photographers, long and skinny from most angles. Unless the wingtips are vital to the character of the airplane, as in a Spitfire, don't feel bad about zooming in on the fuselage and leaving off the wings. If possible, use an aperture (f-stop) of at least f/8 or f/11 to get as much of the airplane in focus as possible.

Additionally, filling the frame with your subject forces automatic cameras to meter from the airplane. In most photography, the sky, not the sun, is the primary source of light. A small airplane in the middle of a bright sky will fool most camera meters. The airplane will appear as a silhouette; the meter will average the entire scene and expose for the sky. This is also true for airplanes on the ground, in the snow, or on the bright sand or concrete ramp.

If you're using a digital camera, turn off the digital zoom and use only the optical zoom. Digital zooms are not really zoom lenses; they simply chop off the outer edges of an image that's already enlarged as far as it can go. It's just like enlarging only a tiny little part of a negative; quality suffers when the digital zoom is used.

Watch your backgrounds.
Most people are myopic when it comes to taking pictures, concentrating on only the subject. The background can make or break your picture; the cleaner the background, the better the photo. A telephone pole growing out of the top of the cockpit or a pair of disembodied human feet providing additional organic landing gear can be distracting and comical, and ruin an otherwise beautiful image. These may be possible to remove later with computer software, but watching the background in the first place minimizes the time spent in front of the PC and maximizes the time spent around airplanes.
An airplane in flight generally solves the issues of background by itself, and clouds and mountains can provide beautiful, dramatic backgrounds for photography. In some cases, however, the surroundings are an integral part of the image. A photo of an airplane under restoration or of a crop duster having its hoppers refilled, for example, may benefit from having a cluttered foreground or background, because the airplane's character is defined, in part, by its surroundings.

Keep the sun behind you.
Keep the sun in the rear 90-degree quadrant behind you so that it will reduce lens flare, brighten colors and help separate the airplane from the background. When the sun shines directly on the front lens element, the light bounces around inside the lens and causes unwanted reflections. This reduces the quality and sharpness of the image and degrades the colors. If you MUST shoot towards the sun, use a lens shade specifically designed for the lens or hold a small umbrella or floppy hat over the lens to shade it from the direct sunlight. This will not completely solve the problem, but it will help.

Light quality also can make a huge difference. Midday sun tends to be flat and uninteresting, while the long shadows and brilliant colors of early morning and late evening make for dramatic photographs. Photographers call the hour after sunrise and the hour before sunset "the Golden Hour." However, the Golden Hour usually lasts somewhat less than an hour, so be prepared to work quickly.

Cloudy days tend to be more flattering for pictures of people, because your human subject does not end up looking like a squinting raccoon, with the harsh shadows under the eyes. If you must shoot a photo of a person in the sun, turn the person 90 degrees to the sun so that the person's face is not directly in the sun. Forcing the camera to fire the flash, even on a bright day, can fill in shadows. Your camera manual will provide information on how to use fill flash.

Use the slowest possible film speed/digital ISO and the largest possible file size.
In photography, size really, truly does matter, and so does speed. Generally speaking, slower films (ISO 25-200) contain smaller grains of light-catching silver, which result in sharper images and better color. Slower films are more tolerant of scanning and enlarging than faster films. Slide film tends to be better than print films for tight grain; however, slide films also tend to be more "contrasty" and are less tolerant of exposure discrepancies.

If you are shooting digital, use the lowest ISO rating. The ISO rating in a digital camera attempts to approximate the ISO ratings of film. Staying with the lowest possible ISO rating will result in better images overall. The tradeoff with low ISO ratings is that they require slower shutter speeds and larger apertures to maintain the correct exposure. In time, you will learn what works best with your camera.

File size is also extremely important. If you are considering purchasing a digital camera, get the highest megapixel rating you can. I do not recommend anything below 6 megapixels. And always shoot at the highest image quality your camera will produce. Your camera may have "small," "medium" and "large" settings for image quality. Use the "large" setting. It is always easier to reduce the size of a digital image in the computer than it is to increase it while retaining the quality. Because high-quality images are by necessity larger, you will need to obtain enough memory media to contain all the images you plan to shoot. A 1-Gig memory card (at least) is worth the investment. The small price difference for a larger memory card will prevent missing "the" photo because you ran out of "film" in your digital camera.

Hold your camera level and steady.
Getting it right the first time is the charm; it minimizes the digital repair work or the loss of the image. If you are shooting a picture of an airplane on the ground, check the horizon before you push the button. If it's crooked, straighten it out.

Focus is the one control that is most missed in all kinds of photography. You can get the perfect exposure, the best light, and the most beautiful subject in the world, and the photo will be completely useless if it's out of focus. Focus is most difficult to master when panning, standing on the ground shooting airplanes in flight. Successful panning requires that the camera moves at the same rate as the airplane, and the best way to master this is to practice a lot and to shoot a lot.

KNOW your equipment.
The most important tool you have in airplane photography is you. It is vital to know your equipment. Know its capabilities and limitations, and exactly what it will do and what it will not do. Position yourself in such a way that you maximize the strong points of your camera and minimize its weaknesses. Know how to manually adjust the exposure to compensate for bright skies and moving subjects. Know how close you can get to your subject. Know how far your lens will zoom, and how to compensate for shutter lag.
Photography is like flying. In order to get good pictures, it's necessary to be in full control. Just like performing a cockpit drill in an unfamiliar aircraft, learn exactly where all the controls are and what they do. You will be much more likely to get great photos if you're not fumbling with buttons and dials and if you’re not just shooting "in the dark."

A final recommendation
Take lots of pictures. A professional photographer shooting a professional model for a glamour magazine cover will frequently take two and a half thousand images to get just the right picture. When I shoot a wedding I usually come home with between three and five thousand images in order to make an album containing four hundred. If you are using a "panning technique" to take a picture of an airplane flying by, don't just take one picture — take fifteen. If an airplane at an airshow fascinates you, instead of three pictures, take forty, from all angles and distances. And the most important thing to remember is to never come home from the airshow with any room left on the memory card. Somewhere on that full card might be the picture of a lifetime.