Aerial Photography

[Greg McCary]

I may have a chance coming up to fly over a local power plant and take a few pictures for the plant manager. If anyone has any tips that will help me please help. I have the E3 the 12-60mm and the 70-300mm.
Thanks.......

[drg]

Be sure to have your Homeland Security Waiver. I'm serious. The plant manager should have a form. Conventional or nuclear plant aerial or any photography of 'pertinent detail' of an operational facility hooked to the grid is grounds for investigation. There's an extensive though not very publicly available database of facilities so it can be determined whether images are taken after the restriction date which was sometime in 2003.

As fast a shutter speed as you can manage as the plane will not only be moving, but there is significant vibration that IS won't correct. An advantage to digital is the opportunity to review and verify the work.

Either a Circular Polarizer or straight 2x Neutral Density Filter to 'flatten' or alter contrast as needed. It is like shooting snow or shooting a dark surface as typically aerial photographer doesn't include the sky. In other words you'll probably want to tweak up or down the exposure bias to prevent a shifted exposure. White underexposes, dark overexposes without shifting the EV as you know.

Best wishes and please don't fall out of the plane.

[Greg McCary]

Thanks a billion. Since the lens is new I have no polarizer. But I do have one a bit smaller 67mm, but the lens is 72mm so I might get some vignetting. I guess I will shoot a higher iso. Maybe 400- 800. I am sure we will make more than one pass so I can try several settings.I will see if I have time to get a polarizer.