Aerial Photography How To

I recently attended the TICO Warbird Airshow (which is affiliated with the local Valiant Air Command Warbird Museum), an event held at the Space Coast Regional Airport in Florida each March. This popular three-day event always attracts a large crowd and a good number of people sporting pro-quality DSLRs with huge (high tech, super expensive) lenses attached and a gear bag stuffed full of amazing (also super expensive) photo accessories.

The world looks different from the air, and aerial photography thus offers some unique photo opportunities.

If you're not a pilot, probably the best way to get aerial photos through a flight school at your local general-aviation airport. Training planes can fly fairly slowly, and the instructors will be familiar with the area's airspace, and experienced at...

Award-winning photographer and filmmaker/director Vincent Laforet has observed the world from both sides now: on the ground and in the air. And these days, he much prefers shooting from an elevated perspective that is proving both challenging and exciting, with a hint of danger to spice things up. What is that element of danger? Flying thousands of feet up in an open helicopter—at night, no less. Strap yourselves in for a wild ride…
Who Is Vincent Laforet?

For commercial photographers and videographers hoping for clear signals from the FAA regarding the use of imaging drones in their businesses, the agency’s announcement yesterday of its new Pathfinder program may not sit well.

DJI has launched the Mavic Air camera drone, a foldable, highly portable camera drone with a 3-axis gimbal for stability, 4K video shooting, and the ability to capture 36MP panoramic images from high in the sky. Weighing just under a pound and the shape of a large smartphone when folded up, the Mavic Air made its debut after being pulled from the coat pocket of DJI’s Michael Perry’s down vest at a press conference in New York City this morning.

Because of the “this is why we can’t have nice things” antics of several idiots flying drones, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) now requires every drone (and RC aircraft) weighing more than 0.55 pounds to register their craft and have an identification label. Pilots are also required to carry Flight ID.

Bill Hatcher was near the park entrance when a wildfire forced the closing of Tioga Pass road into Yosemite National Park last summer. “The fire was threatening to cross the road into Yosemite,” he says, “and helicopters and tankers were being sent out on kind of a bombing run to cut the fire off.”