[Leica] Aerials--The Book

[Donal Philby <donalphilby@earthlink.net>]

Here is some of what I know about shooting from helicopters and
airplanes:

(writing this is as good an excuse as any to delay having to start
entering captions and cross references into the computer and sticking on
hundreds of those little labels!)

STAYING ON BOARD

When I’m shooting boats, especially, it is important to be able to shoot
straight down.  Sitting in the seat won’t do.  A harness is necessary. 
I have one made for working high rise buildings.  I use two lanyards to
the helicopter with quick release carabiniers.  The shortest attaches to
the back of the harness and is adjusted long enough to allow me to stand
on the skids and lean out about 20 degrees, hands free.

Having been through jump school and spent 2 1/2 years in an air cavalty
unit in the Army helps develop a certain confidence--or recklessness,
depending on your viewpoint.

Because I shoot so much over water, my main fear is chopper going down
with me attached.  So assistant gets lecture about unhooking me as first
priority.

Recently I flew with a pilot here in San Diego and he had his own
harness.  It was custom made.  The key element was a chest release. 
Those who have parachuted will recognize it.  Give the round nob a turn
and smack it.  Instant release of the two shoulder straps and two crotch
straps.  I’m going to have one made.

Also, I have an inflatable life vest made by Mustang Survival.  It has
manual or water activated release of the CO2 to inflate it.  Flat, it
isn’t much bother.

COMMUNICATIONS

It is good to wear a headset to talk with the pilot, but often out in
the slipstream it is hard to talk over the wind against the microphone. 
If the mic is voice activated (VOX) tuck the mic under your chin until
needed.  Mostly, the mic gets in the way of the camera.

I also use hand signals the assistant then relays to the pilot.  Up,
down, forward, back, circle, etc.

Because I often fly very close--20 to 40 feet over or next to a boat
moving at near full throttle--the exact position is vital: being able to
see models’ expressions, keep them from overlapping and hiding one
model, working with shadows, seeing details, etc.  So even several feet
up or down can be critical.  

It is vital to go over your needs with the pilot so he/she knows what to
look for.  The more you can operate without communicating, the more
efficient.  This is the same with the skippers on the photo boats.  A
good driver and make or break a shoot, make you look great or pathetic.

Communicating with people on board is difficult because of noise of the
chopper.  On larger boats we try to keep a boat wrangler out of sight
with radio.  Otherwise, I wave and mouth words to get what I want. 
Sometimes people have to move about depending on what angle we are
shooting from, and they have to do this quickly.  You need to go over
this before starting, though that doesn’t always register with all the
commotion.

I once did running shots on 8 boats in 45 minutes, burning through 20
rolls.  We had one person below on a photo boat with a list and
organizing everthing so we would just run up and back, circle for a
minute or two and be off again.  But there is a lot to go wrong (swim
step down in water, a bag in a awkward place, sunglasses on, etc.) and
it is very frustrating because it is so hard to communicate and the
chopper is burning $500-700 an hour. 

PILOT

The best I’ve flown with were gunship pilots in VietNam.  They can
almost fly upside down.  The most difficult thing is to fly backwards. 
So check the comfort level of the pilot.

With boats I almost always do generic running shots--aft, amidship, bow
angles and from each side--as a given.  Then we get into details and
scenics.  I’ve flown with pilots who have difficulty going
sideways-backwards, so we had to shoot front lit and then back lit to
get L-R, R-L angles.  Someone who can fly backwards makes it possible to
get both directions with same light.  Other option is to open both
doors, have no assistant in back seat and switch from side to side, but
this is easier said than done, especially with harness.

If shooting air to air, be sure you have pilots that know the rules of
disengagement.  It is scary being close and losing sight of the other
aircraft.

GYRO

The most important tool to get good aerials is the gyro stabilizer by
Kenyon.  (See ads in Shutterbug)  The small KS4 weighs about 4 pounds
and has inside two wheels spinning at rights angles to each other at
23,000 rpm.  It takes about 7 minutes to get up to speed and about 20
minutes to come to a stop.  The KS4 is about $2400 for gyro, battery and
inverter.  Battery last about 2 hours.  On the photo boat I tie into the
12 volt circuit and let it run all day.  28 volt inverter also available
for aircraft.  The larger KS6 is another $1500.  Can be rented for about
$50 day with larger deposit or insurance confirmation.  Drop one, and
face $450 repair.  I have.

The KS4 is fine for 35mm or even 6x7.  I own two, one as backup.  But
plan to make a bracket to hold both, each at 45 degrees from
horizontal.  Supposed to multiply the stability and help keep camera
level.

Remember that the longer length of the gyro goes the same way as the
length of the lens.  Either end.  Just don’t put it parallel to the long
axis of the camera body.

With the gyro I can shoot boats from chopper at 1/125 and get
consistently sharp boats and motion blurred water.  This is magical when
shooting backlit and the sparkles become streaks.  When shooting from a
chase boat instead of chopper, I usually shoot at 1/60th.  Last month at
Lake Mead I shot down to 1/15th at 40 mph and got tack sharp boats and
blurr to the horizon.  Beautiful.  From the water, the key is how much
chop (small waves) are out, making the boat go up and down.  If the boat
is moving a lot up and down, I move to 1/125.  You pray for smooth water
for power boats.

Shooting scenics such as cityscapes, you can get down to 1/15th and even
lower (with less consistency of sharp frames) to do twilight shots of
distant objects. 

One of the hidden benefits of the gyro is that it makes it easier to
frame and focus, since you eliminate much of the micro movements.  With
boats I can literally have bow and stern touch each side of the frame
and hold it steady, and this at high speed.  Shooting sailboats on open
sea with long lenses, this really helps, though you still might shoot at
1/500.  I have successfully used a 300mm lens with gyro from fixed wing
and shot down to 1/125th (have a shot of baseball pitcher and hitter
poised and white ball half way to home plate, shot from a Cessna).  

SHOOTING DISCIPLINE

A key to using a gyro is learning to let your arms relax while holding
the device, so that you move around it.  Anyone to has done Tai-chi push
hands will know the skill.  It does take a lot of strength to spend
hours with gyro/camera combo that weighs 6-8 pounds.  Usually my arms
and shoulders ache after long day.

Because of all the noise and movement and restricted space (more so in a
fixed wing), you have to have things to hand easily.  I found that it is
much faster sometimes to change film with a non-automatic camera,
because the wind keeps whipping the end of the leader out of place
before you can get the back closed.  The most assured is the M2
removable spool.

If you change bodies, get quick release plates and quick release
mechanism for the gyro.  I have the Really Rights Stuff clamp and it
works great.  

 Remember to constantly check your camera setting.  You are so assaulted
by noise and movement that your usual sensitivities are overwhelmed.  I
instruct my assistant to constantly ask me about the camera
settings--ASA, shutter, aperture, filter, etc.  

I know if I do a circle around a boat I can set aperture for direct
daylight and as we circle to the back I open up in stages 1 1/2 stops. 
You can do this on the fly in going through a roll in 30 seconds if you
keep your wits about you.

I use auto exposure only for things that don’t matter much.  But be
careful with incident meter, because reading daylight that is coming
through the blades of the chopper will lead to overexposure.  I usually
meter from the ground and work around that.

Use the restroom as soon as you get to the airport.  Then use it again
just before you climb aboard.  

When shooting air to air, a fast shutter speed can stop the propeller
and make the plane look motionless.  Try 1/125 for both cessna and
chopper.  How much blurr you get depends, of course, on speed of the
blades, so bracket if that is important, but 1/125 has worked well for
me as a middle ground.  Too slow and they disappear.

Air sickness is a possibility.  I have been airsick once.  We were in a
Cessna flying circles over the local stadium and aircraft were stacked 8
deep (news and banner tows) and it was windy and we were bounced and
thrown around unmercifully.  I was shooting a lot with the 300, which is
disorienting, and a hamburger for lunch caught up with me.  I yelled at
the pilot, a friend, for a bag.  He got a strickened look on his face
and shock his head.  When I knew IT was inevitable I quickly emptied the
contents of the LowePro bag in the back seat, used it, zipped up the lid
and went back to work.  Bring a waterproof bag or make sure they are
aboard.

This bag is going to be on the market soon and Ted Grant and I might do
a package deal with a certain cow besmirched M6 and Noctilux.  Imagine
owning a bit of history.

TRIPODS

And that’s all I have to say about them.  

If you've read this far you deserve a reward.  A visual reward.  Look
either on my web site 

www.donalphilby.com

under the boating section or check out 

www.baylinerboats.com

www.maxumboats.com

Much of the work on these sites is mine, though they don't show a great
deal of the lifestyle images that make up the bulk of my work.

Hope this helps you to do, or to appreciate.  I'm sure other on the list
can add more.

donal
__________
Donal Philby
San Diego
www.donalphilby.com