The Basics of Aircraft Photography

Being in the world of aircraft photography asks for the basics of using a DSLR camera to get the best aircraft portraits. A DSLR camera allows you to use advanced features such as shutter priority, aperture priority, metering etc to your advantage. You can capture some splendid aircraft portraits in a good weather by understanding the basics of aircraft photography. You can utilize your knowledge during individual aircraft photography sessions or air shows.

To brush up the aircraft photographer skills in you, know how to best utilize the camera for taking aircraft photographs.

• Exposure: The Exposure refers to the amount of light that falls on the digital sensor. The shutter speed combined with the aperture determines the exposure. You can use fast shutter speed with a wide aperture and slow shutter speed with a small aperture to give the same exposure to the aircraft portrait.  

• Shutter Speed: You can measure the shutter speed in seconds or fractions of seconds. You can use fast shutter speed to capture a fast-moving airplane photograph. You can use slow shutter speed for aircraft landing and taking-off wherein the background remains blurred. This type of aircraft portrait gives an impression of speed.   

• Aperture: An aperture is an opening of the lens diaphragm through which light passes. It is measured in f/stops and is written as numbers such as 1.4, 2, 2.8, 4, 5.6 etc. The lower f/stops give more exposure as they represent the larger apertures. Whereas the higher f/stops give less exposure as they represent smaller apertures. You will get a clearer picture of this once you start taking airplane photographs at varying f/stops. Go through your manual first to learn how to set your camera for aperture priority.

• Metering: Metering helps in measuring the brightness of the subject. Your camera should have an inbuilt metering system to automatically work out the correct exposure. Some cameras are equipped with metering modes such as ‘spot-metering’ and ‘center-weighted’. These modes work out the exposure by averaging the tones in usually the center of the aircraft portraits. You can use the ‘spot-metering’ mode when doing aircraft photography against the sky.  

• ISO: An ISO measures the sensitivity of the image sensors. Use higher ISO settings when capturing airplane photographs in low light situations to get faster shutter speed. The lower your ISO settings the less sensitive is your camera to light and the finer the grain.

• AF Mode: An Auto-Focus mode helps improve the quality of your aircraft photography. You can select from One Shot Auto Focus or AI Server mode. In ‘One Shot Auto Focus’ you press the shutter button halfway to select where you wish to focus. It is useful when taking static aircraft photographs. An ‘AI Server’ is used to capture aircraft photograph of a fast moving airplane.

• Continuous Shooting: Use continuous shooting mode when you want to capture airplane photographs in rapid succession. It is advisable to use continuous shooting mode when capturing aircraft in the air to get more airplane photographs.

Get inspired by the works of the best aircraft photographers by understanding their aircraft photography skills.