Aerial Photography in an Ultralite (crossposted)

[KL Matt]

Hi,

I've got this crazy idea of quitting (or supplementing) my career as a freelance translator to do aerial photography from an ultralite. The problem is, I'm just learning photography and don't know how to fly anything bigger than a kite.

I do, however, live in Malaysia, and am almost willing to bet that there would be a market, if the pictures were good enough.

Does anyone have experience in this? How do you earn a living at aerial photography? By selling people pictures of their property, publishing books, or both?

Is this something you can actually make a decent living doing without a huge risk of going bankrupt?

What kind of photographic gear is needed for shooting from an ultralite? Big teles? Fast lenses? Or will anything sharp do the trick?

-Matt

 

[E Manual]

You will need a comercial pilots license or else hire a pilot and plane. Getting a license might cost 60,000 USD or more. Regarding using a microlight have you ever taken hand held photographs in a 100 kph wind?, a real aeroplane such as a cessna 150/172 will let you shoot through an open window.

 

[lovEU]

sounds like a little challenge ;-)

... and don't
know how to fly anything bigger than a kite.

there exist different possibilities to do aerial photography - have a look at this site (think it's only in German language)

http://www.iskyvision.com/
[horizontal navigation, look at "iSkyVision", then left bar "Aktuell"]

this guy is great ... making his images from a little zeppelin

regards, Eric

 

[marczr]

I know that in the UK you cannot do this because as an aerial photography business you need to operate with a commercial pilots licence which do not apply to microlight aircraft. so there are difficulties with insurance etc, you need to check this out carefully before you proceed.
marc.

 

[Plane Tom]

I don't know the laws in Malaysia, in the US you'd be okay with a private license, or probably even the new Sport Pilot license. The usual interpretation is you only need the commercial if you are carrying someone or something for hire. I've used my plane to run errands for work, and they can reimburse expenses. If you are just flying yourself and selling pictures you took you'd be okay. There may be a fed who interprets the rules the other way, but I've never run across one. Yes, I looked into it awhile back.

I'd first contact the aviation authority where you are for a straight answer, the rest of us are guessing based on our local info. While the FAA can sometimes be a pain, they are much more helpful if you get them involved up front instead of after the fact.

Go to the olympus forum and check out hugemoth's pictures. Incredible shots from I believe an ultralight with an Oly 8080. I don't know if he does it as a business, but it's an example of what can be done with what you are considering.

 

[DOUGLAS2]

I've (recently) researched this while impassioned (again!) to obtain Ultralight Certification and eventually an aircraft....In the U.S. this class of "experimental" aircraft is prohibited from engaging in commercial activity, so no "pilots" may "earn" any income from any flight activity. That's right, no videos, still images, commercials, etc from the aircraft; ground-based equipment are free to record whatever in the air. Doing (solo) imaging for yourself, or group for NON-compensated recreational effort is permissable. Oh, and only instructors may carry passengers; and ONLY for the purpose of instruction. (in U.S.) Field (industry) is LARGELY self-enforced and as of 6 mo ago only instructors qualified for new "sport" pilot certification, a very exclusionary group; there are no actual certified sport pilots in U.S.
(That's my story an' I'm stickin' to it!!)

 

[KL Matt]

Thanks Eric for the link, that guy's doing some really incredible stuff. It's certainly a confirmation that this type of thing is possible. Now if there were some way I could figure out if you can make a living doing it... I think I probably first need to sharpen my skills as a photgrapher and learn to fly a paraglider, which seems to be the way to guy, not an ultralite.

-Matt

... and don't
know how to fly anything bigger than a kite.

there exist different possibilities to do aerial photography - have
a look at this site (think it's only in German language)

http://www.iskyvision.com/
[horizontal navigation, look at "iSkyVision", then left bar "Aktuell"]

this guy is great ... making his images from a little zeppelin

regards, Eric

 

[KL Matt]

Hi Tom,

Thanks for referring me to hugemoth, he has taken some really stunning pictures. He doesn't use an ultralite, but rather a motorized paraglider.

Sounds like exactly what I want to do. Thanks again! Hugemoth also says it's very safe, seeing as you have your parachute deployed at all times during your "parashoot."

sorry, couldn't resist...

-Matt

I don't know the laws in Malaysia, in the US you'd be okay with a
private license, or probably even the new Sport Pilot license. The
usual interpretation is you only need the commercial if you are
carrying someone or something for hire. I've used my plane to run
errands for work, and they can reimburse expenses. If you are just
flying yourself and selling pictures you took you'd be okay.
There may be a fed who interprets the rules the other way, but I've
never run across one. Yes, I looked into it awhile back.
I'd first contact the aviation authority where you are for a
straight answer, the rest of us are guessing based on our local
info. While the FAA can sometimes be a pain, they are much more
helpful if you get them involved up front instead of after the fact.
Go to the olympus forum and check out hugemoth's pictures.
Incredible shots from I believe an ultralight with an Oly 8080. I
don't know if he does it as a business, but it's an example of what
can be done with what you are considering.

 

[Tom Rowland]

Hi Matt,

Check out this link

http://www.rcapa.net/index.php

You can also google "RC AP" for lots more links.

Here is one for starters

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=128

RCs are much cheaper than ultra lites.

 

[Dennis]

Bill Fortney, a photo workshop instructor in the US, did a project like this with his son and it turned into a nice book called "America from 500 feet". At a workshop, he said that he started out with a Kenyon Labs gyro stabilizer, but ended up ditching it because it was too heavy and cumbersome, and just shot handheld w/Nikon gear. I can't remember if he used VR lenses. Anyway, he appeared on a couple talk shows and discusses it in workshops and if you do a google search, you might turn up some tech tips.

http://www.trikepilot.com/billfortney.html

• Dennis

--
Gallery at http://kingofthebeasts.smugmug.com

 

[ledittmar]

Tie a small p&s camera, with a long self timer, to a kite.

ps, face it down toward earth.

 

[hugemoth2]

Hi Matt,

Q (hugemoth) here.

Check the laws of the country you are in before you put out much money getting involved in aerial photography. Here in the US it is illegal to fly an ultralight for any reason other than recreation. Most people agree that it's illegal for someone to hire you to go take photos of a certain property from your ultralight. You can however take photos and sell those photos as long as you weren't hired to take those photos.

I don't make a living with aerial photography but I have made some money selling scenic aerial landscape shots. I've always enjoyed photography and flying, so putting them together is just good fun. The type of ultralight that I fly is called a powered parachute. It's by far the best platform for aerial photography available, and it's quite safe.

Q

 

[KL Matt]

Hi Q,

It seems like this is the kind of thing you get involved in and just see where it takes you. It would be great if it would pay for itself somehow - I don't know how I could have the time to really get good at paragliding and photography and still keep my translation customers happy long term.

First thing I need to do is figure out the legal aspect. I have never seen a paraglider (only extremely risky parasailing) here in Malaysia. Who knows if it's even legal. The other problem is, I don't even have a work visa here, so selling my images to Malaysians is out. I would be limited to working for western companies theoretically. Who knows, maybe there is a way around it - it's certainly a fun dream at this stage. Who knows...

-Matt

 

[Dave Bryant]

How about useing a remote control plane? I've done this and the pictures coem out great. I know of others that set up a 1/4 scale Piper Cub with a GPS, redundant RC gear and expensive 2 1/4 X 2 1/4 camera's. I'll try to post my RC pics soon, but I need to get them on my Fotki site first.

 

[Dave Bryant]

See if this link works for my airlela photogrpahy pics. Keep in mind some (the long ones) are from an OLD point and shoot 35mm. The others are from an OLD 1mp digital. I left in the sunset picture so we could all be reminded of how those kind of digital pictures looked when the science was young...

http://public.fotki.com/Davjan4/misc_pictures/aerial_photography/?cmd=slideShowFlash

 

[Dave Bryant]

By the way, my dad used to fly ultralights. If you use an ultralight, you would have the camera mounted in a vibration resistant housing and trigger it remotly. From what I can remember there is quite a bit of vibration in an ultralight.

 

[CecilM]

I think I saw something like that a few years ago in one of those "franchise opportunity" magazines. It consisted of camera equipment mounted in a balloon that could be remotely raised and lowered (for pictures of real estate primarily). It was a complete business. Maybe they are still available !

 

[lovEU]

possible. Now if there were some way I could figure out if you can
make a living doing it... I think I probably first need to sharpen
my skills as a photgrapher and learn to fly a paraglider, which
seems to be the way to guy, not an ultralite.

Matt, the main thing he is doing nowadays is to shoot with a cam fixed below a little zeppelin which is steered by remote control. The cam itself he controls as well remote by a [don't know the English word] kind of "screen eyeglasses". He has developed most of the stuff himself. The zeppelin is about 3 meters long and filled with helium gas. Since helium is expensive he has a tank on top of his car (built in form of the zeppelin but built with fiberglass) where he pumps the gas into after the flight. The zeppelin is controled in height by a rope which he holds in his hands.

So photographing this way means driving with a zeppelin tank on top of your car to your location, setup your stuff (pump up the zeppelin with helium, fix the cam, check your remote controls etc.), take the pics and vice versa - very, very cool!

One advantage (beside not having the need of a licence) is that he can take pics from bird's eye view (10 m to let's say a max of 100 meters) - no competition with this height offer ;-)

 

[hugemoth2]

There is not a lot of vibration in a powered parachute. When flying a PPC your hands are free for operating the camera and there is no need for pilot input to keep the machine flying.

Q

 

[hugemoth2]

There is a local guy here that has one of those. It's a very expensive rig that he hauls around in a large trailer. I don't believe he'll ever make enough money to pay it off. The major problem is... how much fun is that compared to flying an ultralight?

Q