Get Paid To Fly Through Aerial Photography | Aero-News Network
Aero-News Network
RSS icon RSS feed
podcast icon MP3 podcast
Subscribe Aero-News e-mail Newsletter Subscribe

Airborne Unlimited -- Most Recent Daily Episodes

Episode Date

Airborne-Monday

Airborne-Tuesday

Airborne-Wednesday Airborne-Thursday

Airborne-Friday

Airborne On YouTube

Airborne-Unlimited-04.22.24

Airborne-Unlimited-04.16.24

Airborne-FlightTraining-04.17.24 Airborne-AffordableFlyers-04.18.24

Airborne-Unlimited-04.19.24

Join Us At 0900ET, Friday, 4/10, for the LIVE Morning Brief.
Watch It LIVE at
www.airborne-live.net

Sun, Aug 04, 2013

Get Paid To Fly Through Aerial Photography

It Actually Can Make Money

By Bruce Brandon

As pilots, we have all seen beautiful sights that we wish we had a camera to capture. Aerial photography is something that not only something one can do as a hobby but can actually make money performing according to David Rodwell (pictured), the owner of Aerial Photo Academy, located in Winston Salem, NC. In his seminar at AirVenture he explained some of the basis of the “how tos” of being a photographer and the business of aerial photography. It doesn’t take as much equipment as one might think.

Getting started doesn’t require a lot of high end equipment. A digital camera with reasonable lenses will suffice. Of course, the better the camera and lenses, up to a point, the better the picture but one can get dramatic results with less than outrageously expensive equipment. David explained that, while nothing is engraved in stone, generally when photographing objects on the ground, it is better to use “shutter priority” speed of = 1000. A zoom 28-200 lens is helpful. Turning off lens stabilization is also suggested.

Marketing of course is critical. There are a number of ways to skin this cat. There is a high demand from those who own what is to be photographed. Consequently listing your business under Craigslist “farm and garden” will be viewed by people who own their own homes and farms. The “yellow pages” is good but it can be expensive. Cold calling is also effective. Having samples of your work is also very important as well as presenting yourself as a professional and not as a hobbyist.

Time didn’t allow David to go into the details of air-to-air, which is the most complicated, expensive and lucrative segment of the market. He does offer online courses and has written several books on the topic to help one get started.

Sometimes it requires thinking outside of the box to help afford our passion of aviation. If you enjoy photography and flying aerial photography can be contributor to the expense.

One caveat, when acting as a photographer, don’t simultaneously act as a pilot. This is NOT the time to multitask. Remember, the majority of the time you are photographing something you are probably low and slow (sound like part of a accident report?) and looking at the ground not for other aircraft and not flying the airplane. You also aren’t going to take very good photographs. To try to fly and photograph simultaneously is a prescription for disaster.

FMI: http://aerial-photography-academy.com/

Advertisement

More News

Airbus Racer Helicopter Demonstrator First Flight Part of Clean Sky 2 Initiative

Airbus Racer Demonstrator Makes Inaugural Flight Airbus Helicopters' ambitious Racer demonstrator has achieved its inaugural flight as part of the Clean Sky 2 initiative, a corners>[...]

Diamond's Electric DA40 Finds Fans at Dübendorf

A little Bit Quieter, Said Testers, But in the End it's Still a DA40 Diamond Aircraft recently completed a little pilot project with Lufthansa Aviation Training, putting a pair of >[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Term (04.23.24): Line Up And Wait (LUAW)

Line Up And Wait (LUAW) Used by ATC to inform a pilot to taxi onto the departure runway to line up and wait. It is not authorization for takeoff. It is used when takeoff clearance >[...]

NTSB Final Report: Extra Flugzeugbau GMBH EA300/L

Contributing To The Accident Was The Pilot’s Use Of Methamphetamine... Analysis: The pilot departed on a local flight to perform low-altitude maneuvers in a nearby desert val>[...]

Classic Aero-TV: 'Never Give Up' - Advice From Two of FedEx's Female Captains

From 2015 (YouTube Version): Overcoming Obstacles To Achieve Their Dreams… At EAA AirVenture 2015, FedEx arrived with one of their Airbus freight-hauling aircraft and placed>[...]

blog comments powered by Disqus



Advertisement

Advertisement

Podcasts

Advertisement

© 2007 - 2024 Web Development & Design by Pauli Systems, LC