Scott Dickerson Photography – Air-to-air-test

Air to air photos of MD 530 helicopter

I remember walking out of the post office and looking up to catch just a glimpse of the small yellow helicopter zipping by overhead. For the months since, anytime I’ve heard the beating of helicopter rotors I jump up and scurry to the windows with binoculars. This little fixation started before the MD 530 came to town, and it’s not just limited to helicopters. I love flying, and not surprisingly, some of this passion for flight splashed onto the machines that make it possible. I think it’s well understood that I’m always very excited by the opportunity to create aerial photographs. This particular shoot was a real treat being able to watch and photograph this incredible helicopter in flight. Special thanks to George and Charlie Mandes for working with me to make this a reality. As an aerial photographer I’m very dependent on the pilots to help bring all the pieces together into a photograph. As you can see, they both did a great job.

Ingredient list for a big smile and some exciting aerial photos:

One fan of flight
One passionate photographer
Two skilled pilots with good communication
One beautiful winter sunset with mountains and alpenglow
Two cameras
One aircraft with opening windows (Husky A-1B)
One aircraft to model (MD 530F)

Toss the ingredients for approximately 45 minutes. More results displayed below.

By Scott Dickerson|December 15th, 2008|aerial|2 Comments

Air to air photos of 1933 Stinson JR. SR

Air to air photography is a favorite subject of mine and this was a great photo shoot of Mike McCann flying his classic 1933 Stinson JR. SR through the Kenai Mountains, Alaska in mid October. Thanks to Mark Munro and Mike Neese for making this photo shoot possible. Below area few more images of the Stinson from this flight.

By Scott Dickerson|October 31st, 2008|aerial, blog|16 Comments

Air to air aerial photos of Homer Air

A local air service, Homer Air, recently had one of their Cessna 206 airplanes repainted- a great reason to get up and make some new aerial photos to show off the sharp new look. The photo above shows the plane flying over Kachemak Bay with the Homer Spit and the town of Homer, Alaska in the background. The blue ocean is a nice contrast for the white plane which turned out to be a challenge to photograph against the snow covered mountains this time of year. I’m looking forward to another aerial photo shoot with this plane when the mountains turn green and black later this spring.

Tech notes: For this aerial shoot I was using the Canon 1DmIII digital slr with a canon 70-200mm 2.8 IS lens and a circular polarizing filter. The exposure was 1/2500 at f/4, nice and sharp. The two lenses I use most when shooting aerials are the canon 24-70 2.8 and the lens used here, the 70-200 2.8. Occasionally I also use a Ken-Labs gyro stabilizer, but on a bright sunny day like this it’s not needed.

By Scott Dickerson|March 24th, 2008|aerial|2 Comments

Super Cub and the Kenai Mtns

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Aerial photos of a legendary Alaskan Bush plane, the Piper Super Cub, in a classic Alaskan setting.

Last week I was treated to an aerial photo shoot by two pilot friends. We flew across Kachemak Bay from our hometown of Homer to spend thirty minutes flying amongst the dramatic mountain peaks and ice fields making up the Kenai Mountain Range. I’m always shocked by the majestic beauty of this mountain range that is just a ten minute flight from my house.

The weather conditions were ideal allowing us to make the most of the few short hours of sunlight we get this time of year, and topping it off was the company of a rising moon.

Aerial and air-to-air photos are certainly some of my favorite images to make. Something about the challenges of the quickly changing subject matter, the feverish search for the next fleeting moment of divine composition, the cold wind in my face, the entirely different perspective, the technical challenges of making a good photograph in these conditions. . . this is the kind of landscape photography that an outdoor adventure photographer can appreciate.

Some technical details for those of you that are interested – all the shots in the slideshow above were taken with a Canon 1D mark II digital SLR using a Canon 70-200 2.8L IS zoom lens. I typically shoot in manual exposure mode, occasionally aperture priority to give me the fastest shutter speed possible with my chosen ISO speed and aperture. I usually have the aperture at its smallest number in an effort to […]

By Scott Dickerson|December 22nd, 2007|aerial|3 Comments

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