Shooting from a plane?

[Tom Schaefer]

John
Make sure you take your GPS with you
so you can get back to some of the spots in the skiff
later on
Tom

[John Brady]

Tom, the gps will be my most important tool. I will be looking for those secret honey holes that no one has photographed yet.

I truly appreciate all the great feedback! thanks to all who have offered.
jb

[GPS]

Just curious - what kind of a viewfinder would you intend to use with your 4x5 camera?

[jp]

To get to the deep bottom of your worries, why not to start on the Earth? Thanks to the stated airplane speed you have a great opportunity here.
Let somebody drive a car at 50mph speed, open a window, stretch out and shoot with your 4x5 or 8x10 camera hand held all what you see from a close range (i.e. 200 ft) to a far view. You can then see for yourself what to expect on the film up there. Just a thought.

Most planes would be like shooting out a car window at fast speed. This plane will be like shooting from the back of a pickup truck at high speed.

[John Brady]

Just curious - what kind of a viewfinder would you intend to use with your 4x5 camera?

Probably crazy but I figured if I was using a wide enough lens I would use the old hit and hope method. I think I could do a pretty good job of pointing it in the right direction.

If I use the 8x10 aerial, it has a viewfinder on top and handles on the side.

My daughter has a Cannon image stabilizer lens that I will bring for my 5DII.
I'm going to focus on the digital and hope I get one good image on a sheet of large film.

I have been hiking thru the everglades and boating thru the islands for years now. Seeing these places from above is going to be a blast.

[GPS]

The old fashioned wire cross viewfinders if well improvised can be very precise and even good in windy conditions.

[Frank Petronio]

You could always rent a KenLab Gyro....

http://www.ken-lab.com/

I always wanted to get one so I could handhold cameras at ground level for longer exposures. It's a fun old-school website too.

[Jim Michael]

My Stinson has a similar strut configuration. You need to give some thought to angle at which you approach the target which takes light angle into consideration and allows you to shoot to the forward or rear (most likely) if you intend to keep the struts out of the shot. Discuss this with the pilot while on the ground before you leave. Slow steep turns close to the ground are generally a bad idea.

[Robert Hughes]

I like the weather balloon platform option.

[toyotadesigner]

Thanks for the link to ken-lab. That's one of the gadgets somewhere in the middle of my current wish list.