The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
Just now weeding out the aerial shots from the eclipse trip. Nothing exciting here but maybe a somewhat interesting view of a desert wash. From the time stamp this would have been a little NW of Joshua Tree NP. (The camera doesn’t have GPS so I do a shot on takeoff and another on landing each leg and do what I can to interpolate locations.)
Specific Feedback
All comments welcome! Aerials are always low contrast and a challenge to get a pleasing look. Shooting through the plexi side window of a Bonanza is a challenge for sharpness, which can vary across the frame if the camera is aimed at an angle – which it usually is, and always down. The lens is f/4 but stopping down helps hugely to keep the lower corners sharper. The high SS was because of turbulence. The whole trip was brain-pounding.
Technical Details
Small tweaks to Blacks, Whites and Temp in LR. Into PS for very subtle sharpening. Cropped to 50% of the original frame, mostly to eliminate the areas of softest focus at the bottom and left.
Critique Template
Use of the template is optional, but it can help spark ideas.
Thanks for sharing this, Diane. I had a plan to do an aerial shoot in Iceland, but then the weather deteriorated and I had to fly home before it improved. I appreciate the comments you made on the technical challenges of shooting from a plan through a window, etc.
Would a bit of contrast give this more punch? Maybe. I also like the subtle color variations in the hills near the top of the frame. I can also imagine a more abstract square crop in the low middle, but I have been on a square crop binge lately, so I hesitate to offer up a sample.
I bought a drone and have been playing with aerial photography that way, but I have to admit the learning curve has been difficult. There’s the flying part and then technology part, and then seeing and framing. FWIW, I have found straight down shots to be most interesting, but I’m assuming that’s really not possible from most planes. You would have to be in a WW II era fighter in the ball turret on the belly of the plane.
I have never done aerial photography, perhaps you are on the mark. I recently spent a month doing nothing but B&W, the attention is solely on the composition, My B&W rendition was done with Nik Collection Silver Efex. Thanks for sharing.
That’s what I call a very cool technique for determining the location of the shot
Just for my curiosity: Do you ever open the window to take photos? We once booked a flight with a Cesna over Iceland. Whenever we wanted to take photos, we would signal the pilot. He then slowed down and we were allowed to open the windows.
I love the warped s-curve made by the arroyo. @Jens_Ober’s edit provides more relief and let’s the arroyo stand out a bit more, a good thought to play with.
I’ve never photographed from a plane before, but I’ve seen some cool stuff of the cascade mountains. Apparently I need to sweet talk my pilot friend more…
Thanks, @Marylynne_Diggs, @gDan52, @Jens_Ober and @John_Williams! I think it is a good idea to punch up contrast and try to re-balance to the arroyo stands out more. B/W could work here! And yes, Marylynne, the top of the frame bugged me, too. It’s a crop so I’ll look at the canvas again and maybe expand the view or crop more or lower contrast there.
Airplane windows are awful to shoot through. Clean them first and don’t shoot with the sun hitting them. Reflections of sunlight hitting the instrument panel are also a huge problem with low-wing planes.
Ted’s oldest plane, a Taylorcraft, can be flown with the passenger window removed, but it’s slow with little baggage space, so not very practical to travel far. Some more modern high wing planes can have a side window removed and that’s the way to go if you’re booking an aerial tour. The ultimate is a Piper Cub where the side window opens up against the bottom of the wing and the lower half door opens down against the fuselage, so you only have the landing gear and wing strut to shoot around. You can almost feel like you’re a bird!
John, definitely work on your friend! Offer to buy his lunch at some airport restaurant. Pilot shops all carry T-shirts that say “Will fly for food.”
Quite nice. The s curve of the wash bed flows nicely through the image. Love the muted color palette. Originally I preferred your lower contrast version but I kinda like @Jens_Ober 's rework.
Certainly sounds challenging. There are times where the ‘challenge’ beomes a beautiful part of the character of the image. I looked at the image without reading your description and really couldn’t tell the scale that I was looking at; it could have been an aerial or could have been an abstract that looked like an aerial! I really like it for that aspect. The original lower contrast image conveys a relaxed, soft feeling. But I do like the contrast in Jens’ suggestion, the wash pops more and so does the vegetation on the hillsides. Overall neat shot and neat opportunity!
