Instruction manual

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12.1.5 Preparing to Take Photos or Video
a. Steady the camera or camcorder:
b. Choose a comfortable, sustainable posture. If you’re sitting in the front right seat,
slide the seat back so that you are centered in relation to the window (let your pilot
know before you slide your seat backwards or forward).
c. Keep your body from contacting the aircraft (i.e., don’t rest your forearm or elbow
against the window frame).
d. Use both hands. Put one hand through the grip (especially true for camcorders) and
use your free hand to help support the camera.
e. Use the optical viewfinder, pressing the camera to your head and holding it against
your nose or cheek with both hands (but make sure your fingers don’t cover the
camera’s light sensor or brush against the camcorder audio plug).
f. If you have tested it and know it helps, use the camera or camcorder image
stabilization feature. Otherwise, leave this feature turned off.
12.2 Taking Photos
A typical imaging pattern begins with a “panoramic view” of the target. The aircraft will be
at 1000' AGL and one nm south of the target, with the pilot flying so that the AP is looking to
the North. Once this image is captured you move in for close-up photos (not <1000' AGL) of
the target, usually (not always; it depends on the situation) from each of the four cardinal
points (North, South, East and West). This and other imaging patterns were discussed in the
previous chapter.
As the aircraft closely approaches the point where you intend to shoot, begin framing the
shot. Normally, this means centering the target in the viewfinder. Some missions require
different framing, as dictated by the circumstances or by the customer. For example, a
damage assessment of a power plant may require you to capture the plant plus a road
leading into the plant from the northwest. In this instance, you would place the plant in the
lower right corner of the frame in order to capture as much of the road as possible.
When you near the shot point, you should pre-focus on the target for faster camera
response; focus on an object that is currently the same distance away as the target will be
once you are lined up (i.e., in the same plane as the target). Once the target moves into
frame, press the shutter button the rest of the way down to take the picture.
You should take several photos on each leg of the imaging pattern (if your camera’s
shutter delay allows). This increases the chance you will get an excellent photo of the target.
[If proper exposure is a concern, consider bracketing.]
Keep the Photo Log keeper aware of what you are shooting, as you planned before the
sortie. It is easier on the log keeper if you tell them when you will be taking several photos
per leg. On each leg, tell the log keeper the following photos will be taken “looking east” or
“looking northeast” or “looking between the northern-most buildings,” then call out “shot 1,
shot 2, …..” This allows the log keeper to quickly and accurately log the photos.
If you are going to take photos of different targets on the same sortie, take a picture of
the aircraft wing, wheel, or interior between targets to act as a “target separator.”