Get Airborne

With some advance planning, the striking results of aerial photography are within your reach

By Bill Hatcher

Maria Island near Tasmania, Australia, from 1,500 feet. Nikon D3S, AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm ƒ/2.8G ED VR II at ISO 200, 1/1000 sec., ƒ/11

I’m not a pilot, but I love flying. Any flying device that can send me into the sky for a bird’s-eye view, no matter how precarious, I’ll give a try. The opportunity to take to the air in a plane, balloon, glider, ultralight or any other flying contrivance is one I’ll drop everything to do. That’s because aerial photography opens up an entirely new perspective. Most photographers consider chartering a plane for a photo outing to be too costly, but it can be cheap and easy to arrange. I did just that following a recent magazine assignment in Tasmania, Australia.

The objective of my first charter flight in Tasmania was to photograph tiny Maria Island. To keep cost and flying time low, since this flight would be on my own dime, I planned every aspect of the flight right down to when, where and for how long I would be in the air shooting, but like many successful photo outings, the outcome of this trip was nothing like I planned.

Tasmania is promoted as “The Natural State” because much of the island is unspoiled landscapes of ancient forests, rivers and mountains. But it’s the remoteness of Tasmania that has struck a chord with me, and I can’t seem to stay away. On my flight I wanted to see Maria Island, which is just off the coast and was once a convict settlement. It’s now preserved as a national park. I estimated the round-trip flight would take about 45 minutes from Hobart.

Arranging a private flight is actually a simple process and the same almost anywhere in the world. Chartering can be costly if you’re randomly flying around for hours. But with some advance planning, to keep the flight time to the minimum, a private flight can be done inexpensively. My first step was to find an airport nearest the island. For the cheapest deal and to find some of the best local pilots, I often look for airports with flying clubs that offer instruction. This may not be at the local big commercial airport or the place that hosts the local scenic flights, but a smaller airport that caters to private planes. Depending on the size of the plane, you usually can get a flight from $100 to $300 per hour. The least expensive planes are the tandem ultralights called microlights by the Aussies. These little guys have an open windowless seating arrangement with a rear-mounted propeller. Ultralights can fly very slowly, and most have a cruise speed of around 30 to 40 mph. For aerial photography, slow flying is best and shooting through a window is bad, so the ultralight may be the perfect photo platform. The main drawback of an ultralight is the limited range. If a photo destination is far from the runway, a faster plane may be more efficient.

After checking Tasmania’s fickle weather and choosing the morning I wanted to fly, I phoned the Cambridge Aero Club, a local flying club in Hobart. In minutes I had arranged a flight with pilot instructor Shane Kelly. For my flight, a microlight was out because the round-trip to Maria Island is about 75 miles. Instead, Shane and I would fly a Cessna 172. The 172 is a great photography plane, as well as being stable and reliable. It’s a wingover design, meaning the wing is over the cabin and has a large window that can be opened for photos. The 172s have a fixed wheel assembly just below the cabin window, but you can shoot in front of or behind this easily. Shane offered to remove the door for the flight, but this creates two problems: The plane can’t fly as fast to reach more distant destinations, and it gets really windy with a 100 mph wind whipping through the door opening.

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