Photos from the air

[bigdarfan]

Does anyone know of a way to avoid what I call the "rainbow effect" you get when taking photos out the window of a commercial airplane? Is there a filter I can use or some other method of avoiding this?

[gldiana]

That's caused by the glass acting as a prism. An ND filter helps reduce it, a polarizer makes it worse.. Keep the lens really close to the window, as close as possible.

[Bonish Photo]

You can also buy a rubber lens hood and push it right against the window. This will keep any reflections down to a minimum and you can usually angle th lens around to get rid of 99% of the rainbow effect you were talking about.

I had good luck with using this technique while flying into Pearl Harbor in Oahu



Aerial View of Diamond Head Crater


Downtown Honalulu


All of these were taken out the window of a commercial jet while puddle jumping between Oahu & Maui

[gldiana]

Pat,
you're making me homesick. HNL used to be my home airport when I flew planes for a club there.

[bigdarfan]

Thanks for your suggestions. I'll get a rubber lens hood. Coincidentally, Oahu is my next airborne destination. I was there 3 years ago and I did get some pretty decent photos, but a few of them had the rainbow effect. I will do my best to avoid that this time. Thanks again.

[Bonish Photo]

If you notice int he second shot, you can still see a bit of distortion caused by the curvature of the window itself.

Best thing is with digital, you can snap off a few dozen shots to figure out the best location in the window so you dont let that happen. I didnt notice it till afterwards, but you dont notice it in the other shots, so I must have found that sweet spot at some point