Camera's distance from the Subject

[R-4-L]

Suppose you have a large building you want to shoot, do you guys measure how far the helicopter needs to be or you just fly and find out?
I mean it may be necessary to have a rough distance needed for your ground station to be deployed right?

another one, do you use Forced Flash to have an indication that the camera has taken a shot for the pilots reference?

Thanks

[bullaculla]

I can tell by looking at the subject what lens i need and how far away i want to be. I usually fly with an SLR and prime lenses. also, my downlink screen will go black as a result of the cameras mirror flipping up and down, so i know its shooting. I'm not very experienced at AP yet, but I have been a pro photographer for a long long time.
:)

[R-4-L]

well, I am far (I mean really far) from being any close to a pro photographer, though I'v been experimenting alot alone without proper education.

my options is currently limited to Sony DSC-F828 so no lenses other than filters and some converters, I will upgrade as I go on through the project. What camera do you use bullaculla?

[bullaculla]

I use my XTi rebel for AP. I actually like the image quality better than the 30D. but my 30D is too heavy for my setup anyway. If I had a maxi joker2 or something, i'd probably fly the 5D. I also bought a used A640 for backup helicam work, but haven't played with it yet other than testing to make sure it worked.
Just play with what you have on the ground and get used to the focal lengths to get a good idea of what you need. Try shooting larger objects like buildings and stuff to get a feel of how far away you need to be:thumbup:

[R-4-L]

Thank you Sir :)! great advice and will do exactly that.. I just can't wait to get my very first aerial shot. a dream coming true.