Airborne Photographer

[davidsinn]

Here in INWG we are there already. We have 3 times as many photo recce sorties this year as we do missing aircraft sorties. We have flown 2 different missions for INDHS for the flooding this winter.

[magnum]

I suppose it isn't to hard to get a marginally useful picture, but I got a 'decent' camera (nikon d40x) last summer, and after literally thousands of shots I'm only starting to feel I'm getting the hang of it - and that's under ideal conditions. 

I'd love to see a full weekend course in 'photo recon' - not limited to the buttons on the camera, but discussing tips for:
what to take pictures of
when to zoom close vs wide angle
shooting on cardinal headings and including landmarks
getting the plane optimally aligned for lighting, wind, glare (I've had some success with a polarizing filter)
minimized obstructions (not shooting the strut or landing gear)
slipping the plane to maximize the view - without making the scanner puke
tips for taking notes
options for cockpit intercom recorders instead of (in addition to?) written notes
discussions of jpg compression vs raw
photo editing with photoshop (expensive standard) or gimp (free, less standard) to optimize the images - crop, zoom, text notes, circles and arrows
geotagging (robogeo - integrating pictures, lat/longs, and audio notes)
embedding lat/longs and other info into the photos - both in-frame and as meta-data
what information to include - lat/long, mission number, altitude, airspeed, estimated lat/long of the target in the photo - all can be included reasonably automatically in robogeo)
tips for google maps / google earth / powerpoint integration, coordination of hand-off to the client
problems with attempting to email lots of huge pictures
online photo sites (picasa) and security implications
USB sticks, memory cards / burning to CD / DVD and physically handing off
discussions of who 'owns' the pictures and what can be done with copies of them / copyright / FOUO implications
AND how to do all this QUICKLY so the information isn't stale before the client gets it.

It's a complicated business, and is a challenge to do REALLY WELL.  It's one that I hope to someday be very good at, and I'd love to be able to participate in a class that helps get me there - or eventually lead a class that helps get others there, too.  It makes sense to me that someone that puts in the effort to master this skillset should have a means of being recognized and given priority on missions that call for it - although I agree that it would be a waste to make EVERYONE do it. 

It's the sort of stuff that will make the difference of a client wanting to continue using our services, and the CAP continuing to be relevant.

ch

[jeders]

I suppose it isn't to hard to get a marginally useful picture, but I got a 'decent' camera (nikon d40x) last summer, and after literally thousands of shots I'm only starting to feel I'm getting the hang of it - and that's under ideal conditions. 

I'd love to see a full weekend course in 'photo recon' - not limited to the buttons on the camera, but discussing tips for:
what to take pictures of
when to zoom close vs wide angle
shooting on cardinal headings and including landmarks
getting the plane optimally aligned for lighting, wind, glare (I've had some success with a polarizing filter)
minimized obstructions (not shooting the strut or landing gear)
slipping the plane to maximize the view - without making the scanner puke
tips for taking notes
options for cockpit intercom recorders instead of (in addition to?) written notes
discussions of jpg compression vs raw
photo editing with photoshop (expensive standard) or gimp (free, less standard) to optimize the images - crop, zoom, text notes, circles and arrows
geotagging (robogeo - integrating pictures, lat/longs, and audio notes)
embedding lat/longs and other info into the photos - both in-frame and as meta-data
what information to include - lat/long, mission number, altitude, airspeed, estimated lat/long of the target in the photo - all can be included reasonably automatically in robogeo)
tips for google maps / google earth / powerpoint integration, coordination of hand-off to the client
problems with attempting to email lots of huge pictures
online photo sites (picasa) and security implications
USB sticks, memory cards / burning to CD / DVD and physically handing off
discussions of who 'owns' the pictures and what can be done with copies of them / copyright / FOUO implications
AND how to do all this QUICKLY so the information isn't stale before the client gets it.

It's a complicated business, and is a challenge to do REALLY WELL.  It's one that I hope to someday be very good at, and I'd love to be able to participate in a class that helps get me there - or eventually lead a class that helps get others there, too.  It makes sense to me that someone that puts in the effort to master this skillset should have a means of being recognized and given priority on missions that call for it - although I agree that it would be a waste to make EVERYONE do it. 

It's the sort of stuff that will make the difference of a client wanting to continue using our services, and the CAP continuing to be relevant.

ch

And just about all of that is included in the reference text.

[Duke Dillio]

I must be way off cuz I thought they were talking about something like this:

[SAR-EMT1]

Do we get "Recon" tabs with that? 

But can only be worn on AF style uniforms when the moon is full and the sun is directly overhead and all four seats in the 172 are filled.

I'd pay money to see a CAP Cessna "full" With the exception of cadink O-flights Ive never seen it done.

[floridacyclist]

slipping the plane to maximize the view - without making the scanner puke

After spending all the last two weekends staring through a D100 in the back seat of a 182 in a tight bank, I've learned that dramamine is my friend

discussions of jpg compression vs raw

We just use high-quality JPGs. It helps if we had two cards and a card-reader for the camer so we could download pics while shooting the next series

photo editing with photoshop (expensive standard) or gimp (free, less standard) to optimize the images - crop, zoom, text notes, circles and arrows

Just don't forget to retain a complete unedited copy of each photo that hasn't been compressed and re-compressed or altered in any other way. I always work from a backup copy of the original folder.

tips for google maps / google earth / powerpoint integration, coordination of hand-off to the client

Google earth works great! When you have to shoot certain buildings in high-res, it helps to have a positive visual ID on the target instead of just coordinates

problems with attempting to email lots of huge pictures
USB sticks, memory cards / burning to CD / DVD and physically handing off

FTP works well for this if you have enough space and bandwidth. Fortunately, I live 3 blocks from our most recent customer, so delivering 15GB of pics on DVD was even easier

discussions of who 'owns' the pictures and what can be done with copies of them / copyright / FOUO implications

We came out and asked the customer if we could show the pics to other agencies with similar interests and got permission to use them as we saw fit...will look great in our "work sample portfolio"

AND how to do all this QUICKLY so the information isn't stale before the client gets it.

Get an MOU BEFORE it's needed, not after the customer approaches you.

[BigMojo]

Now, if the powers that would realize that the D100 is now "antiquated"...

Stepping up the camera gear would be a major improvement, I'd suggest the D200, but that's now been retired for the D300, The D300 has better and faster dynamic focusing, better image compression, a more precise sensor (CMOS), monumentally faster in capturing consecutive images and writes to the card about 5 times faster than the D100...and that's just off the top of my head. I shot the D100 up until 2 years ago, shoot a D200, and I'm going to retire that to the back-up role for the D300 in the near future.

[JoeTomasone]

Now, if the powers that would realize that the D100 is now "antiquated"...

Stepping up the camera gear would be a major improvement

Yeah, a good Canon would certainly improve things.   


</Elitist Snob>

[BigMojo]

Why would we want to fly with a photocopier on-board? The planes are small enough and crew is large enough as is! That's what Kinko's is for!

[/sarcasm and topic drift]

[floridacyclist]

I would think that as long as the D100 is good enough to deliver the goods, there's no reason to spend a ton more money on a newer camera unless the current one is due for retirement. Yes, if htey were to have to buy a new camera, I could see going to the newer model, but if it ain't broke, why fix it?

Flip side is if they want to retire the D100, I'll take it as soon as it is up for sale. It takes much better pictures than the best consumer camera I've seen (especially with a decent Nikkor lens) and is simple and fast. Even the owner of the FBO still uses his D100 for his commercial aerial work.

I can think of a lot of other things to spend a couple grand on than a new camera when the old one is working just fine....like cadet travel and scholarships.

[RiverAux]

Though not a camera expert, I think we're reaching a point where very reasonably priced digital cameras have all the features that we need for most of our work. 

[Ricochet13]

Hey!  Great comments from everyone!  Except maybe for the "airborne Canon copier".

Surprised no one mentioned jump training and wings for anyone "Airborne" qualified!

What I'm looking for is a teaching reference or even a "field expedient" SQTR for Airborne Photographer before we go ahead and "reinvent the wheel". 

If no one has that, we'll set something up to train our squadron.  Just wanted to check first.

[RiverAux]

You might also want to look at the aerial photography and damage assessment training materials on the AR Wing page http://www.arwingcap.org/ES.htm

[Ricochet13]

Thanks!  I'll check it out.

[flyerthom]

Now, if the powers that would realize that the D100 is now "antiquated"...

Stepping up the camera gear would be a major improvement

Yeah, a good Canon would certainly improve things.   


</Elitist Snob>

[Duke Dillio]

No no no,

This one:

[davidsinn]

No no no,

This one:

Mine's bigger ;-)

[Ricochet13]

Way, way off thread now!!

[Ranger75]

Yesterday, I participated in the wing's bi-annual USAF Observed SAREX.  I came away from the exercise with my own observation that an area requiring significant attention in our wing ES training program relates to executing aerial imagery missions.  The scenario we exercised called for a significant number of aerial assessment and imagery sorties being tasked in the wake of the passage of a major hurricane.  It was not uncommon for an aircrew to report to the PSC for their debrief with camera in-hand with in excess of a hundred images and several loose pieces of paper serving as a photo log.  Dropping the images into a computer for processing and final dissemination to the requesting agency was a muddle.  It is clear we need to define in far greater detail our expectations for the aircrews during the conduct of such tasks and, even more so, assigning responsibility within the ICP to complete the process and close out the task with the external consumer.

Earlier in this thread there was a brief discussion of a future SQTR.  Others spoke about training materials used at the local level.  Rather than starting from scratch to address the need, I was hoping to capitalize on the work previously done by others.  So, this is a call for whatever materials might be out there.  I'm looking for wing-level guidance (orders/plans, forms, SOPs, POIs, etc.) to materials used by the individual crewmember (checklist, photo logs, etc.)  If there is anything web-based, I'd appreciate an address.  Does anyone have something that could help?

[RiverAux]

Ranger, there is one from AR cited earlier in this thread.

I couldn't agree more.  However, almost as important as having the aircrew know how to keep track of what they're photograhing, is having a dedicated person at mission base ready to use their sheets and raw images and get them in whatever shape the customer wants them in.  You can't expect the aircrew to do that as it might take 30 minutes or an hour or more to properly process photos from a sortie.  Its more important to get the aircrew back in the air. 

I'd favor some sort of "Imagery Specialist" SQTR.  I'm not quite as hyped about the airborne photographer SQTR.