Aerial Photography from Cessna Plane
How did I get on a plane?
About a half year ago I saw in Wikipedia an image called: “Skyline of Ashdod”. This photo was made from a plane. And since I never did Aerial Photography and was interested in trying to shoot from a plane I checked the name of the photographer. As I found out, he was taking part in WikiAir project (https://blog.wikimedia.org/
WikiAir is a collaborative project between Wikimedia Israel and the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA Israel), aimed at creating a freely licensed collection of aerial photos of Israel.
Further checking got me to the WikiAir project page (in Hebrew). As it turns out, they are looking for volunteers with DSLR cameras that are willing to join a flight and then upload the photos to Wikimedia.
I wrote them an email, and at that moment there were no flights available. But, they got back to me several months later telling there is a place.
Aerial Photography Preparations
As a part of preparations, I read info on the net. I found only general information that made sense, but still worth taking into account. First of all, since you will be on a moving place, shutter speed has to be fast (unless you want to create some effects). Secondly, Cessna is quite a small plane (and I am not a small guy). Thus, I decided to go light. I took a shoulder bag with two lenses (wide angle and a super zoom [28-300]) and spare batteries.
Day of the Flight
Since I am not an experienced in this, I decided not to eat several hours before the flight (just in case).
Map of the area:
This was my first flight on a non-commercial airplane. In a commercial plane from the moment you get into the plane, till it takes off, about half an hour passes. But, this was not the case. From the moment I got into Cessna till the moment we were in the air, no more than 3 minutes passed. Here we’re preparing for takeoff:
The flight was made from Herzliya airport. Here is a view of northern neighborhoods in Herzliya:
Herzliya Pituah:
View from south of Netanya:
New construction in Netanya:
Netanya Stadium:
The Southern part of Netanya:
The Northern part of Netanya:
Here is a view from inside of the plane:
I’ve made it using the wide angle lens (14mm). And I didn’t crop my leg in the bottom of the photo so you would get the sense of the size. This Cessna plane has four sitting places and the interior is probably smaller than a regular car. It makes it very light and as I learned a pleasant breeze on the ground can be not so pleasant when you are in the air.
Ra’anana industrial zone:
Construction at the northern part of Ra’anana:
Another view of Ra’anana:
Ra’anana Park:
Herzliya and Tel Aviv in the background:
Ahuza Street in Ra’anana:
As you can see the photo above was made from lower altitude because it was made just before landing.
It was a short (15-20min) flight above the Sharon area. The Flight and Aerial Photography was an interesting experience and if it would have been less windy, then I would enjoy it more.
My photos in Wikimedia can be found here and I’ve also updated several related Wikipedia pages.
Hope you enjoyed this post and see you in future travels both on land and in air 🙂
Stay Tuned!
For additional attractions nearby see Tel Aviv-Yafo page or browse interactive map.
Additional Resources
Here are several resources that I created to help travelers:
- Trip Planner with Attractions and Itineraries is the page that will help you create your perfect travel route.
- What is the Best Time to visit Israel? To answer this question, we will consider the weather, prices, holidays, festivals, and more.
- Information and Tips for Tourists to Israel will answer the most common questions tourists have about Israel (including safety, passports, weather, currency, tipping, electricity, and much more).
- Israel National Parks and Nature Reserves include a complete list, top ten, map, tickets (Israel Pass, Matmon, combo), and campsites.
- If you are looking for things to do, here are the pages for Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Haifa, Sea Of Galilee, Akko (Acre), Eilat, Nazareth, Safed (Tzfat), and Makhtesh Ramon.
