Fear of Flying

     I'm an outdoor and nature photographer, among other things, and one challenge I've always wanted to take on was aerial photography. This may not seem strange to others, but since I've always had a fear of flying, aerial photography was something I wanted to accomplish. It's all about facing one's fears!
     Usually when I travel, it's on the ground. I didn't fly anywhere until sometime in my 40's. I remember one time, after 9/11, that I was sitting on a United flight waiting for take-off in the throes of a panic attack. My heart started racing, I felt like I couldn't breath, I began to sweat and I was hanging onto the armrests with claw-like hands. I guess my eyes were as big as a summer melon. After the plane took off, I settled down, but still clung the the armrests--just in case. If we crashed, I'd hang on to my chair at least!
     Every time I got ready to fly I just knew the plane would crash. I could imagine it in my mind. Once a friend said, "Don't jinx yourself! Think positive thoughts!" Eventually I learned to do just that. To push aside the fear, and enjoy the ride.

Clouds shot with a Nikon D200 from plane window--at about 30,000-feet.

     My last flying trip was to New Orleans last summer. It was a great flight, my friend let me sit by the window and the clouds were amazing! I shot several cloud scenes through the plane window, enhancing them in Photoshop later. It's unreal how brave I am with my camera in tow. Shooting clouds through a window can be done, easily, if you position the camera where there's no interior reflection. Because it's usually bright when photographing clouds, hand holding isn't a problem. I shot the images at an ISO of 200 at 1/500 a second at f-11. After getting home I was able to refine them, making them a little more saturated and adjusting the contrast.
     Although I'm still a little timid about flying, I completed my first aerial photo assignment earlier this year. I flew in a small Cessna for over two hours with just enough room for the pilot and me. Flying in a small plane is a quite different experience than soaring in a jet. We were skimming along between 1000 to 3000-feet and it felt like I was the one flying. Of course the pilot was very good at his job or I might have another story to tell.

Winter landscape in Kansas shot from a small Cessna at about 1500-feet.

Face your fears--touch the clouds!

     To get the assigned shots we had to open my window and allow the wind current to keep the flap open. Sometimes the pilot reached over and propped it open with his arm-as he was flying the craft. Most of the photos were taken at ISO-800, at 1/1600 second at f-9. Some were taken with a AF-S Nikkor 70-300 mm VR ED (vibration reduction and extra-low dispersion glass) lens while others were take with a AF-S Nikkor 18-70mm lens.

     This assignment allowed me to come full circle--face my fears, and believe in myself and get some great shots! We are often faced with challenges, whether it be on the job or in life, if we allow our fears to get the best of us, they will become phobias and we might just miss out on wonderful adventure. Life is short, dance while you can and fly too--touch the clouds!