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Aerial Photography business for non-pilot
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June 19th 06, 03:15 AM posted to rec.aviation.piloting
Don Tuite
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Aerial Photography business for non-pilot
On 18 Jun 2006 18:48:06 -0700,
wrote:
Hi, flight school washout here... actually, I couldn't get my medical a
few years ago because of kidney stones. I grow enough to make jewelry
so I've given up on the idea :-)
Assuming I make a considerable effort in marketing my services, is it a
realistic idea for me to pay someone to fly me around to take photos
and expect to make a profit? It seems intimidating to go up against
local photographers who have a small fleet of aircraft, cutting edge
equipment, and years of experience while I would be a small potatoes,
one-man operation renting Cessna 172's.. oh, and one-woman (my wife is
a marketing/advertising major).
*In my mind* it seems possible, and if I knew it could be done I would
go all out to make it happen. What is the general consensus? Feel
free to encourage, or shoot me down. I need to keep it real.
I'm puzzled about how big a market there is for air-to-ground
photography. Shooting air-to-air (taking pictures of other people's
planes in flight against an attractive background), which would
require a pilot/photog team,seems like it might possibly break even,
although you'd need a good long lens, vibration cancellation, and an
aircraft you could take the door off.
One novelty approach to air-to-ground would be false-perspective
stereoscopic photography. You take two pictures of the same scene out
the side of the A/C while flying straight and level, (with as much as
a minute between pictures), print the pix, and arrange them for stereo
viewing through something like a stereopticon. Looks like a
model-railroad replica of the real thing.
(Or just set the images side by side, if you're good at fusing stereo
images. In that case, you could sell the results as a souvenir
booklet, or CD-ROM with a cardboard or plastic viewer. With some
marketing, you might be able to create a fad and make some money out
of the gimmick until the copycats caught up with you.)
Don
Don Tuite
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