Aerial Photography
Seeing the world from above is a fun experience. Taking photos of it is another matter. I’ve taken photos mainly from commercial get airplanes, and also from a little Cessna. You can definitely get more land detail from a light aircraft, but to see coastline, definitely the jet. The quality can be a bit hit and miss though, as Mother Nature is difficult to control.
Here are a few aerial photos from Hawaii:
The main thing to remember when photographing out of a commercial airplane window is never use a polarising filter, unless you want the view to be covered in rainbows.
The windows of these types of airplanes are already coated with a polarising film, so the “double polarisation” creates a rainbow effect.
From this photo above you really get to see the mountains and how rugged they are. I love seeing coastlines like this.
Here is a fun one. Not really a traditional aerial photograph, but it’s from high up, so…
So, try and get that window seat and make it on a side of the plane that you’ll see the coastline. Then hope for a not too cloudy day, so you can see the view as the plane ascends into the sky!