Originally posted by csmoore I should have probably mentioned the airport in question is indeed, very small. I was also a student at their flight school a couple years ago.
Ah, well that ought to make things much smoother. Now just have to think of which lenses to use, an off-camera flash maybe. Think of the angles ahead of time.
I looked at your gallery and the photos you have there are really great, but they are quite different from portraits and closeups of machinery. For this series you will have to probably make the photos more intimate. So think of a slightly warm white balance, close crops, getting really near to your subjects.
Since it is much easier to write out ideas for others than for oneself, I'll write one out
1) photo of airport, the building and some planes, depending on what you can get in frame
2) photo of the pilot drinking coffee and reading newspaper (or whatever his/her ritual before flight is, showing their surroundings and attitude/mood)
3) photo of him next to the plane (full body shot, as much of plane as possible)
4) photo of flight charts and weather reports on table (instruments, tools, I'm not sure what exactly you need)
5) photo of plane in flight (has to show some surroundings, but has to be relatively near the plane. Best is if you can manage to take a shot of lift off. Burst mode and big DoF, use panning technique)
6) photo of pilot dressed and equipped in the plane or on the door, just getting in with one foot (3/4 body shot or portrait)
Hope I'm not being patronizing, but this thread made me start fantasizing about flying