I use the right camera plane. I have gotten excellent shots from a variety of aircraft, but hands down, my favorite platform from which to shoot is the Piper Cherokee Six or its variants, the Lance, Saratoga and twin-engined Seneca. With its two large removable cargo doors on the left side of the fuselage, the Six offers a huge field of view that allows me the greatest latitude when positioning the subject plane, and the ability to keep most if not all of the camera lens inside of the fuselage.

Since it also has a large removable cargo door, a second plane I've also enjoyed shooting from is the Murphy Super Rebel (or the round-engined version, the Murphy Moose). We typically remove not just the doors, but the back seats to allow for greater movement. There are a number of safety considerations we attend to, including removing, or safely securing all loose objects, and that includes me. Although in the earlier years of my work, I typically used only a seat belt with its clasp secured by a piece of tape to prevent accidental opening, now before takeoff, I don a climber's harness with a well-secured section of climber's rope that tether's me to a fixed point in the plane (something like a seat belt attach point on the floor). The tether is of such a length I have freedom to move as much I as I wish, but that it would be impossible for me to depart the plane through the open door.

Though they don't usually work out as well as the Six or the Rebel, some of the other aircraft I've used over the years include Cessna 172's, 150's, 206s, 210s and 182s, a Beech Baron with a special opening cut in the floor, and unique rear windows that open to the inside, a Maule, T-6s and T-34s, a Sky Arrow, and even a T-33 jet.

Though it's hard to single out just a few experiences, I easily recall a photo mission during one of the world's great small airshows, held at the beautiful grass field of Le Ferte Alais (south of Paris) where this shot of a wonderfully restored P-51 was taken.

Another memorable shoot was over the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, where on a very cold day, I got a wonderful formation image of a MiG 17 and DeHavilland Venom in formation from both the side and rear of a Mitchell B-25 (and also got a very memorable case of frostbite on that mission).

I only shoot when the subject plane is in good light. During briefings, I let my subject know that they may just see me sitting there not shooting for long periods of time. I tell them I'll be waiting for the light, especially if we're orbiting to remain over a good, uncluttered background such as a lake or forest. During the orbit and for a little more than half the circle, there will not be good light on the subject. I often use the down time to check settings and review images on my digital camera so I'm ready to go when we do return to the good light.

I use the right shutter speed(s). Though there are some very good aviation photographers who disagree on this (especially warbird photographers who like to see all four blades of a prop), I prefer to see a full prop "disc". I am not a fan of in-flight shots that look as if the subject plane is in for a dead-stick landing, and I don't "freeze the prop" with too high a shutter speed. With a few exceptions, I always keep my shutter speed at 1/125th of a second or less. It's far better to shoot at 125th or a 90th of a second to get those nice full disk shots where you can see through the prop while still seeing the blur of its full diameter. The times I use a higher shutter speed is when the prop is not in the frame, for example for a close up of the pilot in the cockpit, or of course, when I'm shooting a jet.