Has anyone ever thought to...

[downtrodden]

Just wondeirng if I'm the only one who's had this thought... but... why not try taking a shot of the moon from the sky? Like.. on a plane?

Remembering my last flight to Cali- it was an overnight flight home.. and the moon was HUGE- being 30,000 feet closer to an object does that.. AND you're going to get the shot because you're above any cloud cover or smog. I bet it would be pretty amazing... Just make sure you've got the window seat!

At any rate, I may be flying again here in two months and it will be another overnight flight- if none of you beat me to it- i wil give it a shot!

~Cory

[Chem]

Yeah somehow I doubt it was the 6 miles you were closer to it that made it look bigger...since it's a quarter million miles away.

[mjsneddon]

At 30,000 feet, you are a little more than two one-thousandths of one percent closer to the moon than if you were standing on the earth.

And, depending on the shutter speed necessary, the plane's vibration might be a problem.

Have a good day.

[Vio1]

also the small windows of a plane are usually in pretty bad shape: dirty, scratched and double pained.

[reppans]

Wow... tough crowd here.

On the plus side, you're probably above the clouds, atmospheric haze and light pollution of the cities, depending upon where you live of course ;).

[toriaj]

Well, _I_ think it's a fun idea :cool:
I wanna see your shot when you get it.

[leyo04]

cory, i think you'll get it before me. my next plane ride would be december... with a clear sky and hopefully a clean window beside you, good luck. :D

[downtrodden]

Thanks! My only fear is the outer window being too dirty.. clear sky or not- at 30k feet you're above the clouds.

I'm just still trying to decide which would be more fun for my camera, a 2 1/2 day cross country- through great plains, desert and mountain... or the plane ride... :-\ Not long to decide, I want to leave the last week of June!

~Cory

[lathe]

I tried taking photos from a plane once but the windows were dirty with lots of glare from the sunlight (there are many layers of plastic and glass). I didn't bother keeping the photos because they were pretty lousy.

With the moon shots you are talking about, you will have less glare from the sun :D but will have more from the lights inside the plane, but at least you can cover the window with a blanket. The plane vibrations may or may not be large enough to blur the photo.

[Setter Dog]

I'm a retired airline pilot and have never taken a picture from an airplane, except automatic gun camera film in the Air Force.

I do have a memory of picture taking in an airplane that I remember like it was yesterday, though it was nearly thirty years ago.......I was flying a full 727 full of Japanese soldiers from El Paso, Texas, to Los Angeles. They had just finished some training and were going home. During flight I stepped out of the cockpit for a minute and instantly approximately 200 cameras began shooting pictures of me. The clicking and flashing was amazing! That happened every time a crew member left the cockpit. I recall a flight attendant that came to the cockpit and commented that,...."those soldiers are picture taking fools!"

I have no doubt that the Japanese may take more pictures than the rest of the world put together!

[Visual Reality]

Here's one of my better out-the-window shots:

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k245/BlackHawk2k6/Houston/DSCF1840mini.jpg

It's not the moon, but you can definetely make it work. Shooting a stationary object will be harder though, and you will need post processing to take out the haze all the pictures will have. Mine looked nothing like this before I edited them.

[Wesan]

Here's one I took with my APS (film) camera through the window of a plane, back in 1999. I scanned it from a paper copy. I got the reflection of my fingers and camera in the picture too. Anyway - it's possible to take pictures from a plane, but the results may vary. Also, it might be more difficult night time, I guess, to avoid reflections in the window?

I like your idea, downtrodden! Go for it! :D You have a digital camera - no need to worry about wasted film, in case you're not happy with the pictures!

I call this picture "Sweden from above". :p
http://web.telia.com/~u24309329/images/Pics/PI/above_Sweden.jpg