Aerial Photography Help

[jiminyClickit]

Quoting a question from Monday:

Originally Posted by rtokid

. . . I currentlty have two construction progress jobs I shoot for profit. One of my customers wants views taken from the north, east and west. I have no problems with the east shot as the sun is behind me. I do, however, have lots of problems with the other two views.

I have done a lot of research and reading online but there is just not much information specific to aerial photography so I have been looking at general tips/tricks. I have been reading alot about filters recently. I bought and used a polarizing filter which improved my east shots (sun behind me) but still didn't help my other two shots. I have read about ND filters and UV filters but I do NOT want to decrease my shutter speed due to the movement of the plane. Do you think a UV filter will help enough to warrant purchaing one? Would it be beneficial to purchase a graduating ND filter and accept slower shutter speed? I personally think the problem with the shots that face towards the sun are getting too much UV light scatter because to me the problem photo appears to have a blueish tint.

I use a Canon EOS Rebel XS fitted with a EFS 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS lens and a lens hood. EXIF data from both shots:

Shutter Speed = 1/800
f-stop = 6.3
Exp bias = 0 step
ISO = 200
Focal length = 74mm

Also, do you think bumping my ISO up to 400 would be beneficial? I just bought the Canon two weeks ago and have only had the chance to use it once in the air. Customer wants 8x10s which I get from shutterfly and they are usually of good quality. I think the Canon shoots good quality with minimal noise up to about 800 ISO.

Do you think I should be using manual focus instead of automatic?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. . . Below are the links to the photos:

(problem photo) http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3538/...02a7c28d_b.jpg

(descent photo) http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3431/...d875d4e4_b.jpg

Thanks and have a great day!

Sincerely,

Michael Mullins
mike@verticaldevelopment.biz