I was only permitted to take on board one camera body and one lens. Based on the pilots experience I selected a 28mm f2.8 lens. I wasn't sure if that selection would be the best, but I went with it. It turned out the pilot was right. In fact, a 24mm or maybe even a 20mm might work. If I get another chance at this I'll try a wider lens. Anyway, I was strapped into the seat in front of the pilot with a head set and goggles on. There was no way to move except my arms, and I could turn my head from left to right. It was almost impossible to look through the viewfinder. In the open cockpit it was also very difficult to change film. I shot 4 rolls of 400 speed Fujicolor negative film. Camera was the 700si set on high speed film advance. Because my back was to the pilot I held the camera over my head pointed behind me. (Of course I couldn't see anything through the viewfinder.) I basically moved the camera up & down, left & right, hoping that I would get a frame that include the plane & pilot that I was in as well as the plane that followed beside us. Every few frames I would change the aperture from f8 to f16 (and all apertures in between). I let the camera determine the exposure based on the aperture I selected.
The photo here was the best from the shoot. There were a great many that were close, some that were absolutelu disastrous. Besides not being able to look through the view finder I had to deal with tremendous wind from the open cockpit. I wrapped the camera strap several times around my wrist so it wouldn't blow out of my grip when I raised it over and behind my head. It took some strength to hold the camera in this powerful wind with both hands.
In this photo we are flying over Lake Neatahwanta on the edge of the city of Fulton, NY which is in Oswego County about 30 miles from Syracuse, NY.
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