Welcome to the second generation of the original low fly photographers website, the first online guide to low flying locations in the world. In fact the only guide you will ever need. We decided to rebuild the website in order to expand not only with new and more information but you will notice the website is physically larger and the photographs and text are larger as well. The temptation to change the format and make the website a flash site with graphics and pop ups etc has been abandoned. It was decided to keep the website clean and simple, this will aide with the reliability with not much to go wrong, after all we do not need gimmicks to hide any short Comings. It was decided that the original lowfly.net website should not be deleted and you can view it HERE.

Aviation enthusiasts fall into different categories i.e. spotters, number recorders, photographers, videographers. Lowfly.net is intended to serve as a guide for photographers first, although most spotters will find it extremely useful. Spotters have different needs for example a spotter doesn't need to climb up a big hill to watch the aircraft, he/she can watch them from the comfort of the car. On the other hand a photographer will need to put a little more effort into it and climb about 300ft up a hillside to get a shot of an aircraft level with him or even below him. The UK armed forces require to train at low altitudes in order to train for the day they may be called upon to put these skills into practise. It is also understandable that residents living in these areas can sometimes get distressed at the UK forces or the government. We say Forces because we are not just talking about the Royal Air Force, the Army and Navy are often seen at low altitudes with their helicopters and fixed wing aircraft(Navy) and even the USAF train at low level in the UK.

We all live near transit routes where aircraft pass by on route to somewhere, but for a photographer this isn't much help as a photographer needs to be above and close to these aircraft. So its no surprise that these areas of low flying are in the mountains of Wales, the Lake District and the Scottish highlands. We should not forget the Moors of Yorkshire and Dartmoor in the south west as these are used for many exercises and training particularly involving helicopters.

Where to photograph these aircraft? In short you need to be at locations where the valley comes to a narrow point where the aircraft are forced to be close to you. When you have found this place you will have to see which way the aircraft bank in order to go through the pass. Why? It depends if you want a topside view or if you are after underside images. If you position yourself at the entrance to these valleys you may well be rewarded with the elusive and exclusive head on shots.

     Mention lowfly.net when you book a room at the Buckley Pines and you will receive a 10 percent discount (room only)

All locations will(eventually) have a viewing position for disabled people where its possible to find such a location. 

                                               


                                                                 What do I do

Well, you have got your top of the range camera system and copied the maps on where you are going to, so what else do I need?

Recommended starter kit comprises of a Digital slr camera with a lens that will reach 300mm(400mm is ideal) a wide angle to take your landscape images. 

To start your trip ; a car. Make sure its filled up with fuel as you will be setting off at some really unsociable hour and the petrol stations may be closed. In winter months I leave in the car a permanent bag containing spare underwear/socks, extra trousers t shirt jumpers, etc. and a pair of wellies. Suitable clothing is a must, sensible waterproof hiking/walking boots with good tread. In winter 1 pair of light socks then one pair of thermal socks and then a pair of thermal long socks on the top. A pair of waterproof trousers are a must for keeping the wind from biting through you. I like to wear golfing trousers over the top of my normal trousers as they are waterproof and have a couple of nylon layers providing a little more insulation. The top half; long t shirt or vest tucked in, normal shirt sweat shirt, polar neck jumper long heavyweight waterproof jacket with hood. Then I carry a xxxl yellow waterproof padded jacket which I can wear if I am stood up if its really biting cold or I can sit on it and keep the cold away from penetrating through the backside, which will soon lower your temperature. Gloves usually consist of fingerless woollen pair, which enable easy of use of the camera plus a large pair of thermal ones which can be discarded in a split second. Plus a nice warm hat which covers the ears. So with all this in mind are you able to take pictures of 600mph aircraft heading towards you in a 30mph freezing wind when you have sat for 6 hours and not moved because nothing as come through the valley? You had better be as you seldom get a second chance. I have got into the habbit of changing my batteries every hour and keeeping the replacement set in the warmth of my inner jacket. This way you should never miss a shot because your batteries fail to supply the camera with power.

                      


Try and put all your camera equipment in one bag and keep it realistic as you have to carry this up a large hill with all your extra clothing. I prefer to use a photo rucksack with a spare section for my food drink, etc. I often fasten my spare coats, etc. to the rucksack and try to keep my hands free just in case i slip. A fold up chair is a good idea to take the strain off your back, a new item for 2007 that became popular were the small fishermans tents that have a built in groundsheet, these are life savers in keeping the wind off you as well as keeping you and your kit dry.

My typical camera system, consists of 1 digital slr, 1 lens range of 135-400mm, 1 fixed 300mm lens with an aperture of f4,one wide angle zoom lens and a 35mm film slr. I would recommend a zoom in the range of 100-400mm as it is useful for fighters at the long end for frame filling and if a larger aircraft comes through you can pull back without having to change lenses. I use the 300mm f4 lens when the light drops or if its very windy to hand hold a longer lens, a lens with an aperture of f2.8 may be useful but you will have to decide if its worth the extra loading, etc. In high winds I detach the lens hood to minimise movement from the wind catching it. Film or digital is your choice I would use digital as a first choice as the majority of the current breed of digital slr have a 1.6 crop factor, which means the lens will be just over half as long again without losing any f stops. I have not used a film camera since Spring 2006. Monopods are not in my scheme of things for low level except the times when i am looking for a real longshot as an aircraft its a certain point of a valley or feature, then i will switch to a second camera and lens as it gets closer.