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Are there any members doing aerial photography a business? Great way to write off some aircraft costs and my Brownie Special.

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Fly for fun and profit.

I've been asked that many times as I supply all my friends with pictures of their homes from the air. My canned response is that if I start charging for pictures the customer will expect quality and more services. I also don't want the IRS involved with my flying.

Ed, I saw somewhere that you had to have a commercial rating to take charge a fee for your shots from the air.

I am your friendly IRS agent and I could be wrong about this.

Ed
Student Pilot
40.6 solo hours
206 solo landings (50% of which have been good)

Thanks Ed. I thought there was more to it than just hopping in the plane and taking pictures. I've seen/heard of some pretty odd business plans in order to get write offs for different hobbies. And I've been approached to use the plane as a writeoff but never wanted it to be anything more than a true hobby.

And I've never met an unfriendly IRS agent!

Ed, I have been into photography for quite a while now. Have been reluctant to get into the digital thing but it seems like the only way to go. I placed my Nikon on my "dash" and turned in on the movie mode on approach to two-niner at KLXT. Below me was a single-file line of 15 or more deer on final. I Didn't quite catch them in the wide angle shot as I cruised in for a landing. The camera fell over and all was lost. When I got home I rigged up a way to keep the camera where it belongs. Fun stuff.

I believe you'll need a commercial rating to get paid for activities related to your flying. Plus, your insurance rate might go up if you use your plane for more than recreational flying. There are some club members with aerial photography businesses, they can give you more input.

You do need a commercial rating to do Photo work if you charge for it. My insurance did not go up for doing it. Mainly pictures of Ranches for the Real Estate world. Now you might break even on the total cost of doing this but it is not in big demand at least around here. Ask yourself how much would I pay for a picture of my house from the air? Like Ed I have done more for free or as a favor to friends. I also fly Hunters to look over their leases from the air , cost of gas plus. Not much in the way of tax relief since it becomes such a small percentage of total cost, meaning you can't write off the whole expense for the year.

OK, I get the picture. Maybe I can get a day job. I'll check the want ads.

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Work is the scurge of -----I forgot.

(slight hijack)
"206 solo landings (50% of which have been good) " You're doing better than most of us, me especially!

I have done a bit of aerial photography as a pilot not a photographer. At a flight school where I worked we had a regular customer who was on contract to shoot commercial development sites on a regular basis.

I can't say I found it very much fun, especially in the winter when the guy had to have the window open.