Aerial Photography under part 91?
Asked by: Thomas Vaillencourt 8868 views FAA Regulations, Private Pilot
I have been having a lot of trouble getting consistent answers to my question with regard to regulations pertaining to aerial photography under part 91. I'm hoping for an accurate answer based on my specific scenario. I am a commercial pilot in Helicopters, but only have my private certification in airplanes. I own my own airplane, and would like to sell photographs I take while in the air. My interpretations of part 119 and part 91 lead me to believe that as long as I am not carrying persons or cargo for hire, that I can sell such photographs. Specifically, I am not carrying a photographer as a pilot for hire, but I am the pilot and photographer. The intent is not to be paid for my service as a pilot or for the use of my aircraft per-SE, but rather to be paid as a photographer offering the service of photographs taken from the air. Obviously the customer commissioning a photograph which needs to be taken from the air would have to cover the cost of taking said photographs, which would naturally include the cost of the aircraft operation. I have heard of photographers hiring pilots in rented aircraft to fly them around for the purposes of aerial photography, and the photographer is legally allowed to pass the cost of the pilot and aircraft rental on to the end customer. What I do not understand is how do the regulations apply to me if I do not need to hire a pilot or rent an aircraft, but in fact have my own aircraft and can do the flying myself. Again, I would not be charging customers specifically for piloting an aircraft. The use of my aircraft would be incidental to the service of supplying a photo taken from the air. Can I legally take photographs from my own aircraft, and sell them to a customer under part 91? if not and it falls under part 119, why? especially if the operation of an aircraft is not the specific service being provided, but is merely a means to supply a photograph from an aerial perspective.
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