Travel Photography - Taking pictures from planes/helicopters

I plan on booking a 60 minutes helicopter scenic flight over the Great Barrier Reef in Cairns next month and I was wondering if I should even bother bringing my digital camera if I have to take all my pictures through a closed window? Will my pictures still come out OK or do I risk seeing glare/dirt in them?

I would definitely recommend bringing it. I've never taken pictures from a helicopter but I've taken quite a few pictures through airplane windows. As have many others as shown in this thread (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/travel-photography/689747-why-i-love-flying-image.html). The dirt shown obviously depends on how clean the window is. If it's clean you won't have any problems at all. The only thing you need to make sure you do is to keep your flash turned off or you will see glare.

To minimize the dirt issue, place your lens as close to the window as possible, and use a large aperture. Perhaps not the largest aperture, as most lenses are not the sharpest wide-open; but just stop down a little.

Are you sure the windows and doors will be closed? I used to fly helicopters, and we often had the doors completely off, or at least many windows open. Helicopters and small airplanes are not necessarily flown sealed up, like larger aircraft.

I think it would also help if you can set your camera on manual focus, or force it to focus on infinity, to minimize the effect of dirty windows.

Are you sure the windows and doors will be closed? I used to fly helicopters, and we often had the doors completely off, or at least many windows open. Helicopters and small airplanes are not necessarily flown sealed up, like larger aircraft.

I think it would also help if you can set your camera on manual focus, or force it to focus on infinity, to minimize the effect of dirty windows.

I emailed the company and was told no windows would be opened but that they could fly with a door off if I wanted to, even though it would be noisy and create drag.

That would be the answer for me, take the doors off! Helicopters are very noisy anyway, and you all should have on headsets to talk to each other (if not, ask for them). You'll be strapped in, so you can have the pilot do tight circles over the reef while you lean out and take great shots through the clear air. Have fun!

I agree. When I was looking for a helicopter flight over the Big Island of Hawaii, I specifically looked for flights with open windows or no doors - there were a few available.

And all the flights had headphones to allow narration by the pilot.

Thanks! I ended up booking with a company who guaranteed we could fly with the doors off.

Edit: I might cancel my heli booking. For 50$ more, I can book a full daytrip to Lizard Island, which includes a 60 scenic flight over the Great Barrier Reef. It would be aboard a plane and I couldn't open any windows, but I think I could still take some good pictures, and have a lot more for my money.

Another reason to keep the camera very close to the window is to keep the auto-focus, if you use it, from picking up the window rather than whatever you're really trying to photograph. If you can, use manual focus at infinity.