Motor City Night time aerials
Shot an night time aerial piece yesterday for a new campaign. Combination of stills and video shot with a Cineflex HD.
The Art Director and I directed Travis, the camera operator who came up with loads of strong ideas. It was a wonderful team effort. Nick, our pilot is super experienced with aerial video and stills. He setup some amazing passes for video that look just incredible.
NIck, Long Ranger Pilot, CineFlex HD on nose-mounted isolation plate, Travis, Camera Operator and Keith, Art Director.
Long Ranger on the deck after landing to show the client a quick tape of the shoot.
Downtown Detroit Moonrise with Windsor, Ontario in the background.
Art Director Keith in the left front seat of the Long Ranger after his first helicopter flight.
Landing Secured in Canton.
Too busy to write……
Don’t you hate it when a blog or site settles into occasionally updating with new imagery or text…..well, add me to the list.
I’ve been busy with a several projects. Shooting video from the air on an Arnie Mount,(the four KS-8 monster) aerial still shoots plus now I am in the midst of a travel project. Next week I direct an aerial video plus a very cool and fun people campaign.
The Chesapeake Book is done and slowly grinding its way through production before delivery to the printer.
Have a couple of very cool online projects about to hit and will post links once they are ready for viewing.
A redo on the site is in order including new design and logo/font. One thing at a time. I am going to change the focus of the blog and hopefully all of you will enjoy it.
Aerial NYC New Car Campaign
Two days in New York City on Thursday and Friday. Shooting for a new car campaign. Can not say much about the project, but it was a lot of fun to shoot.
Interesting set of challenges presented themselves. Flying in the Twinstar Thursday evening over Manhattan when LaGuardia ATC informs us that the airspace is closed. Of course this happened without the benefit of a NOTAM. The backstory is that the NYPD asked LaGuardia to “close” the airspace above midtown while the Russian Spies were being transported to the airport. We returned to Teterboro and planned for the next morning.
We took off from Teterboro after the morning fog burned off. As soon as we hit the Manhattan shoreline we ran into a problem. The governor in the Twinstar became erratic and one engine had to controlled by hand. The safety advantages of a twin engine ship were brought home quickly. Again we headed back to Teterboro. Safety first.
Flying with film professionals who know how to fly for the camera, plus are high-time pilots, is the only way to go. Flying with high-time pilots who understand how to identify and correct an inflight problem is essential to everyones safety and a successful mission. We could have continued to fly the mission but chose safety over finishing the shoot.
Plan B: A new ship was called in for the assignment. The TwinStar was flown back to its home base by two pilots and I completed my assignment in a brand spanking new Bell 407.
Communication Arts 2010 Photo Annual
The annual arrived today. Several friends are in it – which is always good to see.
Five of my submissions were selected for the annual. One from a stock shoot for in Denmark for Corbis and four from my aerials of the destruction of Port Au Prince Haiti, which were shot for the Community Coalition for Haiti, the NGO that I am a member of their board of directors.
The Sterile Environment
Sunday I returned from a week on the road. Shot twice in Savannah (Monday and Saturday) plus two days in Athens and the rest of the week in Atlanta.
If you are ever in Athens, check out the amazing Indigo Hotel. A gold LEED building. The freshest air I have ever had the privilege of breathing. I awoke refreshed and energized. Fantastic bar and restaurant service plus killer design and rooms.
This image is a fly-by shoot of a retirement community in the south-east. All of the homes are designed to a set standard as are the roads and amenities. It felt sterile to me. But some people just love and need for everything to be consistent.
Water Pollution Control Revisited
The first time I shot a water pollution control pond was back in the nineties for my Over Florida book. Once I shot a set in South Carolina where our rotor wash was creating patterns on the surface of the foam. They were pretty wild looking. This was shot yesterday afternoon, while on final for a small airfield in Georgia. I shot a few frames as we passed by the facility.
AerialStock + Aerial Prints
AerialStock now resides as a sub domain via PhotoDeck on my camerondavidson.com server. PhotoDeck is a new option for photographers who wish to sell stock directly from their sites. Jef Maion, the founder, is a friend of mine and a technical SEO whiz. I thought I would give it a try and add new images plus reprocess many of my favorite aerials and give them a new look. Expect much more material soon. The design echoes my current A Photo Folio web site.
I have made my PhotoShelter site into a site for aerial prints. This is a test and I will see how it goes. I think competition is good for the industry and my hope is that Grover and Company (Ie, PhotoShelter) continue to innovate and grow. They are good guys and are doing a great deal for the industry. I also hope that Jef grows PhotoDeck into a mean clean stock machine.
Time will tell.
Shutterbug Magazine profile – July 2010
Ace photo writer Barry Tanenbaum wrote a profile piece on my aerial photography for Shutterbug magazine. Barry and I talked a bit about helicopter safety and a scary shoot that happened last fall, plus a little about safety and preparation for aerial flights. Barry is a great guy and is also the Editor for Nikon World magazine.
Heart for Haiti Auction – update
The Heart for Haiti auction is live and the bidding has begun.
My aerial of the National Cathedral of Haiti, shot after the earthquake and fire, is part of this auction and show at the Aperture gallery in New York City. The exhibition opens this Wednesday evening at six.
All proceeds from the auction go to Doctors without Borders/MSF. I have worked with MSF/Doctors without Borders in partnership with the Community Coalition for Haiti, an NGO whose members have worked in Haiti since the mid-eighties. I have been a member of their board since 2001.
Most images in the auction started off with an initial bid of $250. As of this morning, my print is currently at $525. The aerial is LOT 33 in the auction.
Please check out the auction site and if in New York, the gallery opening.
New Stock Agency Updates
I now have 347 RM images in the Corbis collection.
My Getty collection has grown quite a bit by the inclusion of the Workbookstock collection into the main Getty archive. Current count is 838 photographs. The majority of these are Rights Managed.
AerialStock.com is undergoing a tightening of the collection. Expect to see new images soon. The goal is to whittle down the galleries and images presented within them. Of course, you can still search by subject and location.
