Today I partially finished a transportation/tourism project in British Columbia. I spend most of the week chasing a train and trying to outwit the forest fires engulfing the central portion of the province.

Normally in the summer, the vistas are clean, clear and graced with crisp northern light. This week, the fire gods decided to change up our plans. As you can see here, the backlight along the tracks was heavily diffused by the ash in the air.

Our plans kept changing due to the smoke, so a pre-flight plan was called for in mid-afternoon.
The video crew had the Astar for the first two days. Here they are making a tight pass north of Whistler.

My first morning with the Astar was on Wednesday and we launched from near Jasper, Alberta. Ground temperature was 8 degrees Celsius. Bundling up is pretty good idea when the right side of the aircraft is missing their doors and you are traveling at eighty knots.

We found this young Black Bear along side the highway. Actually, Ryan our keen-eyed driver spotted the bear and used our location vehicle as a combo blind and dolly for video as the bear fed on huckleberries.

The best way for me to approach the aerial portion of this project was to shoot in close and with tight angles that minimize the smoke and haze.

This was an amazing week for me. Huge group of people involved with the project. Video, models, shooter on board the train with back-up video and a great bunch of people behind the scenes who made it all happen. I can’t say enough good things about Wade our train manager and walking dictionary of everything British Columbia plus Ryan our driver who put up with a wee bit of teasing and very little sleep. Of course, Grant, the grand master deserves many thanks for pulling this all together.