When I was 15, I was dead set on being a commercial helicopter pilot. I remember getting all the information, pricing, duration of education, etc. It might have been the price tag at that time that held me back from this path, I can’t really say anymore. I ended up going to Simon Fraser to study Psychology..what the hell happened there?? What I do know is that every time I get the opportunity to go up in one I still get pretty geared! When I get to combine choppers and photography, well that’s just the bees knees for me.
That brings me to the subject of this post, Summit Helicopters. When Jordan, the Quality / SMS Manager, who is responsible for overseeing and growing the safety program for Summit Helicopters as well as managing the Quality Assurance Program contacted me to let me know the details of what they were looking for, I knew it would be a really fun shoot. Along with head shots of the pilots and engineers in their hanger, I was also responsible for getting in flight images of their BC Emergency Health Services (Air Ambulance) from one of their other machines. Also included were some interior images, all for a future project. Having met both the crews it was time to get into the blue and shoot some content. We did a loop around the city, ending up shooting over the Cinammon ridge area, which was my personal favorite. The air ambo hovered for us over the river as well for different vantages. My biggest challenge with shooting out the ‘photographer’s window’ With your gear sticking out, traveling around 60 knots my hands were literally beet red when we landed. But during the shoot it’s ‘suck it up buttercup’ time 🙂 At least it wasn’t -20 at the time! We had just finished some interior shots of the air ambulance when it was time for the crew to rush out to a mission in the Kootenays. Round trip, about 4 hours i was told, provided the evacuation went smooth.
Enjoy the images, I had a great time shooting and really appreciated the people at Summit; professional, nice with a great sense of humor. Hard to ask for anything more..
Cheers! To see more of my work, head over to my web portfolio here
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