A Scenic Helicopter Flight Over Sydney
Are you an avid photographer? Picture yourself above the city, hovering over the blue harbour waters as you lean out of an open helicopter, camera in hand. You pause to adjust the focus of your camera as you are face to face with the Sydney Opera House at low level. You take your camera away to take a moment to yourself… realising you are hovering above the water in an open helicopter shooting one of Sydney’s greatest icons! Prefer the beach? Then picture yourself hovering over the open sea abeam Bondi Beach. Surfers glide on the water below, carving up the waves as you snap photo after photo of the surfers at low level. You push yourself to your limits as your pilot turns the helicopter for a vertical shot of Bondi below. Looking down the lens as you fly along the coast over water.
Sound appealing? So, what do you like… city shots? Colours and lights? Beaches and surfers? Nature? Come for a photography flight with us over the city and see Sydney from a different perspective. There are many types of aerial photography and filming. Art, property, television, advertising, plane spotting, cinematography and many others. We love helping all photographers and videographers alike to capture their perfect shot. It’s one of the things we specialise in! Whether using the economical Robinson R44 with doors removed for hand held equipment or smaller Tyler Mounts, or the super stable Airbus Helicopters EC130, our fleet can match any requirement and budget. In fact, our EC130 with nose mount has been used for Cineflex HD camera system, the Gyro-Stabilised Systems cinema series C516 and the Shotover F1 which can film up to 6k. The choice is yours.
Helicopters are renowned for being great platforms from which to take photos and film from. Most big motion picture aerial shots are filmed from helicopters. The same for the great documentaries you see with sweeping shots over the Serengeti or Masai Mara during the great wildebeest migration in East Africa. Helicopters are very capable, maneuvering easily to offer the best shots at any height, especially at low level. Moreover, they can hover, allowing the photographer or videographer to sit and take shot after shot. It also gives you the option to take vertical shots right over your photographic site. Also, your view is crystal clear. We simply remove the door so there is nothing stopping you taking the ultimate shots.
Shot in the Dark? We Fly Day and Night!
We offer both day and night photography. Sydney is stunning at night, lit up with wonderful colours and transformed by the shadows of night. At height, even the cliffs along Dover Heights and North Bondi seem to disappear into the sea as the light fades. It is quite a strange but eerily beautiful sight. We were lucky enough to have Vivid Sydney this year as a spectacular backdrop to test the new Canon 1DX Mark II with the Canon Collective. With Vivid Sydney being spread over such a large area from the city to across the water at Taronga Zoo, shooting from a helicopter was the only way to take it all in and the results were incredible! Stills of electric colours as the city was brought to life by pinks, blues and greens. Even away from Vivid Sydney, seeing the city bathed in a soft yellow glow is incredible in itself. Check us out on Instagram for some of the photos! @sydneyhelitours
Aerial Photography and Filming
So what does a shoot with us involve? Aerial photography and aerial filming is strictly air work. Ultimately, we’re here to help you get the best shots possible. You tell us where you want to go and what you want to shoot and we’ll help you to make it happen. We want you to maximise your photography time so, we move between sites as quickly as possible. We can happily suggest the best way to get the shots you’re looking for and readily move the helicopter as required. Our pilots can advise you on the best lens to use, different heights from which to work, the best time of day for your project and the best angles to shoot from. The only tip I really have for you is to call us and ask. Our team of professional photography pilots are here to help make your photos and films unforgettable.