Helicopter sequence

[agriffiths]

I thought I'd share a sequence I captured at the end of a very long day.

We were out running joy flights at the Doveton show on Sunday. $35 for a ride in a Turbine Jetranger and we were completely run off our feet. I think the only pause we had the whole day was for refuelling & pizza... tip: eat pizza before handling Av Gas, not after!



Cheers
Andrew

[Mal]

I like it! the more I looked at it the more i wondered how you did it and the more interested in the shot i became. Well done for have the brain space at the end of a long day to come up with the idea for a creative shot.
Also thanks for the Pizza / Av Gas tip. Mine is never eat Pizza after using sheep dip, (mind you I have never had problems with worms or lice)

[biggerry]

awesome shot, as previously mentioned, well done on the creative idea for it Not only that but executing it also!

tip: eat pizza before handling Av Gas, not after!

tip number 2: use avtur rather than avgas for the turbines, she'll run oh so much better

[agriffiths]

HA, good point We were running two choppers and had two refuelling stations. One AVTUR and the other AVGAS for the R44.

Here's the R44 (piston) sitting idol at the Tulip festival... appropriately dressed.

[biggerry]

lol Andrew, and there I was thinking you had stepped up in the world of aviation - belting around in a B206, its almost half way to a real helicopter , but then you posted the robbo...

I love those little shoes... makes that fugly number almost beautiful

sounds like a fun day...

[agriffiths]

Don't knock the 44, she's a workhorse! It's obvious, just look at those shoes.

One of these days we'll find a 500 with the Magnum PI colour scheme. You don't have to be an aviation freak to recognise TC's chopper. I spent countless hours as a kid mesmerised by that machine.

[gstark]

One of these days we'll find a 500 with the Magnum PI colour scheme.

You take the chopper. I bags the car!

[Mal]

One of these days we'll find a 500 with the Magnum PI colour scheme.

You take the chopper. I bags the car!

Then that just leaves the shirts and the moustache

[agriffiths]

Then that just leaves the shirts and the moustache

Surely it's a legal requirement to have both whilst flying the chopper or driving the car.

I think I might have to get myself a snorkel too .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CquMO3vJvo&feature=fvst

[chrisk]

thats brilliantly down mate. how long would that take you to do in photoshop ?
what lens is that shot with by btw ? looks like a keeper. lol

[agriffiths]

Thanks fo the kind words Rooz. It probably took about an hour in photoshop as I had to decide which images to keep and which areas to mask. The trick was timing beginning of the sequence since the helicopter was obviously moving much slower and took up a greater portion of the frame than it does as it flys past the tree and out of frame. Too many images at the start and you have a hell of a mess.

The sequence was shot with the 14-24. Nice chunk of glass that .

[gstark]

One of these days we'll find a 500 with the Magnum PI colour scheme.

You take the chopper. I bags the car!

Then that just leaves the shirts and the moustache

I actually already have the shirt.

Seriously, the shirt is so important that it has been enshrined in the Smithsonian, and one can buy them at some stores in Honolulu, which I have done.

[biggerry]

Don't knock the 44, she's a workhorse!

cause shes cheap to run

find a 500 with the Magnum PI colour scheme

at least it has a real pony in it..

14-24. Nice chunk of glass that

*drools*

did you do this on a tripod? or just handheld?

[agriffiths]

 LOL, you almost made me spill my coffee!

cause shes cheap to run

Correct... at least in aviation terms!

The entire sequence was shot on a tripod with wired remote trigger . I used the tripod primarily to make the sequence easy to put together... but also because I just didn't have the energy to hold the camera up by that stage .

Actually the biggest difficulty in capturing this sequence was communicating with the pilot to plan the flight path and have him fly slow enough at the start for the fuselage to remain sharp. Because I wasn't panning with the helicopter it was important to set the shutter speed fast enough to freeze the fuselage but slow enough to blur the rotor blades in order to provide a sense of motion.

[Killakoala]

Cool. I've seen this style of photo with motorbikes but yours is quite innovative and well executed. Great work.

[agriffiths]

Thanks Steve

We're heading out to the Tulip festival again today but there appear to be gusty 50knot westerly winds screaming their way across the mountain. I might try another sequence later on as the winds will make for an interesting flight path through frame .

[aim54x]

Nice shots, I really like the look of your rides there!! When will you be coming to town with this flying circus?

[Willy wombat]

I was going to head to the tulip show yesterday and today but the weather has put me off.

What are the flowers looking like? If you have any pics please let me know

Steve

[Matt. K]

Can the Robbo get off the ground with those little shoes on??? I once did an aerial photo shoot from a Robinson 22 and we hit a head wind. By the time we were half way to our destination the lease time was up and it was time to return to the airport. I'm sure we were being controlled by someone on the ground with a remote.

[biggerry]

Thanks for the shot setup explanation Andrew.

Can the Robbo get off the ground with those little shoes on??? controlled by someone on the ground with a remote.

[agriffiths]

What are the flowers looking like? If you have any pics please let me know

No photos from today since it was so windy and miserable. I'll get some more this coming weekend as the owner has asked for specific aerial shots. Flowers still look great .

Nice shots, I really like the look of your rides there!! When will you be coming to town with this flying circus?

I was up your way a few months back. Not sure when we'll be returning but I'll let you know .

Can the Robbo get off the ground with those little shoes on???

Short answer... no. We would have to take the doors off, pull the seats out and shed every ounce of weight we could.. including the pilot .

[biggerry]

including the pilot

just wait until we figure out how to remove the pilot from the equation.....

pilots (note the plural) have a lot to answer for...B-1B Lancer (86132) Wheels up and the C-17 Wheels up just as quick examples of career limiting moves by pilots.