I originally started traveling to New Zealand for commercial photo and video work. Visually, there are few place on earth that exude the beauty of that place AND it has the benefit of being opposite seasonally (opposite hemisphere) from most of the brands/agencies etc that I work for. Great 6 month lead time for campaign creation, media buying, etc. It’s geographically very dense with variety as well. It’s a home run for productions. As such I’ve been heading down there to shoot campaigns for many years.
It was in these travels for commercial work that I fell in love with the New Zealand landscape and started a personal project aiming to capture that beauty from the air. Nothing too serious…more casual initially. But in the past 3 years it has grown more serious with each return. I’ve learned that mountains and landscapes can often photograph a lot like people. They have moods, personalities, essences. Capturing those has become the goal of my Aerial New Zealand project.
At the beginning of this Chase Jarvis RAW vid, you’ll see the door come off of the helicopter, you’ll see my shooting rig, and some safety measures…but the real fun begins after that where we’re buzzing above the Southern Alps of New Zealand, up canyons, and across deltas making pictures–both still and moving. Flying around in a helicopter above what I’d argue is one-of-if-not-THE most beautiful landscape in the world is humbling and stunning and so many things at the same time–not to mention just effing cool. I hope you enjoy the vid. There’s a handful of still images from the end of the video after the jump…
I’ve had the good fortune of shooting out of helicopters for more than a decade…and can say that I never get over how fun it is. Having probably taken 100 or more rides, it never gets old. I’m grateful to have worked with some of the best pilots in the world as well. In this video, Alfie (Queenstown Heliworks) works his magic. Thank you Alfie.
Needless to say, if you ever get a chance to fly, you must absolutely grab that chance.
Check out the images below, but also feel free to check out a bigger gallery selection of images from this project here.
Happy to answer any aerial photography questions you might have in the comments. Thanks for spending some time with the video.
Chase, although I like all of your commercial work and all your other free stuff, I really think that the series of NZ pics are the best. I am normally not much a fan of black & white landscape pictures, but your pictures here, they just have to be black and white. Makes me want to go back to NZ very badly.
There is just one thing about it. Aerials are great, and I bet you see a lot from above, but NZ is just so good for trekking and hiking. I hope you had the chance to climb up on these mountains by feet, or at least hike in this vast wilderness. Experience the nature, the feeling of grass under your feet, above you only sky. Would love to see some photos from that perspective too.
Thank you for the inspiration in every blog post.
Greetings from Germany
Phil
goggles AND sunglasses are so 2010…
Hmmmm, love aerials, but not sure about the processing on these. They seem wayyyy too contrasty to me and it is hard to tell what the photos actually are of. I really don’t get the choice to take away the colors either. I guess it is easier to process the crap out of images that you take in bad light, poor weather, etc rather than actually try to get it right in the first place.
Whoa, bro. You just got served.
wow…I just read this and I wonder how old you are. If I may respond to your post, when I take a photograph, I know how I want it to look (notice my use of “I”). I go into photoshop to make it look the way I want it to look. It is MY decision, MY choice, and I’m sure a lot of photographers agree with me. I’m also sure thats the same mindset Chase uses when taking and making photographs. To insinuate that the post processing was done to mask, as you put it, “bad light”, “poor weather” and “etc” just shows you really have no idea what you’re talking about and you probably stumbled on this blog by accident. Also, you should really take a second look and your work, yourself and the person you’re addressing.
Another advice I’ll give you is that you watch how you communicate with people online…I have noticed that people develop some sort of imaginary confidence while in the comfort of their home in front of their computer screen. Respect is reciprocal and please next time, if you want to be taken seriously, identify yourself. This is a peaceful and respectful community and your attitude is not welcome.
Thanks for your time
I was wondering if you used a lot of tripod movement for the video or if many of the movements were just natural flowing chopper movements, amazing work thanks for sharing.
Great photographs Chase, always good to see how you do it
It’s great fun doing Aerial photography from a helicopter, here in Aberdeen (Scotland) we take photographs of the Oil Rigs in the North Sea from the Helicopters, but dont have a fancy bracket like that, which i am no going to look into getting 🙂