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.
Great vid and stills! Brings back memories of when we visited NZ and took a helicopter to the top of Fox Glacier in 1999. Were you near there? Wish I had been into photography more then and had even one of these awesome shots to call my own. It is truly an awe inspiring landscape!
Wow, your job euhhh… s*cks!!! Wanna trade? LoL.
Thanks for sharing 🙂
Hey Chase,
What gloves do find work best?
Offering warmth and control of the camera?
Thanks,
Reece
When I take the camera out ice climbing, i use fairly thick gloves, an old boss of mine gave me a great tip a couple of years ago mainly for winter mountaineering but will work just aswell for photography, Srart wearing your gloves all the time a month or so before it gets cold, then by the time you don’y want to be taking them off you have got used to doin everything in them so you don’t have to. The only thing I can’t do in my gloves, which are very thick winter Motorcycle ones, is get my harness tight enough, tie boot laces-yes, operate my camera-just aswell as in summer,
Hope this helps.
Lowepro make some fantastic gloves with thinsulate insulation that I use. Thin but very warm and can still use all the controls on my gear. You’ve probably already seen them but if not, definitely worth a look.
You never fail to inspire. How on earth did you manage post processing the pics so beautifully. Any tips from Scott again? and what song is that?
Ahhh, Chase, why is it in black and white?? I feel like so much info was lost by dropping the colors. Why’d you choose it?? Thanks, Nataliya
Video is great, but why did you crush the blacks so hard? I feel like you are losing a lot of detail? Just my opinion. You’re the pro, not me!