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.
I love the photos and the video, fantastic. Wish I could do some areal photography.
Yeah! Good to see my home country shot in that hard hitting black and white. Great images. Love it.
Who is the musical artist?
Scott,
Its Head Like a Kite.
Ken
Great work Chase – you made my home look almost as beautiful as it is in real life! Love the high contrast B&W stuff. I hope this note finds you and the whole CJ team well! Come on back to QT, I’d love to give you guys the local tour again!
For those that haven’t visited NZ or Queenstown specifically yet, take it from Chase and myself (a QT local) it really is a stunning place and well worth the effort to get here!
If you’re keen to see more chopper based filming around Queenstown – have a look at this link – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5a9EplNdIY – this is a short film I put together last year flying around the Remarakables with skiing on our mind.
Cheers
Scott