Every now and then you get to shoot something REALLY cool. One of these moments happened to me a just few weeks ago; I had the opportunity to get up in a helicopter with Helijet (http://www.helijet.com/) and shoot aerials of the downtown Vancouver skyline and the North Shore Mountains. Wow! Dream shoot! This would be fun!

I immediately enlisted the help of two good friends: my fellow former schoolmate and camera operator friend Miles Forster from Bear Studios (http://milesforster.com/), and my talented photographer friend Ashley Drody! (http://ashleydrody.com/) Miles would be bringing along his RED Epic, Ash would be on stills duty with her Canon 5D MKII, and I would be rocking my trusty and beloved Sony EX1. Everything was set for awesomeness…

…except the weather. After several reschedules due to inclement weather, Lady Vancouver finally smiled upon us and gave us a stunningly gorgeous summer morning in early July. There was barely a cloud in the sky.

We met up with Helijet Director of Marketing, Jay Minter, as well as our lovely pilot for the day Erin and prepared for take off. There was electricity in the air as we took off the helipad and the beautiful skyline of Vancouver materialized before us. These are the days that make me feel alive and affirm why I shoot video.

We soared towards the rugged North Shore mountains of Vancouver, overtop of Grouse Mountain, across frozen lakes, above thousands of trees and pristine wilderness, overtop of mountain passes, through sprawling valleys, and finally trailing the Sea to Sky highway with vistas of the Pacific. Ashley, Miles and I all had massive grins on our faces the entire time. Especially Miles.

On our way home we did a loop around Vancouver again, admiring the shiny glass buildings and familiar landmarks that make Vancouver the place we love and call home. Not many cities have the privilege of being surrounded by sandy beaches, lush forests, and pristine mountains so close to the downtown core.

Once we landed we grabbed various shots of the helicopter, the surrounding area, and finally my personal favourite, our 300fps slow motion ‘badass walk’ at the end of the video. Yes, I added the lens flares in post. What a day!

Big shout out and thanks to our good friends at Helijet! They are absolutely first class and were a pleasure to work with. Thank you so much Jay!

If you yourself are interested in flying with Helijet and experiencing Vancouver from the sky, they offer chartered summer tours which you can find on their website here: http://www.helijet.com/ . It was ABSOLUTELY worth it! What a unique and exhilarating experience.

You can view the full gallery of our still photos here, compliments of Ashley Drody Photography: http://ashleydrody.com/helijet-adventure/

Essential Links:

- Helijet International Inc: http://www.helijet.com/ 

- Helijet Twitter: https://twitter.com/Helijet

- Miles Forster Homepage: http://milesforster.com/

- Miles Forster Twitter: https://twitter.com/milesforster

- Ashley Drody Photography: http://ashleydrody.com/

If you’re not already following me on Twitter, I’d love to be friends! https://twitter.com/ChrisStanleyHD

Also, there’s the ‘ol Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AmberPacificStudios

Thanks for taking the time to check out our adventure! Till next time!

- APS_Chris