Shark in the Sky
It all begins with a phone call. Maybe it is an architect or developer who wants to shoot an aerial of a unique building in Manhattan. Maybe it’s a steel company who desires an aerial group employee shot on a new outdoor patio at 1200 feet above Hudson Yards. Maybe it is a magazine that wants to shoot shoe selfies out the door of a helicopter over Manhattan for an article on a collection of classic kicks (sneakers) for the center spread . Or maybe it is the Discovery Channel wanting you to shoot a shark in the sky over and around iconic locations in New York City. Shark Week is something not really on my radar, but I and most everyone in the world knows about it.
The call from the Discovery Channel was a delightful intrusion on a morning of boring editing duties. The phone rings and you never know if it’s about an extended car warranty for a vehicle or someone who wants you to follow a Shark Blimp around Manhattan to promote the upcoming Ever popular Shark Week. After the Discovery Channel scheduled a drone photoshoot over some North Carolina beaches a few days earlier the weather decided to not cooperate and their shoot was cancelled. At this point a brilliant producer, in my opinion, decided to send the blimp to the greatest city in the world and have an aerial photographer shoot it from a helicopter in and around iconic locations of NYC.
Sure we can do that. After couple of calls to my Pilot and the Pilot of the Shark Blimp, or Airship, as I like to call it, we had arranged a time and date to get the job done. Up until the day before the shoot I was pretty sure the Airship was going to take a set route in and around the City. After inquiring what the route would be I was told by the Airship pilot that no such route was planned and he would pilot the Shark wherever I thought was best to get the shots and backgrounds needed. Sure we can do that.
So off we went, my Pilot Jimmy and I directed the blimp around for shots of the tip of Manhattan, out over the Statue of Liberty, and the Hudson and East Rivers. Needless to say this was a shit ton of fun both for the two pilots and of course myself. As an aerial photographer the pressure to get the best job done can be pretty nerve-racking because of the exorbitant per-hour price of the helicopter and the Airship pretty much make reshoots out of the question. It was a very hazy day so I was a little on edge and concerned that the haze would not burn off in time. At the same time the Ticker Tape Parade in honor of the impossibly hard working COVID first responders was occurring in midtown and that put every News Chopper in the city up in the air over Manhattan and made for a very crowded airspace. Sure we can do that!
Every day I look forward to those phone calls that bring me my next amazing adventure. Keep an eye out here and I will keep you posted on the crazy unimaginable things we do here at Big City Aerials.
Shark Week Blimp for the Discovery Channel