Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2000/01/10
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]About 15 years ago I was taking construction photos of a local bridge here near Vancouver, and besides all the usual stuff from the towers, the ground and the construction cranes I regularly took aerials. I do a fair bit of aerial photography, and usually fly in a small Cessna, as I find I get more done in a shorter time (equals more profit) than from a helicopter, and with a bit of planning and explanations to the pilots it works out well. Sometimes, the client provides a helicopter, and I'll use that. The bridge was such a case. Our provincial government provided the helicopter once monthly, and I got to sit in the back, doors left at home. One time we had arrived at the site, and the pilot started banking. As usual, I was sitting on the bench seat, the seat buckly taped and the camera bag looped through the seatbelt. Imagine my 'surprise!!!' when the seat started moving! I realized quickly that though the seat was moving towards the door, the seatbelt was firmly fastened to the airframe. Now all I had to do, besides hanging onto my camera, was to hang onto the bench. I easily persuaded the pilot to land to allow me to bolt the seat back into place. Apparently the chopper had been used for transporting bulky goods before I got into it, and someone hadn't done their job in putting it back together again. I've taken pictures from the skids before, but this was a lot scarier! This was mostly medium and larger format, but some slides were usually taken with 35mm as well. Some Leica, some other. No tripods. Nothing for longer than 1/500sec if at all possible. * Henning J. Wulff /|\ Wulff Photography & Design /###\ mailto:henningw@archiphoto.com |[ ]| http://www.archiphoto.com