“Dolf has helped us tremendously with our photo and video needs. We strive to build boats at the highest level and the quality of his work helps to represent that”

– Jeff Rhodes, Owner of Coastal Craft Yachts

In order to help us achieve our goals we brought in a talented local helicopter pilot to assist with the shoot – I often get asked how this still makes sense given the level of modern day drone technology? Considering the boat’s performance, it’s really quite a simple choice. Consumer drones can not keep up and they tend to sport wide angle lenses and smaller sensors, giving the footage a less professional feel. Higher end options like cinema FPV drones, heavy lift drones, or a DJI Inspire 3 would definitely produce amazing footage but it would be a struggle to also shoot crisp still images as these platforms are generally optimized for video first. Drones operations of this calibre also require significant resources, including a sizeable chase-boat (pilot must maintain line-of-sight at all times and the drone needs a safe place to touch down between batteries), a team of trained professionals, and loads of expensive technology that needs to be kept dry and safe. At these sorts of speeds batteries would likely last less than 15 minutes for each flight meaning the shoot would need to be paused every time they’re getting swapped out. Factor in the fuel cost of running a quad outboard monster like the Coastal Craft 42’ EF for an additional few hours and all of a sudden a helicopter becomes the more simple, effective, and even affordable choice. 

In order to maximize efficiency I utilize a two camera set-up while in the helicopter. One of my Canon R5’s is paired with a versatile 24-105mm lens and then mounted with a variable ND filter, DJI Ronin gimbal and Atomos external recorder. This allows me to shoot beautiful 4K video footage up to 120fps and in LOG format, which provides remarkable flexibility during post processing and colour grading. The second camera is then optimized for still images, mounted with a fast lens so I have the ability to stop a moment in time with incredible clarity. A 48mp full frame sensor and quick burst mode on my Canon R5 (up to 20 photos per second) helps ensure no moment of the action is missed! Almost all the aerial media seen in this gallery was shot in under one hour in the helicopter. This dual-camera set up in conjunction with an experienced helicopter pilot (crucial!) is truly a very efficient way to capture high performance boats from a bird’s eye perspective!