Rescue helicopter
Jun, 2017Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
I shot this photo from our stateroom balcony aboard the Costa Favalosa cruise ship, somewhere off the coast of Norway.Time
It was late morning. We were just thinking about getting some lunch and had stopped in our stateroom to drop off a few things first.Lighting
It was an overcast day, with no direct sunlight, but it was still bright enough that the first shots I took in auto exposure mode completely froze the motion of the main rotor on the helicopter. I had to switch to a shutter priority mode to slow the shutter speed in order to capture some motion blur.Equipment
This photo was captured using my trusty Pentax *ist DL camera with a Pentax D-series 18-55 mm lens, shooting handheld.Inspiration
As we returned to our stateroom, I heard the sounds of a helicopter, which seemed really close, considering we were in the middle of a day at sea. I opened the door to our balcony and looked up to see this helicopter hovering almost directly above us. I stepped back inside for my camera, and shot a whole series of photos during the medical evacuation that the helicopter came to perform. Unfortunately, the lowering of the medic and the lifting of the patient were performed directly above the ship, and were mostly out of sight, so I couldn't get any shots of those parts of the operation. This particular shot was near the end of the operation, after the helicopter door was closed and it began to fly away, back to shore.Editing
No post processing was performed on this image. It is straight out of the camera.In my camera bag
On this trip, I was carrying two cameras, nearly identical Pentax *ist DS and DL models, together with 18-55 mm and 50-200 mm lenses and a number of extra batteries.Feedback
Emergency operations can provide interesting photos, but always remember to pay attention to your surroundings and listen to any instructions from emergency personnel. In this case, there may have been better views from out on one of the open-air decks, but the crew had closed them all to protect passengers from the rotor wash, so I was limited to the view from my balcony. I needed to remain aware of where I was...leaning out over the railing would have been a bad idea. It is also good to have patience...these operations can go on for a long time, and there can be long periods where nothing very interesting happens. But if you are patient, you might be rewarded with a really good photo opportunity.
