Police Helicopter - 60 second photo tip part 14

Taking photos on board a police helicopter. Subtitles have been edited for those with hearing difficulties The image of this police air observer was very challenging to capture. As you can imagine the use of flash is slightly not allowed in the cockpit of a helicopter at night. I was purely reliant on ambient light from the thermal imaging camera screen in front of the observer. I had to push my ISO to levels my camera really can’t cope with, open my aperture to 2.8 and top my shutter speed down to allow more light into the camera. The quality of the images was not great due to the digital noise, but I was pleased with what I was able to capture given my circumstances and the shooting conditions at the time.

This photo was taken on board a police helicopter during a search at night for a missing person in open countryside. The helicopters on board cameras have thermal imaging which enables the operator to pick up heat signatures in what would otherwise be pitch black. The shooting conditions inside the helicopter were extremely cramped and difficult, for obvious reasons I wasn't able to use a flash so I was completely reliant on the glow from the monitor that was in front of the observer. I had to push my ISO to ridiculously high levels, far higher than the camera was suitable for and you can see this by the noise thats in the picture. The enjoyment that I get from shooting editorial or documentary photography is that you do get opportunities like this and also you are faced with some challenging situations where you are still expected to get the photo and sometimes you do have to think outside the box, or push the equipment much further than you would under normal circumstances.