“METROPOLIS” — This was the beginning. A photo that represents what you could call the ‘genesis’ of my aerial photography career. One that inspired hundreds of thousands of people to look at Hong Kong differently and a piece that paved the way for my love to capture extreme and unique perspectives, those rarely seen by the human eye. Oh…and this was also my very first helicopter ride.
It’s 4pm and we’re standing on the roof of The Peninsula Hotel in Kowloon. Moments later a helicopter circles around us before coming into land. This particular helicopter had already had the doors taken off and the seats were completely exposed to the outside. We were ushered over by the pilot (who I found out later was a local movie star and part-time pilot) and climb in frantically. To my surprise, instead of a harness secured to the helicopter, he showed me the airplane-style seatbelt which was to be the only thing securing me…the type with a simple buckle which can be undone with just a flick of your hand. Seconds later we took to the skies, climbing to well over 3000ft. We cruised above the city taking some photos, in awe of the experience, but nothing had really stood out to me photo-wise — I was still craving a more extreme angle. I joked with the pilot and to my surprise a few minutes later, as we passed over the Wan Chai area, he threw the helicopter into a banking turn that left me suspended by only my seatbelt. Seeing just blue sky through one door and the city through the other, I reached out and held my shutter, feeling my entire weight pressed against the material of the seatbelt. As we straightened out I clung to the seat and checked my camera. This was the moment I wanted, a perfect birds-eye view showing the dense metropolis of buildings with small patches of green dancing between. It was a moment I’ll remember for the rest of my life, a turning point in my career and the beginning of my future as a photographer.
