As part of his AIR project, which aims to show the world is connected by creating outstanding nighttime aerial photos; Vincent Laforet recently shot some incredible photos of London from a helicopter.
The project began with a set of photos above New York city that went viral, and has since covered several more cities around the world.
Other than London and Barcelona, which were both photographed earlier this month, Laforet will be spending the next few days capturing the scenic night views of Berlin, Paris and Venice.
A behind-the-scenes video of the Los Angeles shoot, as well as a video detailing Laforet’s workflow, have been released and can be seen below.
“AIR is a project born of my need to share an important lesson I’ve discovered over the past decade making aerial photographs: the world is much smaller than we think,” says Laforet on his website. “Borders are irrelevant and distances shortened. Clearly, we are more intimately connected to one another than we may realize”.
Laforet’s photos are very distinctive and once you’ve seen a couple of the AIR photos you will immediately be able to recognize more when you see them. While each city looks different from the air, especially since Laforet photographs well known areas with some of the most famous landmarks, there’s still a striking resemblance between them.
I don’t know if this is how he intends to show the world that it’s connected, but it’s definitely one way to do it.
The London video reveals a bit of BTS info such as the team checking the gear before taking off and how lenses are changed with an open helicopter door, but for a more in-depth look you’ll want to see the AIR Workflow video:
A brief explanation of the project, and great footage of the 10,000 ft flight above Los Angeles, can be seen in the following video:
As you’ve surely noticed, Laforet carries LOTS of equipment with him for the shoots.
According to the G-Technology website, which sponsors the project, and an interview with Laforet, this is the gear used for every flight:
Cameras:
- Canon 1D X – 2
- Canon 5D Mark III – 2
- Canon 5DS – 1
Lenses:
- Canon 45mm TS-E Tilt Shift
- Canon 17mm TS-E Tilt Shift
- Canon 24mm TS-E Tilt Shift
- Canon 90mm TS-E Tilt Shift
- Canon 24mm f/1.4
- Canon 50mm f/1.2
- Canon 85mm f/1.2
- Canon 135mm f/2
- Canon 200mm f/2
- Canon 11-24mm f/4
Memory Cards:
- SanDisk 64GB CF – 10
- SanDisk 128GB SD – 6
- SanDisk 64GB MicroSD – 6
The rest of the gear, which doesn’t necessarily take to the air, includes several MacBook Pros and a selection of G-Technology hard drives, the G-Dock and other equipment.
Laforet attends pre-flight meet ups with local followers in the cities he photographs, and even invites a lucky few to join him up in the air(!), so make sure you check out the AIR website and see if he’s coming to your area anytime soon.
[via Laforet Air via ISO1200]
