Gallery: The Amazing Aerial Photography of Jason Hawkes
11:29 am, September 26th, 2009, Leander Kahney
Hit the jump for some amazing overhead pictures by Jason Hawkes, a UK aerial photographer.
Hawkes has published 25 books of aerial photography, and is always in demand for clients like big advertising agencies and Wired UK.
Hawkes (left, with one his regular pilots) works all over the world — a recent shoot was over Las Vegas — but most of his work in in the U.K, especially London.
He shoots leaning out of the door of a twin squirrel helicopter, with a tether, of course. He uses stabilizers and often shoots with a Nikon D3 tethered to a Mac.
Digital makes aerial photography much easier. He uses GPS to automatically tag the shots (he used to take handwritten notes) and he can shoot thousands of images every time he goes up. He needs to: helicopter rental is very expensive, and he often needs to clear flights when shooting low over London.
He’s got also got great business sense. He shoots a lot of stock images when flying for a client or for a new book. The book publisher pays for the images but he’s free to resell them afterwards to stock agencies like Getty or through his own site, JasonHawkes.com.
Powered by Adobe Lightroom, the site is a sophisticated ecommerce system with more than 45,000 images, organized by search terms and broad categories like “Patterns,” “Night” or “London.”
Above: A highly retouched night shot of London for the cover of the first issue of Wired UK.
Below: Various shots of London, the Las Vegas strip, the U.K. countryside, Spanish beaches, and Hong Kong.
Posted by Leander Kahney in Media, News | Comment on this article
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These are actually awesome , i was a bit skeptical as to what to expect but they truly are fascinating could look at hundreds of these for hours love stuff like this!
John Ward, on September 26th, 2009 at 12:22 pm
Do you owe him a favour? That’s a really tenuous Mac link to get a story with multiple images out of! Hope I’m not being too harsh but the photographs to me are nothing special. I would wager that any half decent photographer with access to a helicopter could get comparable images.
Matt, on September 26th, 2009 at 12:32 pm
I was thinking the same thing Matt. There were a few shots that really impressed me, but most were cool simply because they were taken from a helicopter. So the reason this is on a Cult of Mac blog is because he uses a Mac? I know a really terrific wedding photographer who also uses a Mac, perhaps you should do a piece on him…
Scott, on September 26th, 2009 at 12:40 pm
The world looks quite different from the air. I agree that most were average, but I think the point is that there aren’t that many aerial photographers and out of those that exist, this guy is probably one of the best. He does have a keen sense for color and spacial sense in some of the shots.
Len Ramirez, on September 26th, 2009 at 2:24 pm
I’m a photographer and honestly I don’t think there’s something really creative or special about these pictures. These are just places, static. The subjects are almost always stationary. Another photographer could take the same pictures of the same places too if they had a helicopter.
Fat Gorilla, on September 26th, 2009 at 2:50 pm
whats the point on having theses pictures on CoM, seriously the pictures are good but not that extra ordinary to have them on CoM especially by Leander, i would expect this from the other writer but not from him
Namhar Udba, on September 26th, 2009 at 3:45 pm
These pictures are sick.
Good job man
Rob, on September 26th, 2009 at 4:56 pm
Did any of you all complaining about the relevance of this post consider that CoM is about Macs and “the people who love them”? Perhaps, just maybe, Leander thought these photos would interest the very same type of people that like Apple products. Notice also that this post comes on the weekend, when not much is being posted. That’s typically a perfect time to post something less directly related, but still likely to be enjoyed by the site’s readers.
And remember, no one is forcing you to read each and every post. Next time take a deep breath, relax, and move on to the next post you do find interesting.
Paul, on September 26th, 2009 at 6:26 pm
Okish pictures. Nothing wrong with them as such as records of what is out there but would be nice to see something with a bit more thought re framing – more artistic input. Makes me appreciate Vincent Laforet’s aerial pictures even more. Check his out.
konokurisu, on September 26th, 2009 at 7:31 pm
Beautiful and amazing. The picture of the cooling towers was ominous. I just wish there were details about each picture.
To those belittling the skills of the photographer, I’m sure we would be thrilled to see the work you’ve created. Surely you have something to back up your attitudes of superiority.
Chris, on September 26th, 2009 at 8:44 pm
For the people who say that these photos are nothing special, just one question? Have you ever tried to shoot photos from a moving helicopter? Or even one trying to stand still?
A helicopter is not a very stable photographic platform. They are loud (very loud) and will vibrate your teeth out of your head. Leaning out of a helicopter with a very powerful wind above your head, especially at night, is not an easy task. Just making camera adjustments, and trying to get them right, while framing the shot, is a challenge.
I’ve shot hundreds of photos from a helicopter, and it is not easy, and these are amazing.
Great job, Jason!!!!
Michael, on September 26th, 2009 at 9:49 pm
very good picture and various scene from the height distance. Interesting and nice. Thanks…
Hasabud, on September 27th, 2009 at 1:23 am
I love each and everyone of the pix and now I quickly have to go over to Amazon to get a book of this guy.
BTW I hope he works with an Apple as otherwise Leander has an issuewith the tagline of this online publication.
mmmark, on September 27th, 2009 at 5:21 am
How are these relevant to “Cult of Mac”?
TranceMist, on September 27th, 2009 at 8:49 am
Top pix.
Some may look ordinary at a glance, but believe me:
Aerials are difficult.
And his colour depth is satisfying indeed.
David J, on September 27th, 2009 at 4:27 pm
Excellent post, thanks.
Mark, on September 28th, 2009 at 10:16 am
Amazing and awesome pictures. Thanks for the post. All are really nice. Lot of hardwork is there.
LiDAR Services, on November 1st, 2009 at 10:05 pm