Aerial Cinematographer Captures Beautiful Images for NHK Documentary

Our expert aerial cinematographer needed a steady hand along with a good pair of sea legs to capture these beautiful images of Sperm whales swimming in the deep blue waters off of the island of Dominica Commonwealth. The drone takeoffs and landings were from the deck of a sixty foot catamaran with swells between one and three feet. Over a 3 day period of time, our aerial videographer did approximately 30 lifts. While shooting aerial videos from the deck of a boat made takeoffs and landings a little more interesting, the location allowed us to capture some really spectacular moments of the whales leisurely swimming with their human counterpart. An experienced drone operator makes the difference in successful aerial filming.

Aerial Coordination

Our production team consisted of a camera crew on the boat, an underwater camera operator and our Unmanned Aerial Vehicle UAV crew. All of the aerial footage was captured with our UAV Heavy Lift Octocopter with a MōVI gimbal. The aerial drone allowed us to capture aerial videos of this event in a way that a large manned helicopter would not have allowed. The unmanned helicopter and drone operator gave us the flexibility to wait and find the whales as they surfaced for air. Coordinating with our swimmer, underwater camera operator and the whales also added another element of difficulty. Our expert aerial cinematographer was able to respond quickly, provide the necessary flexibility and ease of timing to capture precious moments of these beautiful creatures swimming with humans.