Aerial Action photos of you in your boat!!!
 

I was thinking of getting a group of boats togeather who want to get their photos done from a helicopter. We can have the helicopter fly right with us and take photos while in action.
Let me know if you would be interested, because as the group gets larger, the price goes down for everyeone. I for one have always wanted to have a picture like they do in boat reviews.
I have contacted one helicopter company and price packages range for quality. Time starts when the rotors start turning, so I think it would be best to film by the airport for obvious time saving reasons.
I was also thinking that if you stagger the boats, He could easily film many boats as we all travel in one direction.
Again, reply back, so I can get a head count. I would like to do it on Memorial Day Weekend.

An airplane will probably be cheaper than a helicopter.

Good luck!

We do that at the annual Donzi Rally in Sarasota....

It HAS to be done by helicopter... an airplane is too fast and you can't get a good camera angle. You can stage the boats to go one every 2-3 minutes. It doesn't matter how fast your boat goes the Helicopter can match your speed. The photographer we used in Sarasota (the same guy that does all of the shoots for the Hi-Perf boat companies didn't want the boats to go over 40-50 MPH as it makes it very difficult (even with super fast film) to get a good shot. Expect to pay between $75 - $100 per boat. I can find out exactly what they charged in Sarasota.

Memorial Day weekend will be way too crowded. You need to do this on an off weekend, between Memorial Day and Bike Week, or after Labor Day. The staging/running area should be out in the Broads so as to minimize the impact on other boaters.

Depending on how many people respond you might need to get an event permit from MP.

Sounds like a good idea...

Woodsy

I,m in, but it should be done on a week day.

Sounds cool
 

Sounds pretty cool, anyone have any examples of how this comes out, or what the pics would look like? I'd love to have a neat action shot of the boat, hard to take that sort of thing yourself...

It would probably look something like this....

http://www.sebagolakepokerparty.com/

Click on 2005 Photos and scroll through.

BT

Check out these links:

http://www.boatshots.com/

http://www.oceanswirls.com/

In popular ocean areas some photographers take pictures on spec and then try to get you to buy a print.

Count me in
 

Wonder if I can get my wife to pose the way they do in the boating pictures?

If there is enough interest it could definitely bring the price down some...

Woodsy

"The rates for commercial photography are $261.00 per hour with your photographer and $286.00 per hour with our photographer. Photo development and photo shop costs additional.
The billable time starts from when the rotors start turning at the home base and stops when they stop... back at the home base. New customers require a 75% deposit up front prior to the flight. The costs also may vary depending on what kind of camera work you desire:
still, motion photography, etc. If you desire motion photography with gyro stabilized equipment, the costs will run up to approximately $800.00 per hour with a Bell JetRanger helicopter that we have available."

This was one company I looked at. I think we have to pay the $800 per hour, but 10 boats = $80 per boat with 6 minutes for each boat, which should be more than plenty.
I think we would be able to get the 10 boats, but not during the week. At least it doesn't work for me.
Woodsy,
Are you interested?
Me,ThePlut,PM203

Anyone else?

I have a fourth person lined up and probably a fifth.

pics
 

count me in

Check the Math
 

I'm not sure you have figured the "6 minutes per boat" right.

Since the time starts as soon as the helicopter rotors start you need to be concerned where the helicopter is going to fly from and how long it will take to warm up, get clearance, get to and from the lake, return to base, and shut down.

There are cheaper hourly rates for helicopters and it would probably be the least expensive to hire a professional photographer and get the helicopter seperately. Call some of the local airports for helicopter rental pricing

As long as time works, I'm game.

We have a few boats that are interested. We had a plane photograph us last year on Lake Champlain and the pics came out great. Just an alternative.

Handyman, Your right, I havn't really done all the math for everything, mainly I think everything is negotiable. I'm sure if there is enough people, we will be able to work out a deal, since more people will be buying photos from them, which is additional income. But before I go in trying to talk about getting this done, I need to know how many potential customers I'm going to bring to the photographer.
If you know of any other companies that do this, in the lakes region, feel free to forward them along.
For those who are interested, PM me with your opinions of what month and days that work for you.
Thanks
BQ

Me,
ThePlut,
PM203 (+ 2 guests)
RobMac
itchin for fishin

Thats 6 or 7 depending on PM203's guests.
I still think we need more.