Photographer and filmmaker Michael Shainblum has impressed us countless times before. He has shown us how beautiful Kauai is and shared with us his favorite locations to photograph the Milky Way. So when he recently released his favorite aerial images from his recent trip to the Canadian Rockies, I knew they would be incredible. And of course, I wasn’t disappointed.
I talked with with Shainblum about this project and his love for aerial photography. See the rest of the photo story on his blog.
You have done a lot of cool stuff in your career. Where does flying above the Canadian Rockies rank in that long list?
Flying over the Rockies was really high up there. I love seeing these beautiful mountains from below, but flying above and around really gives them a new perspective. I love doing aerial photography and this was my first flight over mountain scenes, making it a really special moment that I will never forget.
The early morning fog definitely adds drama to the photos. Is this a common occurrence in the Canadian Rockies? Or were you just lucky?
The pilot said it is not rare to get a bit of morning fog or morning mist. But he said the full cloud inversion that we had was extremely rare. We felt so lucky to have witnessed such beautiful conditions for the ride. The week leading up to the flight was mostly rain and stormy weather. So it was a really nice surprise to see.
You obviously seem to gravitate to the mountains, as they are the subjects of some of your most well known photos. For you, what is difference in experience from shooting the mountains from the ground as well as from above? Do you prefer one or the other?
I think the experience of being in a helicopter above mountains is amazing enough to where even if I was not a photographer, I would still try and have that experience. That being said, I probably still enjoy shooting mountains from below more. I like the challenge of fine tuning compositions and scouting around an area to find the perfect foreground shapes to showcase the mountains. On the ground even moving an inch with the tripod can completely change the look of a composition. It is both a blessing and a curse that everything looks so amazing from a helicopter.It is a different type of shooting for sure and I love both for different reasons. No matter from above or below, I really can’t get enough mountain scenes in my life.
See more from Shainblum on his website, Facebook, 500px, and Instagram.