CHICAGO | St. Regis Chicago (Vista) | 1,191 FT | 101 FLOORS

[vexxed82]

Flew for a client project on Friday afternoon. Took a few orbits around Vista after I wrapped my client's shots. Here's a peek:



Also nabbed some of NEMA & WPE.

[skysoar]

OMG fantastic shots, you are living a skyscraper lovers dream...

[BonoboZill4]

I swoon a little every time I see this structural make-up for this one... So unique

[Zapatan]

Nick, do you fly drones or rent a helicopter for most of your photos? Amazing work

I swoon a little every time I see this structural make-up for this one... So unique

I know, it's so cool

[cozy]

that bottom right roof shot, nick, we NEED that

i think he's in a chopper. if he was allowed to fly a drone over the loop i'd wager the shots wouldn't look as nice because of the camera limitations. please correct me if im wrong

[Zapatan]

Originally Posted by cozy

that bottom right roof shot, nick, we NEED that

i think he's in a chopper. if he was allowed to fly a drone over the loop i'd wager the shots wouldn't look as nice because of the camera limitations. please correct me if im wrong

I figured due to his profile picture he's in a helicopter for at least some of the photos, and yea that makes sense. Although drone cameras can be pretty good.

Is there a chopper rental agency in Chicago? Because that would be awesome

[vexxed82]

Originally Posted by cozy

that bottom right roof shot, nick, we NEED that

i think he's in a chopper. if he was allowed to fly a drone over the loop i'd wager the shots wouldn't look as nice because of the camera limitations. please correct me if im wrong

Originally Posted by Zapatan

I figured due to his profile picture he's in a helicopter for at least some of the photos, and yea that makes sense. Although drone cameras can be pretty good.

Is there a chopper rental agency in Chicago? Because that would be awesome

Originally Posted by skysoar

OMG fantastic shots, you are living a skyscraper lovers dream...

Originally Posted by BonoboZill4

I swoon a little every time I see this structural make-up for this one... So unique

Thanks everyone! Aerials photography is definitely been an amazing way to see the city and capture this recent building boom.

To answer a couple questions:

1) This is via helicopter. All of my aerials are done this way. I do have a drone, but I'm too anxious to fly it anywhere cool...particularly over buildings/people. Which is a no no anyway. Drones are getting increasingly better, but most of the consumer versions don't have cameras that match the quality of a full-frame DSLR...yet.

2) There are a few tour operators in Chicago. Though my provider of choice is Rotorzen. They fly out of the Vertiport which is an incredible facility near Wood & Roosevelt). It's kind of a weird situation because Vertiport also has their own tour helicopter - which isn't ideal for photography - though there are other vendors who also rent out space and fly out of the Vertiport.

I usually book a custom charter flight with Rotorzen. This way we can take off the doors, and I can direct the pilot/flight path to suit my needs. It's roughly $850/hr, but if I'm shooting a couple projects for a couple clients...and I can keep the flight time between 18-35 minutes, the cost is easy to justify.

[harryc]

May 4

from Oak Park


May 8

[BuildingDude]

Originally Posted by BonoboZill4

I swoon a little every time I see this structural make-up for this one... So unique

Props to MKA for figuring this complicated structure out! It's one thing to have the vision. It's another to make it real!!

[BUILDER5000]

From the Observation deck of the John Hancock Center

[LouisVanDerWright]

Can someone with a zoom lens take a close up of the louvers on the transfer floor???

[BonoboZill4]

Originally Posted by LouisVanDerWright

Can someone with a zoom lens take a close up of the louvers on the transfer floor???

I'll bring my Canon to work this week

Haven't had an excuse to use it yet since getting it for my bday (too much cold weather for a long walk with it)

[BVictor1]

05/04/19





05/05/19















05/06/19





05/08/19



05/09/19

[vexxed82]

Big aerial update from Friday (5/10)

[Skyy]

^^Amazing!

[rgarri4]

Hot dam. Those are the best shots I've seen of this to date!

[Kenmore]

Originally Posted by vexxed82

Big aerial update from Friday (5/10)

amazing set as always dude, your work brings a lot to the forum, quoted for the new page

[Chi-Sky21]

I know it is the angle but it looks quite a bit shorter than Aon in that last photo. I guess they didn't call it Big Stan for nothin.....

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by Kenmore

amazing set as always dude, your work brings a lot to the forum, quoted for the new page

please don't quote entire picture posts.

FYI, not everyone has their post per page count set to the same number. some use 10, some 15, some 20, and some 25, so there's no such thing as a universal "new page" across all forum's users.

[Elliphant]

Looks like my summer housing view is going to let me watch from bed as Vista gets her glass finished off