Yellowstone- Aerial Photography??

[bellimages]

Is it possible to rent helicopter time to do aerial photography over the thermal pools in Yellowstone? My guess is that its not permitted, since its a national park. If that's the case, does anyone have any suggestions or achieving a higher than normal perspective? I'm guessing that ladders would not be permitted either. While this may sound silly, I'd prefer a view from overhead, rather than one shot from ground level.

Jan Bell, Bell Images
www.bellimages.com

"Making the simple complicated is commonplace. Making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that's creativity." - Charles Mingus

[degrub]

Google and a call to ranger are your friend.


http://www.rockymountainrotors.com/index.php/air-tours

Frank

[Peter McLennan]

A quadcopter is the obvious choice, but it'd probably be in the air about five minutes before you'd get busted.

A stepladder is a good idea.  I know when I was photographing the thermal pools I was desperate for more height.  I think you'd get away with a small light one.

[b2martin]

You can climb some of the hills to get a better shot.  I did this to photograph the Grand Prismatic Spring. 

[bellimages]

Yeah, and I wouldn't want to risk harming the ecosystem if the quadcopter were to crash into one of the thermal pools. No photo is worth that.

I wouldn't want to be taken into federal court, like Michael Fitali was, for lighting Duraflame logs at Delicate Arch. He lit the fires to demonstrate to a workshop "nighttime photographic techniques" he admitted. The fires scorched and discolored sections of sandstone. Pretty appalling for a guy who professes to be "at one" with the natural world.

[bellimages]

I learned that the Park Service's regulations maintain that any helicopter must fly at an altitude above 2,000 feet. So that's not going to help me out. I'll call the Park Service to see if ladders (of any sort) are permitted. I'm guessing not, and rightfully so. Someone could bump into it, tossing it's owner into a thermal pool.

[Ellis Vener]

You want to make photos like the one in this blog  I take it? http://bldgblog.blogspot.com/2010/02/bulge-in-floor-now-100-feet-high.html or this one by David Maisel: http://ecatalogue.art.yale.edu/detail.htm?objectId=103342

[bellimages]

Yes ... That type of shot. With that said, do you feel that the first example (the closer view) was taken from a height of 2,000 feet? I'm guessing not.

[Ellis Vener]

Yes ... That type of shot. With that said, do you feel that the first example (the closer view) was taken from a height of 2,000 feet? I'm guessing not.

Depends on the lens. You can judge the scale of the photo by the size of the people on the boardwalk. Wikipedia's entry on the Grand prsmatic Spring (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Prismatic_Spring) says "The spring is approximately 250 by 300 feet (80 by 90 m) in size"