It was my fifth trip to the Big Apple, and I had some unfinished business. I was chasing new ideas—and a few older ones—looking for unique perspectives that had slipped through my fingers on the last trip. I wasn't going to let them slide this time.
After an eight-hour flight, dealing with some brutal jet lag, we were back and forth on whether to book a helicopter photo flight. We had two main issues: it felt incredibly expensive, and standard tours gave us zero freedom. But then, out of nowhere, we found a company offering custom charters. We reached out, and to our surprise, the pilot was a photographer himself and knew exactly what we were after. Perfect.
Then, the day before the flight, we got the call. Manhattan’s airspace was completely locked down due to President Trump’s visit. We couldn't fly. They had to reschedule us for our very last sunset in the city... Talk about putting all our eggs in one basket.
When the day came, we headed to the hangar—a bit of a drive by car, but just a five-minute flight from Manhattan. We got our safety briefing, and right as the sun began to dip, we took off.
As we approached Manhattan island, I captured this shot, "Lower Edge," catching the final colors of the sunset. The next hour and a half flying over those skyscrapers was hands down one of the greatest photography experiences of my life.
There are no helicopter selfies, no feet-dangling shots over the edge. Just the images I took and the memory of hanging half my body out of an open door to get the shot.
Would I do it again? In a heartbeat.
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