Helicopters and Ambulances

One of the most extensive projects I have shot was with Stop Studios, a design firm in Durham. The client was Duke University Medical Center's Emergency Services, also known as Duke Lifeflight. The assignment was to produce a "library of images" from which they could pull for a huge variety of uses- brochures, a calendar, and even t-shirts! Take a look at a few printed pieces here.

My first step was to scout out the hospital to see where things were and determine how much access I could get to areas around the helipad, ambulance bays, and trauma rooms. Little did I know that my scout day would become a shoot day by default! The call came through that someone needed a Lifeflight airlift, so we hightailed it upstairs to the helipad and I quickly began taking pictures of the helicopter crew going through their pre-flight checklists. I had a few seconds to obtain permission from the pilot to stay up on the pad (at a safe distance, of course) and then they took off, banking out over the Durham skyline to go help someone in need. In the rush, everyone forgot that the Flight Nurse was also acting as our escort, so once the helicopter lifted off, we were left unattended on the roof! It wasn't long before a security guard looked out there and noticed me taking pictures of the helipad for detail "vignettes." After a brief explanation and a call on his radio to check my story I was allowed to stay out on the pad and wait for the helicopter's return. The sun was setting and it was "magic hour" as I was photographing the landing and offloading of the patient, then into the building and down to a trauma room. It happens fast! I was able to shoot the helicopter taking off again after dark, since they had to fly to RDU for refueling. All in all, my scout day was very successful.

I would spend quite a few days over the course of a couple months with the Flight Nurses, Pilots, and Ambulance Drivers at Duke. These folks are busy. They have serious jobs. They don't want to stop and pose for a photo shoot- people's lives are at stake. So I got to follow them around and see what they do day in and day out. Their days are spent keeping themselves busy with equipment maintenance and paperwork until the call comes over the radio that sends them into action. So that's what I did too- I had my laptop set up in their control center, deep in the bowels of the hospital. There I would look over images and show selects to my Art Director until the folks in the blue flight suits got their call. Then it was off to photograph the ambulances and helicopters and their emergency crews.

We also were able to shoot portraits of the crews, a few scenarios that were set-up during downtime, and one day I went up in the UNC chopper to photograph the two Duke Lifeflight helicopters flying over Durham. That was one of the coolest things I've ever done! I very much enjoyed working with the emergency personnel at Duke, and was quite impressed with their abilities and their professionalism. I have put a bunch of images on this post, this is just a small sample of the body of work we created.