Aviation and Aerospace Clients
Case Study Quick Links
The aviation industry is a specialist sector that we have operated in for some years providing dynamic aviation photography of both fixed-wing and rotary aircraft. With experience of working both on location and air-to-air, we are trusted by clients such as BBC Productions, Airbus, Air Ambulance, Bristow and HM Coastguard, here are some of those clients’ stories.
Our work here is an insight into some of our aviation and aircraft photography featuring a varied range of our client aviation-based projects from private jet charter work that we produce for clients such as TAG Aviation, to vintage aircraft and warbird photography that we have undertaken for clients like BBC Studios and Biggin Hill Heritage Hanger. Shooting aviation-based photography can be very involved from a planning perspective and we always work closely with our clients to ensure that the team works together to get a shooting schedule in place that allows for the preparation of crew and items that may be required such as ground power units. Aircraft by their nature can be pretty tight spaces to work in and it’s always important that shots and equipment are planned so that all the required safety requirements are met fully.
Shooting air-to-air photography is where you really get the opportunity to bring some aircraft alive, in the sky where they belong. It is a skill set itself and not as easy as people first think, especially in the case of shooting say Spitfire aircraft when you are working from within a 2 seater, they were never built to be spacious. It is when carrying out this sort of work that real-world experience is valuable to shoot quickly and get the best results, dealing with sunlight glare off the canopy and knowing the positions of both aircraft relative to any background you might want to show as your stage.
Our experience in helicopter-based operations work has seen us successfully complete many projects for aviation clients such as Bristow, with their Search and Rescue Operations (SAR) as well as with HM Coastguard, and with several HELIMED Air Ambulance Services where we provide both documentary style photography of the live HELIMED crews on duty as they respond to emergency call-outs to incidents. This type of aviation photography is extremely rewarding and some of the most worthwhile work that we produce, helping to raise awareness of these services and in the case of Air Ambulance, help raise continued funding to keep them in the air saving lives 24/7.
We have completed with TAG Aviation on location several times to capture the essence of who TAG are as well as their operations and the service that they provide to their clients across the globe. The client brief, to provide high-quality aviation photography will seamlessly sit within their current assets and be in line with their global brand for use within their marketing.
TAG Aviation leads the world in providing award-winning business and private aircraft solutions. They have operational bases in Europe and Asia, and have the reach, experience and expertise to search, manage and charter aircraft across the globe, providing their clients with an unmatched service, the world over. TAG is one of the business jet industry's leading operators, having pioneered the concept since the company's inception in 1966. Their innovative approach and uncompromising standards have remained unsurpassed for over 50 years, as has their reputation for safety, professionalism and the highest levels of client service.
Working with TAG Aviation
Aviation and Aerospace photography in many ways is very comparable with automotive photography in as much as the 'scene' is often created by the use of lighting and location. Clearly, we never shoot the aircraft in a studio although perhaps one day with the right aircraft and the right studio we may do just that. The majority of our client aviation work is shot on location where we have access to the aircraft. That could be an airfield or hanger in the UK or a location in Europe or anywhere in the world. When we shoot charter-based jet work we work very closely with our client and the operational staff to ensure that impact to the operation is kept to a minimum as well as helping to plan through the shots required so that items such as GPUs and cherry pickers, if required, can be organised to fit into a solid shoot schedule. Planning is very much the key to a successful aviation-based shoot and Tim has a great deal of experience in helping our clients so that everything from pilot access to airside movements are seamless.
Tim Wallace has worked very closely with several HEMS-based operations over the last few years such as HELMEDS 21, 56, and 60 to document the work of these organisations, spending time with their pilots, paramedics and doctors to capture the day-to-day lives of these amazing crews that work tirelessly to provide rapid response emergency medical care with their helicopters and rapid response vehicles. We provide both aviation photography of their operations as well as documentary photography.
Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance are a client that we work with on a regular basis to capture and record the work that they do through their Air Ambulance operation HELIMED 56. Tim has worked closely with the team over the last few years and completed all the required CAA-authorised training that was required so that he can work directly with the HELIMED team during operations to get a first-hand view of what their day can entail and be fully embedded into the online crew during active service.
Air Ambulance HELIMED Operations
All the work produced from this will be used to raise awareness of an operation that is entirely funded by donations from supporting businesses and members of the public. In 2023 we also took on work with Kent Surrey Sussex Air Ambulance, KSS, that operate HELIMEDS 21 and 60, working with the KSS teams and crews at their base at Redhill in the UK. Kent Surrey Sussex Air Ambulance has been saving lives and providing cutting-edge, pre-hospital critical care for the last 34 years and covers a massive 7,390 km2 area in the south of England.
The KSS fleet consists of helicopters and Rapid Response Vehicles that transport their doctors and paramedics to patients 24/7, 365 days a year, that brings the emergency room to the scene to deliver life-saving critical care. At the scene, they provide an advanced level of treatment and have the ability to transfer patients rapidly to a hospital where they can be given the best available care for their condition. Their current fleet consists of three state-of-the-art Leonardo AW169 helicopters and when circumstances prevent them from flying, their rapid response road vehicles mean they can still provide specialist life-saving care by road through their four Rapid Response Vehicles (RRVs).
Tim - "I remember taking the initial call from the guys at Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance (HIOWAA) back in early 2021 and we discussed working with them to do a library of new photography to show all aspects of their operation, from the training scenarios that they run on a regular basis, through to their rapid response vehicle and finally the air ambulance itself. After several meetings, we opted to approach this in a way that had not been done before in the UK, with myself actually going through CAA-approved training so that I could stay with the HELIMED crew and go on live operations with them.
After a few weeks, we had the required approval to move forward and over the course of a few weeks I completed a series of training courses and tests that would qualify me officially to be an active crew member, these were things like HEMS Technical Crew Member Theory, Aircrew Fire and Smoke Training, Escape Door Training for the Airbus Helicopter H135, Crew Resource Management Training, and the infamous Dangerous Goods Onshore (Helicopter) course. After completing these I worked closely with the team at HIOWAA and we worked out a plan so that over the period of a week I would be able to access and capture the varied elements of what they do. These were to cover everything from the regular critical care training sessions that they undertake with HEMs Doctors and Paramedics in training, through to the Rapid Response vehicle operations and finally the Air Ambulance itself."
Tim - “It is always a great honour to work alongside the critical care response teams to document the incredible work that they do every day of the year. Highly skilled doctors and paramedics can be called upon to attend to literally any severity of incident and are often first on scene. My own personal experiences led me to understand that the term 'Air Ambulance' is quite an old misleading term that denotes people being airlifted to hospitals constantly whereas in reality it is more accurate to think of the team's role these days as being more one of getting highly skilled medical staff on scene as soon as possible to help preserve life, only airlifting when it is required or quicker as an option to the right hospital, this keeps the helicopter 'online' for active calls for longer.
40 paces are the maximum number of footsteps I counted while at the Helimed 56 base from any point in the hanger to the helicopter pad with the pilot in position and the rotors turning within 2 minutes of an emergency call coming through. These people do an incredible job in sometimes very difficult situations and locations, often with very little time to decompress between incidents, all of this funded through charitable donations made by businesses and the public.
All the work that I shot will now be used to raise awareness of their operations and help drive continued funding to allow them to stay in the air saving lives because every second counts.”
"Being out there shooting is where things happen..."
Tim - “3 single tones through the radio that everyone carries at all times, and within 120 seconds the rotors are turning and we lift.
Being able to work live with the HEMs crew and Heli ‘online’ means that I can immerse myself totally in their vital role and capture real-life events as they unfold in front of me. It is really important to these crews that their work is depicted correctly, nobody runs to a helicopter. My aim is always to be true to them and true to their role as they work under sometimes very difficult circumstances to preserve life, often meeting people experiencing the very worst day of their lives.
Over the last few years commercial photographer Tim Wallace has spent time with the Bristow SAR Operation (Search and Rescue) based at Prestwick in Scotland for HM Coastguard shooting aviation and documentary-based photography of their Search and Rescue Operations. The SAR previously operated two state-of-the-art S-92 helicopters which are the most advanced aircraft in Sikorsky's civil product line, with the necessary speed, capacity and operational range to meet the needs of the UK search and rescue environment, later in July 2017 the SAR moved over to the new Leonardo AW189 and they have enjoyed great success with this new helicopter. The AW189 aircraft is state of the art and has the agility and flexibility to respond to the wide spectrum of search and rescue tasking within the SAR operating area.
HM Coastguard & Bristow SAR Operations
Bristow Helicopters was awarded the contract to operate the civilian search and rescue (SAR) helicopter service for the UK on behalf of Her Majesty's Coastguard in 2015. The contract represents a continuation of Bristow’s British heritage of providing first-class SAR services in the UK. It is a great success for Bristow Helicopters and a huge endorsement of the company’s reputation for excellence in SAR. This is a service that people rely on in a time of need. Bristow fully understands the responsibilities that go with providing search and rescue in the UK and the company is committed to delivering a service that meets and exceeds the high expectations demanded. Bristow works closely with national and local agencies such as the coastguard, police, fire service, mountain rescue teams and voluntary community groups, to ensure the delivery of a world-class SAR operation in the UK. Their experience and local knowledge are a vital part of maintaining exceptional service in the UK.
We worked with the Biggin Hill Heritage Hanger and The Spitfire Company team previously shooting for the BBC Warbird Workshop television series. Following that the Hanger contacted us and asked us to return but this time to shoot a major project for them directly as they were starting the process of building a completely new company website and wanted to build up a completely updated library of photography covering all their activities from their Spitfire flight experiences through to their restoration and tours. We completed this work and have since worked closely with the team providing both ground-based shots as well as in-flight air-to-air photography that they use extensively throughout the organisation.
Biggin Hill Hertiage Hanger
Tim - “Working with the Heritage Hanger team at Biggin Hill is always a full-on experience. The aircraft are, in my opinion, some of the most beautiful warbirds ever designed and it’s my role to ensure that I don’t only shoot them to show what they look like but most importantly shoot them so that you get a sense of how they feel.
There are not many jobs you can do that entail you needing to fly around in a Spitfire while shooting another in the air with you. Many people would imagine that it sounds quite simple but in truth, it demands a lot of planning and you don’t have a lot of room to move around in the cockpit while you are fighting off flare on the canopy and getting the right positional shots, it is however a lot of fun.”
We have successfully worked with our client BBC studios and UKTV on many projects, the first was to create the digital assets as they were filming the series entitled 'Warbird Workshop' that was based around several key legendary vintage aircraft that each featured in separate episodes. The initial project commenced with the lead aircraft for the entire series, the Spitfire MJ772 at Biggin Hill in London and went on to include all the remaining aircraft in different locations across the UK.
All of the project shoots were location-based and these were all completed over the course of 8 months across the UK. It was a pleasure for us to work with the BBC team to achieve some really dramatic imagery from the many locations, all of the work produced was used within the actual series episodes as well as for its international marketing and TV EPG placements and indeed was so well received that it was given an exhibition in London to launch the series.
