St. Lucia Photography Tour

Photograph St. Lucia by Helicopter

Film, television and print production have long been one of St. Lucia Helicopters’ staples. Our flight crew have considerable experience flying cameras — and working in front of them too.

We have done a lot of work on Martinique for the European film and television markets. Production companies include AB Broadcast of France, Aspekt Telefilm from Germany, BBC Television (London and Bristol), and National Geographic (Explorer series on Montserrat’s Volcano).

Camera Mounts

• Medium to high-end productions may not want to shoot hand-held. St. Lucia Helicopters’ aircraft can be fitted with numerous approved camera mounts. These include the Tyler middle, major, and nose mounts, WestCam’s system, SpaceCam, and Continental mounts — just to name a few.
• Rental of mounts can be arranged through CineVideoTech in Miami (Tyler mounts), Istec in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada (WesCam), and Aerial Camera Sytems in the United Kingdom (various systems). While St. Lucia Helicopters can arrange mount rental, many rental companies prefer to deal directly with production companies. It is therefore our recommendation that mount rental be handled directly by the producers. Of course, St. Lucia Helicopters’ support and assistance would always be on tap through this process.
• St. Lucia Helicopters charges a 5-hour daily minimum for mount-flown operations. Equipment can be attached on the helicopter(s) the night before and disassembled afterhours. A valid Type Certificate is required before any mount can be attached to the helicopters.
• St. Lucia Helicopters’ hull insurance covers loss and damage of mounts once on the helicopter. However, in the case of very expensive systems, such as the WesCam, additional insurance may be required. Also, most companies require transport insurance. Additional coverage for mounts can be purchased at the production’s expense.

Restrictions

• Low-flying operations, night operations, and other restricted activities must be approved by the St. Lucian Authorities. The grant of such waivers takes time, so thorough descriptions of mission requirements need to be provided well in advance of shooting.

Miscellaneous

• Doors off for shooting is no problem. The island’s latitude puts the sun high in the sky for most of the day. Long shadows occur roughly 30 minutes after sunrise and 30 minutes before sunset.
• The weather in St. Lucia is nice all year-round, but cloud cover is considerably more prevalent from August to January.
• Shooters should be picked carefully. The feeling of exposure with doors off next to sheer cliffs thousands of feet high, especially when shooting hand-held, can “freak” people out and spoil any chance of getting the shot.