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MATERIALS PAGE >> MAIN IMAGE: BELL UD-IY “VENOM”
The original image of this great helicopter can be found on the Bell Textron website, but it was felt the dull grey sky was somewhat drab, hence the Grand canyon background was selected as an alternative. The warmth of the evening sun really brings this image to life.
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HOME PAGE >> NINTH SLIDE: BELL AH-1 “SUPER COBRA”
Dramatic reworking of a very good image of a pair of “Super Cobras” flying through mountainous terrain. The reworked image started out as a battle scene, but the aggressive element was later abandoned and replaced with the idea of a ‘looming storm’. A lot of painstaking work was required to create the bright highlights over the various surfaces of the rotocraft. Notice the cloud and lightning bolt reflections in the windows.
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OUR CLIENTS >> HEADER IMAGE: AGUSTA WESTLAND 119 “KOALA”
Highly complex image of this very popular executive helicopter. This rendition took over one day to complete. With 68 layers in the final composite, there are just too many altered features to list or mention, including the female pilot, warping of the cityscape to create a super wide-angle fish-eye effect with matching helicopter reflections, or the tail rotor moved to the opposite side as the original image was reversed. Overall, this image is a remarkable example of the very high standards which can be achieved with the right skills and a eagle eye for very fine detail, resulting in a very effective ‘realistic’ photograph.
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HOME PAGE >> SIXTH SLIDE: BOEING AH-64 “APACHE”
A complete rendering of an Apache chopper which affords a far more aggressive perspective. The idea here was to instill a sense of ‘surprise’, as this highly competent war machine approaches flying at very low altitude with stealth, yet at great speed. The final image was perspective wrapped to accentuate the sense of speed and add a feeling of imminent ominous drama. The Apache is not the most handsome craft, but its rugged looks can be presented to great advantage when viewed from this angle.
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OUR CLIENTS >> AIRBUS EADS: EADS HH-65 “EUROCOPTER” U.S.C.G.
Another example of how a fairly mundane image can be transformed into a dramatic and emotive scene. The original image photographed off the rear deck of a navy cruiser, shows a United States Coast Guard helicopter performing a standard landing approach. By inserting dark menacing storm clouds and choppy waters, the scene has been completely transformed. Now, switch on the search light, and for sure we know someone is lost at sea and in desperate need of assistance; time is of the essence as the crew try to perform this treacherous rescue.
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OUR CLIENTS >> HEADER IMAGE: SIKORSKY UH-60 “BLACK HAWK” SAR
Search & Rescue edition of the famous “Black Hawk”, seen here over the coastal waters of Hawaii. Notice how the moving rotors have been added into the window reflections and side panel shadows, and even the tires ‘inflated’ since the aircraft is now airborne.
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HOME PAGE >> FOURTH SLIDE: AGUSTA WESTLAND 119 “KOALA”
Night scene over Chicago; Another highly complex image of this popular executive helicopter. As with the other “Koala” image, this rendition took 17 hours of painstaking work to complete. With 55 layers in the final composite, there were many elements required to make this result look credible; here too, the original image was reversed, and the tail rotor had to be moved to the left side of the helicopter. The client commented this scene looked like something out of a Bruce Willis action movie.
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CLIENTS SHOWCASE >> HEADER IMAGE: BOEING CH-47 “CHINOOK”
Air-borne operation of the famous trooper transport. The dramatic coastline was thrown out of focus in stages according to distance, just as one would experience with the compression effect when using a telephoto lens. Thus in the final image, the focus is solely on the helicopter. Notice the revised window reflections, subtle reshaping of the tires and the heat distortion from the powerful engines – the later effect which can be seen in most of these images.
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OUR CLIENTS >> HEADER IMAGE: CESSNA AT-37 TRAINER
In this example, we wished to convey the sense of speed and maneuverability of this famous little jet trainer aircraft. When creating such pan-motion images, extra care must be taken to create a realistic motion effect, since in reality the distant objects ‘appear’ to move at a slower pace across the frame as compared to those closest to the observer’s point of view. Thus the flat image must be broken into fragments so the most distant objects have less blur applied to them than those closest to the field of view. A slight blur has also been added to the aircraft, since in truth it is near impossible to follow fast moving objects photographed at slow shutter speeds; capturing a pin sharp image of an object in motion would require a perfect pan-sweep at exactly the same speed as this very fast moving object. So it is even these smallest of details which help to achieve highly credible results.
HOME PAGE >> FIFTH SLIDE: BELL UH-1Y “VENOM”
Another fine example of the most recent generation of the famous “Huey”; in this image captured flying through a valley in Northern India. In the original, the helicopter is stationary outside a hanger with colorless sky as a background. The reworked image adds drama and action to this great looking helicopter. Since the craft is now airborne, a pilot had to of course be inserted, and new matching reflections to all window surfaces.
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HOME PAGE >> FIRST PARALLAX ON SCROLL: BELL 419 “GLOBAL RANGER”
Fish-eye-effect image of an executive Bell 419 “Global Ranger” flying over Miami Beach, Florida. This image has a wonderful dynamism about it, as though the chopper is literally flying out of the photograph. Taken from a stationary wide-angle image, the revised composite was dropped into a panoramic of the famous American beach with a fish-eye effect applied to the surrounding landscape, so the perspective is held true to the original photograph. As the original image was cropped and not complete, the nose of the rotocraft had to be created as well. The red color was chosen as a complementary contrast to the dominant surrounding blues.
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PRODUCTS PAGE >> SIKORSKY: UH-60 “BLACK HAWK” PILOT WINDOW
Although the client supplied studio images of their products, in every case these were of inferior quality because the original high resolution images had been lost. Furthermore, illuminated with very hard light and bright colors, the overall effect looked dated and unsatisfactory in terms of product detail. Thus in most cases, only the most basic elements could be salvaged and new digital illustrations had to be rendered. In this example, a pilot’s sliding window, had to be completely redrawn, right down to the last individual screw. The final composite had 74 layers and was 271 Mb in size.
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PRODUCTS PAGE >> LOCKHEED MARTIN: C-130 “HERCULES” SCANNER WINDOW
Although the client supplied studio images of their products, in every case these were of inferior quality because the original high resolution images had been lost. As in other cases, only the most basic elements could be salvaged and so new digital illustrations had to be rendered. In this case, each rivet, and every hole had to be re-drawn because of the changing perspective and position of the window panel. The final composite had 286 layers and was 459 Mb in size.
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PRODUCTS PAGE >> SIKORSKY: HH-60 “BLACK HAWK” SAR
As with other images in this product group, this bubble for a “Black Hawk”Search & Rescue helicopter had to be reworked due to the very harsh original lighting and dated background color. The outer aluminum frame with rivet fixtures is far more visible now and a lot of the distracting harsh background shadows have been removed.
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