APRIL 2020 – Rescue helicopter D-HYAM (Christoph 26), operated by ADAC, shortly before lifting off in Unterhaching, Germany. © Mark Zanzig/zanzig.com
The story behind the image
We enjoyed the warm afternoon in spring. A helicopter flew by, which is not unusual as the hospital is not far away. But this helicopter was flying really low. And slow. And then he turned in a large circle as if looking for something. Like a place for a safe landing.
Now, the area is pretty packed with buildings, and when there are no buildings, there are trees. The only suitable option would be the dead end of the Whitneystraße but even that would be very tight (in my view.) The pilot apparently was undecided as well. He flew another circle and then finally went down on the grass next to the end of the street.
The emergency team hopped from the helicopter and ran towards the nearby buildings.
Everyone was stunned.
I picked my camera with the super tele zoom and did a couple of shots of the helicopter as it stood there. But the best images were those shortly before lift off, because you can see the engine heat slightly blurring the air. Of course, the use of an extreme tele lens visually shrinks the dimensions of the place, so the image may look more dramatic than it probably was. Still, it is stunning to see what is possible with experienced pilots.
The high resolution image
| Capture Date & Time | 23-APR-2020, 17:58 |
| Location | Unterhaching, Germany |
| Camera | Canon EOS-1D Mark IV |
| Lens | Canon EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM |
| ISO | 800 |
| Exposure | 1/4000 sec at f/5.0 |
| Digital Image Source Format | Canon Camera RAW (CR2) |
| Edited Image Format | JPEG, 24 bits/pixel, sRGB |
| Edited Image Dimensions | 4896 x 3264 Pixels |
| Copyright | © by Mark Zanzig/zanzig.com |
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