When photographing a city skyline people like to walk and drive to various vantage points, grab a shot from the water and look for the high rises when landing or taking off in an airplane. What about getting up close and personal to the heart of a city via helicopter?
My wife and I had the chance to see the Tampa, Florida skyline via a helicopter tour from Old City Helicopters. We met the helicopter in the Davis Islands neighborhood at Peter O’Knight Airport. You could already see the skyline off in the distance from the runway.
Upon take off Seaplane Basin and Hillsborough Bay sat right in front of us. My wife sat in front with the pilot and I was the backseat flyer. 🙂
Doing a 360 in the air there was the heart of Tampa off in the distance along with the Seddon and Sparkman water channels.
Before reaching downtown we went over some ritzy neighborhoods.
Our pilot was friendly and made sure we were safe and having a great time. He also pointed out various spots all along the way. Can anyone guess whose white mansion with the pool that is in the center of the picture? Hint: He is retiring from his sporting profession this year. 🙂
Well it was time to head into downtown via a brand new means, getting goosebumps as we got closer and closer. Nothing like capturing a photo of someone capturing a photo of a city skyline in the air!
You could almost touch the buildings. The tallest building in Tampa and along the Florida Gulf Coast is the 42-story 100 North Tampa building to the far left.
Looking to the east you can see McKay Bay, also capturing more of the neighborhoods as we looked away from downtown in each direction. Typical of Florida, you have dark ominous clouds on one side and clear blue skies on the other. 🙂 We lucked out with no rain during our tour.
It was time to head back towards the airport and Hillsborough Bay.
We circled the bay getting some skyline and marina shots from out on the open water, I mean over.
Back to Peter O’Knight Airport we go, where you’ll find lots of small planes and helicopters taking off continuously.
We went on the Bay & Downtown Tour. Along with various Tampa tour options, Old City Helicopters also provides aerial tours of St. Petersburg, the nearby Gulf of Mexico beaches, St. Augustine and the Florida Keys. You can get flight instruction or even just go on a ride that is photography based. Checkout their website and Facebook page for more information.
We had a great time and would definitely recommend this excursion when visiting the Tampa/St. Pete/Clearwater area.
Have you ever had a helicopter tour? Any around the heart of a city?
