Helicopter Flight Video
During the Alt Summit Design Camps on the Saturday, I took a class on how to edit video in iMovie with Alison of The Alison Show and Jenner from Lumina Films. To be honest, it was the last class of Alt and I almost skipped it as I was already pretty worn out, but I’m so glad I didn’t.
Alison and Jenner showed us step-by-step how to edit our video in iMovie and it made me feel so much more confident that I could do it. I had taken some video during the helicopter flight over the grand canyon and I wanted to make it good enough to share with you. (i.e. get rid of the helicopter rotor noise and add some music and text)
Today I finally sat down and used what they shared to make my first proper video. Here it is:
I’m so glad I did it. It was one thing that I took away from Alt that I know that I will definitely use and I have! Thanks to Alison and Jenner for hosting this design camp!
If you’d like to read about this helicopter flight and see more photos, please have a look at this post.
The Best Seat in the House (or in the Helicopter)
So it finally arrived! The day that I had been hoping for since I decided that Las Vegas was going to be the first stop on this adventure. A Helicopter flight over the Grand Canyon & Las Vegas Strip.
I was really apprehensive about it. Not so much the flying part, but the ‘would I be able to see anything?’ part. When I booked with the money that my Dad and sister gave me for my birthday and Christmas (and some of my own), I realised that there are two seats on the aircraft that don’t get their own window view. I opted to pay the extra $50 and request a front seat upgrade, but it’s only granted (and you only pay) once everyone is checked in and they have weighed everyone to see where the weight balance needs to be on the helicopter.
I waited nervously, but at the last minute the receptionist called me over to pay and let me know that I had got my seat!! Yay!! A bus came and took the 6 other passengers and myself across the airfield to the helicopter, where the awesome and very friendly pilot was waiting. I didn’t catch her name, but she really knew her stuff and made me feel very safe. As it turns out, I got what I think was the best seat in the helicopter, in the front and by the door so I got a clear view from both the front and the side.
There was only a moment of freaking out, and that was on take off when I realised that my camera was set to Pop Art (blurry photos) and it took me a couple of minutes to realise that the top setting had flicked to Art in my handbag, facepalm! Once I got it back to normal, I was happy just to enjoy the ride.
To put it briefly, it was amazing!! We flew out over a gated community and over Boulder City before doing an S bend over the Hoover Dam and out to the Grand Canyon. The way the canyon looks is just stunning. It’s really hard to put into words, except that part of it reminded me of the movie “Cars”. I took about 300 photos and some video. (I don’t know how to edit the video yet, so I’ll save it for another time, but I’m so glad I took some as it still feels so strange to have happened.
If you’re ever planning a trip to Vegas, or want to see the Grand Canyon I can highly recommend this. You are in the air for around 1.5 hours and cover so much distance. My tour included flying over the strip, which was cool, but the real beauty is the canyon.
I’ve added just some of my favourite photos here, but I’m also adding more to my Flickr account if you’d like to have a look there.
