How The Most Iconic Hurricane Sandy Image Was Captured

How The Most Iconic Hurricane Sandy Image Was Captured


Iwan Baan photographed New York City from the air last Wednesday, and his image has become perhaps the most iconic record of Sandy, gracing the cover of New York magazine and flooding the internet. This is how he got the shot.

Poynter caught up with Baan to ask him about how the image came about. Turns out he personally rented a helicopter on Wednesday night after the storm hit — but then he had the difficult task of snapping images using a handheld camera from a helicopter constantly vibrating and moving. He explains:

“With these aerials you shoot a lot, bursts of images, to finally pick one out there which is sharp. It’s difficult if it’s freezing outside, you don’t have a door, helicopter is moving and vibrating, etc., but you really work towards an idea, visualisation of that image which you have in mind.”

To get the shot, he spent an hour photographing the city using a Canon EOS-1D X and 24-70mm f/2.8 L lens. The picture that finally made it to the cover of New York was taken with an ISO of 25,600, 1/40 shutter speed. On the kit he used, Baan explains:

“[It was] the kind of shot which was impossible to take before this camera was there.”

He does, of course, forget to mention his great talent, as well as the massive balls required to jump into a helicopter and fly over New York City last week. [Poynter via The Verge]

Image: New York Magazine/Iwan Baan


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