Nighttime Footage of Los Angeles Shot Out of the Open Door of a Helicopter

Photographer Vincent Laforet dazzled the world a few years ago by photographing iconic cities at night through the open door of a helicopter flying at 7,500+ feet. The work has since been published as a museum-quality photo book titled Air. Laforet’s next goal: to bring the same concept to life by shooting video.

The 7-minute video above is Laforet’s first proof of concept for the project. While his original Air project was shot with a Canon 1D X and a Mamiya Leaf Credo 50MP medium format digital camera, this aerial footage was captured with a RED 8K Helium camera and a Fujinon Premier 18-85mm T2.0 lens — a lens that retails for $87,300.

“This is by no means a final edit, but [it’s] in the proof of concept stage,” Laforet writes.