Destin Magazine Summer 2008

nice contrast. “I love to be out west and just take a break to enjoy the views,” he says. “Not being able to work in bad weather is nice too,” Barth adds. It may take Cowan four days to get from coast to coast, something he does on a somewhat regular basis. Last year alone, he had the tractor trailer in 46 of the continental United States as well as Canada. The year 2007 became a landmark for Barth as well who reached a personal goal of having flown in every state in the continental United States, Alaska and Canada.

Noting such experiences as “Bull Run,” which is a cross-country car race that involves 120 cars, six days and an Interstate-based journey from Los Angeles, California to Miami, Florida, and ESPN’s “Mad Fish,” a televised competition where fisherman are challenged to catch and release sharks while preserving their lives—both the life of the fish and the fisherman, that is—among the craziest and most fun. But they can recall a time or two

when all the excitement became borderline dangerous. “The Amazing Race was cool too,” recalls Cassidy. Other projects whose involvement sticks out in the guys’ memories include a Paul McCartney tour, Tim McGraw tour and Amy Grant’s show, ‘Three Wishes’, that was filmed all over the country. Other places their work may be unknowingly spotted include television shows CSI and Las Vegas, this summer’s upcoming movie ‘Get Smart’ and several credit card commercials.

Though it sounds like a dream, there is actually work involved—not the least of which is very calculated coordination between Barth and Cassidy. “The helicopter has to be in a very specific location at a particular angle at the exact same time Steve has the camera at the correct angle and zoomed in just so,” describes Barth. Not to mention, all of this situating is going on while, most likely, the image they are attempting to capture is not standing still. Another juggling act comes in the form of

scheduling, assures Cassidy. “A one-day shoot can turn into four from one afternoon of bad weather,” Barth explains. Getting permitting for specific shoots can prove to be tricky as well. “An urban shoot, with people and traffic, requires a permit from the FAA,” says Barth. Otherwise, it’s just a matter of a specific county’s, city’s and park’s requirements. While feature films do make up a part of the projects of which Camera Copters partakes, their services are not limited to such. They cover aerial stunts, surveillance, as well as shoot for commercials, the most recent of which was for a Mercedes campaign shot of Dauphin Island Bridge near Mobile, Alabama.

Some negative aspects are outside of the professional realm. Their work sometimes requires the men to be away from home for extended periods of time. “It definitely requires a supportive family,” says Barth. And all the men agree they always have one of those waiting at home.