Before he began photographing football games out of helicopters, Tyler Leipprandt (@michiganskymedia) was a teacher. For the last five years of his teaching career he ran his side business for aerial/drone photography and videography, and three years ago he decided to dive into the creator life full time. He’s been photographing out of helicopters for a while now, and he recently captured this epic image from above a B-2 stealth bomber at this year’s Rose Bowl game in Pasadena, California. We sat down with him to learn more about how he captured the images including the gear he used for the shot, how quickly it was picked up by ESPN and more.

Product Preview – In This Article You'll Find:
–Sony Alpha 7R IV
–Sony Alpha 7S III
–Sony 50mm f/1.2 G Master
–Sony 70-200mm f/2.8 G Master

Photo by Tyler Leipprandt. Sony Alpha 7R IV. Sony 50mm f/1.2 G Master. 1/3200-sec., f/3.2, ISO 250

Discovering A New Perspective

Tyler says that around 2014 his brother got a drone when they were first coming out. “I was just blown away by the photos he was taking and I fell in love with the perspective.” He later bought his own drone and began making money by doing various photo and video projects. While he didn’t know much at first, he watched YouTube videos and learned how to use cameras with drones and how to edit. After doing that and teaching together for five years, he left his teaching job to pursue this other career, which he’s been doing full time now for three years and says he loves it.

“I've also been doing stuff out of helicopters for quite some time now,” he explains. “I did a series a couple years ago called, ‘Where Would You Dangle?’ It first started where I got on top of this iconic bridge in Michigan and I got to dangle off. So now I had dangled the most iconic thing in Michigan, what else could I dangle? So I started this series and I dangled over Detroit and lighthouses and different stadiums. I began taking pictures of big football games with flyovers and I remember seeing a photo a couple years ago of the Rose Bowl, a similar shot with a stealth bomber. And once I saw it I'm like, ‘One day I have to do that.’ But I told myself the only way I would do that is if Michigan, my team, was playing in the Rose Bowl.”

Equipped with Sony Alpha and ready to fly

A Bucket-List Bowl Game Photo Opportunity

He took other similar shots in preparation for this big bucket list shot, including one of Michigan vs. Ohio State and a 737 doing a flyover. Then about a month ago he found out that Michigan would be playing in the Rose Bowl and says he immediately told his wife he was going to go capture it. “She was all supportive because she knew this was my number one shot on my bucket list. I was booking my trip and talking with helicopter companies in LA to work with air traffic control because getting a shot like that, you've got to go through certain procedures and do it legally. I spent about a month coordinating with different people. It was still a gamble going out there because the weather has to be just right and air traffic control has to give me approval. I didn’t get the approval until the day of for this.”

While up in the helicopter Tyler is in a three-point seatbelt harness and following all of the proper guidelines. Also with him was his brother, who was recording BTS footage, and then also the pilot. “One tricky thing about that was the pilot was on the right side of the helicopter and we had to be on the left side because that was the only door that opened for two of us,” he explains. “So the pilot couldn't see the field and I had to manually, in my headset, say, ‘Hey, go left a hundred yards.’ And I don't know aviation talk, like how far to go off to the right, so it was really challenging.”

The view from above

He continues, “When there's a big game like this there's something called the TFR, and that's a Temporary Flight Restriction. It is put out by the FAA who owns the airspace and, for big games like this, usually there's a horizontal radius of five miles where you cannot fly. But vertically it was 3,000 feet for this event. You of course still have to coordinate with air traffic control and ultimately, they're the ones that will say you can do it. We spent a month coordinating with them and prepping them with what we wanted to do.”

A Sony Alpha & G Master Can't-Miss Combo

While photographing from above, Tyler says he was using the Sony Alpha 7R IV and the Sony 50mm f/1.2 G Master. His brother was filming with the Sony Alpha 7S III and the Sony 70-200mm f/2.8 G Master. “ I like to shoot with a 50mm because it's wide enough, because if I'm shooting on a 70-200mm with my photos sometimes it's too tight, and as the helicopter moves, if I don't get it all in frame, I'm done, it's ruined. So I was running that and then my brother was using my Alpha 7S III for video, doing 4K 120, and he was on my 70-200mm. He's not a photographer, he's never been in a helicopter. I just told him the settings, don't touch anything, just hit record and just leave it, and he nailed the shot.”

He was shooting the Sony Alpha 7R IV in high burst mode, and captured the epic frame 1/3200-sec., f/3.2, ISO 250. “Just having the ability to shoot as many frames as you can with the stealth bomber going over – it was just the best combination. Then my brother captured 4K 120 using the Sony Alpha 7S III and of course, you can’t beat that.”

The Importance Of A Timely Edit & Share

As soon as the helicopter landed, Tyler says his goal was to get the photo out as fast as possible. “We landed at the airport and we’re about 30 minutes from the Rose Bowl. We actually drove to the game and had seats to go. We got there in the second quarter with five minutes left, but as my brother was driving there I was editing on my MacBook."

He continues, "I wanted to be fast so I only used Lightroom, got all of the photos in there and scrolled through to see where I liked the stealth bomber’s placement. I like this particular frame the most because it wasn’t covering part of the field and you can see most of the fireworks in the shot. I shoot in RAW so I can just bring the colors back in and edit a little to my taste.”

The bucket-list shot was well worth it for Tyler, and so was his effort to get it online as quickly as possible. He says within 20 minutes after he posted the photo, ESPN picked it up and they shared it, and it has millions of views now with all the continued sharing online.

See more of Tyler Leipprandt’s work on Instagram @michiganskymedia.