Jason Hawkes is Fly high in the pursuit of his art

Jason Hawkes has specialised in aerial photography since 1991, is based just outside London in the UK, and works worldwide. He has produced over 40 aerial photographic books, and his advertising and design clients include brands such as Coca Cola, Nike, HSBC, IBM, Ford, American Airlines, Rolex, Toyota, Smirnoff, Mitsubishi and BP.

Jason’s books include aerial views of the UK, Europe and US, and have been commissioned by publishers such as BBC, Random House, Harper Collins and Orion.

His work has won him awards such as the prestigious D&AD and he has photographed throughout the UK, Europe, Scandinavia, Africa, USA, and the Far East and now also runs a specialist aerial photography library.

Jason’s website can be found at: www.jasonhawkes.com.

Jason Hawkes thinks the Samsung EX1?

Q. What initially inspired you to specialise in taking aerial shots of landscapes?
I did an HND in photography at college in London and I was assisting in various studios around London for a few months. I happened to go around flying in a microlite one day just for fun at the weekend and I couldn’t believe the kinds of things you could see. A microlite is like a hang glider with a very, very small seat, so you could literally see straight below you, and see amazing patterns from 800 feet, and that’s what I wanted to do immediately from then on.

Q. If you could pick any city landscape to capture at night, which one would it be and why?
When you go flying over London for the first time, even if you know London very well it looks completely different than how you’d imagine it might appear. For example, the layouts of the London parks and how they join up to one another.

Q. What advice would you give to consumers looking to take the perfect night-time shot?
You can take really dramatic pictures at night. With the advent of the new sensor technology has moved on so much. Even just a few years ago on film, you’d have to shoot everything on a tri-pod at very, very low shutter speed. Consequently, everything was always moving. Now you can shoot things handheld just as you can in the daytime. The new sensors are amazing like that!

Q. Talk us through the camera’s feature set and why you like it...
The EX1 is really nicely built and I was really pleasantly surprised. The main feature about the EX1 which I loved when I first picked it up was certainly the screen and the way it swivelled round. It’s a really large and bright screen and has a nice bright view finder and the lens is also really good. It’s a 1.8 lens, so it’s just a wide lens that lets a lot of light through and enables you to shoot on really shallow depth of field and subsequently lets you take great images.
The EX1 also provides the ability to shoot RAW files, so without getting too technical, jpegs are processed in a camera and the RAW files are processed outside of the camera. You couldn’t get that until maybe a year ago on consumer cameras.

Q. What makes the features of the EX1 camera ideal for the consumer market and photography enthusiasts?
The software inside of the camera is really intuitive and you don’t have to pick up a manual to read it. You can just pick it up and know what to do from the word go. The sensor also has a very low noise and that’s what makes it so ideal for shooting images at night.

The Samsung EX1, Nightscapes Project!

The project, called ‘Samsung Nightscapes’, sees images of familiar, well-loved locations around the British capital being brought to life through the eyes of Jason Hawkes. Hawkes travelled across the city by helicopter taking images with the new EX1, using its impressive capabilities for taking shots in low light conditions, which are unprecedented within the compact camera market, to capture some of his most stunning shots yet. The results of the project ? Hawkes’ images and opinions on the EX1

The launch of the Samsung Nightscapes collection coincides with the opening of consumer sales of the EX1, which is now available to buy in stores across the world. The 10 mega-pixel EX1, as a high-end compact digital camera designed specifically for today’s advanced and enthusiast photographers, is the new flagship model of the company’s extensive compact digital camera range.

The camera incorporates a range of advanced features, including a high-performance imaging sensor and one of the most impressive lenses ever found on a compact camera ? a 24mm ultra-wide angle Schneider KREUZNACH, f/1.8. This ultra-fast lens and new high-performance, ultra-sensitive 1/1.7” CCD sensor (max ISO 3200/full-resolution) are perfectly suited to taking shots at night and in low-light environments.

The impressive f/1.8 lens also offers photographers a wider range of aperture steps and shallow depth-of-field, enabling them to blur out the background of their images while maintaining focus on their subjects ? in this case, famous London landmarks.

In addition, the high-end Schneider lens offers a 24mm, ultra-wide focal length and 3x optical zoom. Wider than traditional compact cameras, the EX1’s 24mm ultra-wide angle lens allows photographers to capture more of their subject, such as beautiful and diverse landscapes.

Hawkes commented: “I’ve always loved taking aerial shots of urban landscapes ? the perspective and layout that of a city that you see from the air is a totally different story from that on the ground, and shooting at night means that you can get the most dramatic images.”

EX1 Nightscapes Images

Samsung Nightscapes Project Movie (with Jason Hawkes)