When running aerial photography workshops with Tony Hewitt, we often have two aircraft in the air at the same time. Now, two aircraft at the same height is a recipe for disaster, so obviously our pilots are flying around our target locations at different heights, at least 500 feet difference. There is no chance of collision.

In fact, there is a good chance you won't see the other aircraft at all! And if you do see it, then getting a photograph is harder still (unless the pilots are in communication and setting up a staged photo, of course). The photos with this week's newsletter were literally grabbed as Tony's helicopter circled around below mine. Usually it's the pilot who will point out the other aircraft because while I think my eyesight is pretty good, it's obviously not as well trained as my younger pilot's! And if I eventually catch sight of the other aircraft, it's a mad scramble to zoom in as close as possible and find my subject through the viewfinder.

What I like about my aircraft-to-aircraft 'snaps' is the seemingly random backgrounds. Over Derby, the huge tides wash over giant sand flats, hiding and revealing shapes, patterns and edges. They are usually cropped and rotated to look their best because, even though I'm using a short telephoto, the helicopters are invariably very small within the frame and often at an odd angle.

Am I so disinterested in the wonderful sand patterns below that I'm exploring something new to occupy my time? Certainly not! I feel this year was one of my most productive and I'm enjoying working through the files. From around 3000 captures in Broome and Derby, I'm down to a shortlist of 49. I'll definitely share some in the coming weeks, but as I'm writing this from Middlehurst, I want to wait until I can bring the final edits up on my Eizo monitor to ensure they are ready for public display!

Stay tuned!