Ideas for helicopter flight

Hi all,
I will be flying on a helicopter over the arctic tundra next week, and I am trying to get ideas on what would be interesting to shoot (video) from the air: I will be flying over the tundra, where I will cross the tree-line border (where the proper tundra starts). The flight will be quite short (about half an hour), so I will need to have a clear idea on what to shoot beforehand.
I am hoping to get reindeer (caribou) herds running around, but I would like to get your opinion about it.

Thanks!

I suspect you don't have control what you're going to shoot, because you don't know what will be visible within that 30 minute period. Just shoot everything within your point of view.

That is my plan A: shoot and see what I can get. I have done this flight several times and know the areas I will be flying around. I just got the permission to record from the helicopter (the company has strict policies about it), and I was thinking if there could be something that I could actively look for: depending on what I plan on shooting (depending on weather, and animals present, and wind, and...), I will put on a wide angle lens or a telephoto lens. I think I will go for the telephoto and use the widest focal length, then zoom in if I find something worth it. Thank you for the reply :)

Do you have a gimbal to put your camera on??

I have a DIY gimbal I made, but if you ask it for attaching it outside the helicopter, that's a no-go. My plan was to have a camera in a gimbal and another one in my hand, but the helicopter company only allows me to open the window and stick the camera out. I am negotiating for a gimbal mount -trying to convince them for a GoPro official gimbal, as it is small and not DIY-, but so far no luck :(

For now, I will have clear window view and even the option for slow flight if I see something cool. But I don't like going to shoot without a clear idea, and since I am new into stock (I have always worked with companies), I am trying to figure out how to make the best out of this.

Thanks for replying, and let me know if you have any idea :)

Happyshutter: i don't know if you ever filmed from an helicopter and i'm not an expert,but i filmed from an helicopter this summer at the victoria falls and i can tell you that handheld is not an option...it'll come out shaky and jittery...don't know if it comes from wind or helicopter vibration or turbolence,but i guess you'll need a right tool to do it good...

Sebolla: I have never shot from a helicopter, but when I have done from moving cars I managed to remove any shake by putting a soft foam underneath the lens and then stabilizing directly on the windowsill of the car (with the window totally down, the glass is super shaky)
I will see if I can fit the gimbal in the passenger seat, that's a sound advice. Thanks for the tip.
Thanks!

You'll need to isolate the gimbal from every part of the chopper. Possibly use silicone stretchy mounts from above ... Don't forget that the sound waves are also a source of vibration. Much more difficult than cars. It's a hard road you are heading up. Good luck!

Thanks Mizamook. I am flying on the helicopter for work purposes, but the ride itself is just the transportation means to my destination, I am not planning on starting aerial videography as of now. I just want to make the best out of the opportunity: although not a once in a lifetime experience, it is not a daily situation either.
That's why I ask for ideas: what could be interesting to potential buyers. In any case, although preferably with some idea in mind, I will be shooting as much as I can :)

But yes, it looks like a hard road. Let's see how it goes (and let me know if something pops up in your head!)

If you have a brushless gimbal that would help. As mentioned earlier you have to isolate the camera from the aircraft. Helicopters have several types of vibrations that will effect your shot. Medium vibration generated by the main rotor are usually vertical vibrations caused by the blades being out of balance and horizontal vibrations caused by the blades being out of alignment, The most common are verticals and the easiest, least expensive way that the helicopter company will allow you to deploy would be to hang your gimbal from the roof with a bungee cord. Get a bungee that is elastic enough to just support the camera and gimbal so that you don't have to support the weight, you just control where to shoot. Hang it so that its a comfortable distance in front of you and it hangs straight down. Depending on the helicopter that can be the most difficult part.

If you haven't flown your DIY gimbal before, and it uses an 8bit Alexmos controller you might be better off without it. There's a lot of variables here but what often happens is that the controller gets "confused" and will start to roll the horizon. Trouble with the 8bit boards is that in order to correct this you need to reset the board every ten minutes or so and you can't reset in the air.

Sounds more complicated than it is, at the very least make sure you use as wide a stabilized lens has you have and if you have some sort of camera mount with three point contact to you, use it, and you should sit on a pillow or foam, this will remove any chance of high frequency vibrations caused by the tail rotor and engine.