Saturday, January 04 2014
Saturday, Jan. 04, 2014
Charlotte aerial photographer is always ready for her next adventure
By Marty Minchin
When Decker Campbell’s phone rings, she never knows what adventure she’s headed for.
She has been to Alaska to shoot video of dogsleds crossing glaciers, and asked to film fall foliage in New Hampshire.
In 2011, the call came from NASA. “Would you be interested in filming the last space shuttle launch?” a NASA representative asked on her voicemail. “If so, give us a call.”
NASA had found Campbell through the Internet.
Campbell is a freelance aerial cinematographer based in Charlotte, and her growing company, StreamWerx, is detailed on its website.
Campbell recently completed an assignment for the new expanded Fox news station that included Bank of America Stadium and Carowinds.
In July 2011, she drove her 2003 “Minnie Winnie” RV, packed with camera equipment, to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida to join the long line of media personnel waiting for passes to cover the final launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis.
Campbell, however, was sent to another line: For this gig, she was told, she’d be a NASA employee. She was handed a NASA crew pass and ushered into a hangar, where she parked her RV.
The day of the launch, she flew three times in a NASA helicopter, taking photo and video of crowds and the shuttle.
She recalls the pilot, who had worked at NASA for 30 years, reminding the helicopter crew that the countdown to launch was serious because lives were at stake. “It was extremely emotional in that helicopter,” Campbell said.
Campbell is a graduate of Clemson University, where she studied graphic communications. After working in Greenville, S.C., for several years, she drove the Minnie Winnie, loaded with editing equipment, to Charlotte and stopped at the Inspiration Networks.
She was hired there as an editor and producer for the night shift, which she worked for several years. She commuted to Charlotte from Greenville, S.C., for her workweek, parking her RV at Walmart on South Tryon Street during the day. A nearby UPS store served as her post office.
Campbell’s professional life changed when one of her freelance clients, a land developer, wanted video showing features of property slated for residential development. The best viewpoint, they decided, was from the air.
They sent Campbell up in a helicopter. The door was off, and she was holding a video camera, trying in vain to keep it still. “The results were ridiculous,” she said, laughing.
Campbell liked the idea of aerial photography, and for her next trip up she placed the camera on her lap on a memory-foam pillow. That idea then led to a bungee system rigged to eliminate vibration from the helicopter.
Campbell now shoots video throughout the United States, where producers and companies often hire her instead of their in-house staff because of the quality of her work.
“We absolutely love the footage,” Melissa Richmond, executive director of the Greater Claremont Chamber of Commerce, wrote Campbell about video she produced of New England. “It is just magnificent.”
Campbell, 52, is not married and doesn’t have children, so often is free to travel on short notice. She has become proficient at organizing travel, equipment rental and assignments.
“I lived in Greenville for 4 million years and never went anywhere,” she said. “I don’t seem to be able to control what’s going to happen. I just do my best to be ready for anything.”
One of her favorite cameras is a Cineflex, mounted on the outside of a helicopter and controlled from the inside. The camera, which costs $500,000 new, is known for its stability and precision.
Campbell rents Cineflex cameras now, which can be hard to find because of high demand; she said she’d like to own one.
Campbell has settled in Tega Cay, and she drives a Prius around town, she says, to offset the cost of the Minnie Winnie.
She’s also come to love flying.
For her 50th birthday, she rented a Cineflex and a helicopter for a week to get more experience with the camera.
“I’ve gotten so addicted to flying helicopters,” she said. “I love the doors off and the wind in my face.”
Campbell has filmed for reality television shows, national news programs, documentaries and private companies. She’s spent three summers filming for a tourist agency in Alaska, and she recently shot footage of North Carolina for the expanded Fox television station. She also has been in talks to film the national park of Costa Rica.
Campbell said footage she took of the BMW manufacturing plant in Greer, S.C., was used in a Super Bowl commercial, and her NASA film was used a in tribute video for the launch.
She describes aerial photography as “choreography in the air,” and she likes the elements of intrigue and drama that come from the angles and altitudes of flying.
She’s learned to work closely with pilots, who often describe the scenery ahead to her as she maneuvers the camera on the side of the helicopter. Recently, Campbell has been working with storytellers who add another element to her filming; eventually, she said, she’d like to produce documentaries involving aerial productions.
Reini Grauer, owner of Charlotte Helicopters, has flown with Campbell for more than seven years, frequently working with her on extended filming projects.
“She is great at what she does,” he said. “She’s very demanding on herself, and at the same time very demanding on me. She’s extremely professional.”
For information about Campbell and her work, visit www.streamwerx.com.
Marty Minchin is a freelance writer. Have a story idea for Marty? Email her at martyminchin@gmail.com.
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