PHOTOGRAPHY Shooting Stars Christiaan van Heijst is a professional long-haul cargo pilot for Silkway West, but his passion for photography has also enabled him to communicate a breathtaking view of his world to a global audience through his remarkable aviation images By Robin Evans, Senior Log Contributor 24 August 2014, over the darkened Pacific. The frequency and flight deck are quiet but for the rush of Mach .84. The crew departed Hong Kong hours ago; behind them, microchips, medicines and other goods bound for Anchorage, Alaska. A distant flashing interrupts their calm. Heading towards PASRO, the dark ocean is aglow, huge patches radiating red, orange and green. There is some alarm; ops confirm tectonic activity in Japan, San Francisco, Indonesia, Iceland and Chile. Checklists ready, the crew prepares: the nearest diversion is more than three hours away. But the air remains clear, so the only occupants of this lonely expanse of sky sit and watch. Cargo pilot Christiaan van Heijst, a keen photographer, documents the phenomenon as they pass overhead. On landing, his pictures go viral. The seven days after, I spent giving telephone interviews, answering hundreds of emails and I even got invited onto a Dutch TV show, says Van Heijst. The Discovery Channel subsequently featured his photographs in a show titled NASAs Unexplained Files. I was overwhelmed by the amount of attention those photos got, and I am still without definite answers, he says. A more comprehensive account of this can be found in Van Heijsts debut photographic anthology Cargopilot (see our review on page 57), which documents his portfolio to date. Now a professional aviation photographer as well, his work encompasses travel, aircraft and a particular specialism: flight-deck panoramas of the northern lights. Origins The past six or seven months have been absolutely crazy, Van Heijst says from Chicago, midway through a 20-day working roster. My camera has seen it all: six continents, the Milky Way, oceans, deserts covered in clear, silver moonlight, and weather systems that make your jaw drop. He prefers the business of freight, and has found his own way of documenting it. Conveying this wonder revitalises his interest in flight across time zones and cargo aprons trips spontaneously unfolding. I have a three-week suitcase for hot and cold, he says. Most recently, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Nairobi, Luxembourg, Anchorage, plus charters all over. Hes a passionate advocate of life aloft: Seeing thunderstorms firing up throughout a starry night, high up in the atmosphere, is something that still impresses me. Theres a duality to his two careers, progressing in tandem. Its difficult to say which came first the flying and photography have become hard to distinguish, Van Heijst says. I always wanted to fly, ever since I flew to the States as a kid. I started with gliding, and took a camera with me a few times to catch the clouds and sights. I got my first flying job at 20, and was taken by surprise by what it was really like from the air. His start was unusual by todays standards, flying for Denim Air on the Fokker F50, which included contracts in Africa and Central Asia. Van Heijst relates his highlight: Afghanistan, at low level over the Hindu Kush I just kept clicking. He can still recognise Afghan gravel strips from the lofty cruise altitude of the 747-8 he now pilots. Returning home to Dutch airline Transavia on a 737, with an upgraded camera in hand, was sedate by comparison, but it proved invaluable, as his burgeoning interest in photography developed. It involved more night flights, capturing the stars and moods on the flight deck. Both became the bridge to his ultimate goal: the routes, opportunities and diversity experienced on the 747. It was evident to me how unique and beautiful it was, he recalls. It was worth sharing with others. I APPRECIATE THE BEAUTY THATS ALWAYS OUT THERE; THE LIFE GOAL IS TO BRIDGE THAT GAP AND EXPLAIN IT TO OTHERS READ MORE Theres one final question: How do Boeing and Nikon compare? Thats a good pilots question, Van Heijst says. Aviation has its big two leading the way and its the same with cameras. They all really know their products and markets. He highlights the reliability and durability of his preferred machines. Acknowledging advances in both, he chuckles: I stick to my Nikon and Boeing. Im a typical Boeing guy very conservative. See more at www.jpcvanheijst.com @JPCvanHeijst The Milky Way separated from African city lights and thunderstorms READ MORE Theres one final question Airborne inspirations Van Heijst describes himself as a 747 cargo pilot, photographer and admirer of natural light. With references to space a hallmark of his work, I suggest hes missing frustrated astronaut and astronomer. He laughs in agreement: Space would be the ultimate platform for photography. He considers his mission in the context of Buzz Aldrins belief that we need to have people up there who can communicate what it feels like not just pilots and engineers. Feedback from colleagues made me realise there are simply not many pilots able to articulate what our environment really looks like, Van Heijst says. I appreciate the beauty thats always out there; the life goal is to bridge that gap and explain it to others. To put his work in context, Van Heijst also blogs on life in the skies. Of one of his pictures he observes: The Egyptian Sahara, a beautiful orange patch on an otherwise mostly blue marble in a quiet corner of the Milky Way. A literary influence is Ernest K Gann, author of seminal aviation classic Fate is the Hunter. Gann turned a flying career into a creative one, becoming a screenwriter. The writing goes hand in hand with the photography; its the same satisfaction with the creative process. Writing, flying and photography enhance each other. Creativity Entirely self-taught behind the lens, Van Heijst welcomes a creative outlet as a counterpoint to the flight deck. There are some similarities when using his Nikon D850 camera, however: After this amount of time, its just like the aircraft I know instinctively what settings to use. I know it blind: what it does and how I need to use it. Describing a specific shot of the Milky Way Core, taken over the Congo, Van Heijst describes the opportunities he has to plan his shots. I saw my schedule was from Luxembourg to Johannesburg the length of Africa right through the night. He also tracks northern lights activity before certain flights. Photography sometimes demands the patience required of his day job, however: Sometimes the forecast will be off, or our departure delayed. The possibilities are limited, so I work with whatever passes the window. Van Heijst says the Cargopilot project happened by accident, after a tour guide saw his camera and later contacted him. Collaborating with a local designer, he ran a draft past an associate, who observed: I dont even like aviation, but these are amazing. It was a much bigger success than any of us had anticipated, says Van Heijst, whose next project is the 747, now 50 years old. Initial editing of his work is geared towards rapid web publishing on the road. Im genuinely surprised people spend the time with my work and dont just click through, says Van Heijst. I get nice feedback from American and British audiences particularly. His work is also available as fine-art-style prints, requiring a dedicated home setup. Prints have to be perfectly calibrated, which requires a big machine, Van Heijst explains. The business model is to focus on the high-quality stuff unique images demand unique treatment. He has recently released a photographic calendar that bridges the gap between books, blogging and fine art. Affordable, dependable air travel has become as much a commodity as the goods that air cargo has allowed us to become dependent on. Van Heijsts work reminds us not to take the complexity of such operations for granted, but to marvel at the extremes that aircraft and operators endure. Bursting from a cloud layer into the final part of the day, a treat for all pilots