Chao Cewei, Aerial Photographer: Beyond the World's End: The Beauty of the Skies

"Standing atop a glacier that shifts just a few centimeters every few hundred years, you can't help but feel small. Nature's power and artistry are awe-inspiring. And when you witness a section of that glacier collapse—sending waves crashing and seagulls scattering—it reminds you just how precious life is." On January 3, 2025, renowned aerospace and aerial photographer Chao Cewei visited SmallRig to host a co-creation and sharing session focused on aerial imaging.

Beyond being an aerial photographer, Chao is an independent writer, aviation engineer, author, veteran journalist, world traveler, aviation and aerospace/aerial photographer, industry thought leader, and one of Weibo's "Top 10 Most Influential Aviation Bloggers of 2020."

A graduate in aerospace engineering, he worked as an aviation engineer for five years before founding Sina Aviation, the first dedicated aviation channel on China's major web portal, where he served as chief editor for a decade. Over the years, he has visited Boeing's headquarters in Seattle, Airbus in Toulouse, Rolls-Royce in Derby, and Honeywell in Phoenix, publishing hundreds of articles and photo reports. His work has made him both a witness and chronicler of the aviation industry's evolution in China and around the world.

"Portability has become one of the key constraints in aviation photography," he said during the session, as he shared stories from different shooting environments, including air shows and mission planning for aerial shoots. As an experienced aviation and aerospace photographer, he has developed a deep understanding of how equipment performs under extreme conditions, along with higher standards for its performance. When choosing equipment, he prioritizes lightweight, portable, and ergonomic designs that make shooting easier and more efficient. Speaking about high-altitude photography, he noted that the ability to mount more devices to record key moments is crucial, and he hopes to see continued improvements in gear functionality to further enhance shooting efficiency.

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Beyond the World's End

Capture the Beauty of Earth's Most Remote Corners

From the black church of Budir under the auroras to medieval castles along the Mediterranean coast, from the mighty Amazon River to the Atacama Desert—the driest place on Earth—Chao Cewei has flown across nearly sixty countries and regions, documenting the pulse of life at what he calls "the ends of the world." His journeys have taken him through North and South America, Europe, Oceania, Asia, and Africa—north to the Arctic Circle, Greenland, and Iceland, and south to Chile—making him one of China's pioneering aerial photographers.

In 2022, he published his photo book Beyond the World's End, featuring nearly 400 images that capture both the stark beauty of Earth’s most remote landscapes and the vibrant tapestry of human civilization. The book merges travel notes, field research, and expedition materials, enhanced by 16 video clips, 34 sets of 131 supplementary images, and 9 expansive fold-out panoramas. The result is an immersive multimedia journey, offering a photographer’s aerial perspective on the world.

During his presentation, Chao shared a series of breathtaking images and their backstories: the auroras dancing over Finland's snowfields; Poland snow-capped peaks; New Zealand’s mirror-like lakes; Chile's lunar deserts; Turkey's intercontinental bridge; Peru's rainless desert, untouched by water for 300 years; Canada's Arctic cruises; the eerie airplane graveyards of the United States; Australia's rare advection fog; Croatia’s real-life Game of Thrones King's Landing; Kenya's fierce cheetahs; and the star-blanketed skies of the Sahara. Each frame, frozen through his lens, unfolds with breathtaking beauty. His images let us hear nature's cry and sense the trembling heartbeat of life, making the distant world feel almost touchable.

He explained that shooting whales in Greenland was a tense process. Geomagnetic interference caused the drone to shake, and its short battery life couldn't sustain a whale's twenty-minute dive, so each flight required landing and replacing the memory card to capture complete footage. With three drones and nine batteries, he had only nine chances to get it right. After a tense series of attempts, he finally brought back those breathtaking moments from the far side of the Earth.

Dubrovnik, known as the real-world inspiration for Game of Thrones' King's Landing, lies between mountains and sea. With its sunny beaches, scattered islands, and the most majestic medieval castle complex in the Balkans, it remains one of the most stunning places he has photographed.

Chao Cewei: "Among all the wonders on our planet, glaciers hold a special kind of power, both in time and in scale. I had seen countless photos before, vast rivers of ice carved by time. They were striking, but only visually. And when I finally stood there, my feet on the glacier, that breathtaking moment hit me. I felt how tiny we humans really are, like a speck of dust, almost nonexistent in the glacier's vast, silent majesty.

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Soaring Above the Clouds

Stories of Flight and Space Through the Lens

For Chao Cewei, whose career spans over a decade in aviation and aerospace photography, documenting China's aviation and aerospace advancements has become a lifelong calling. Driven by his passion for aviation and aerospace, he continues to travel the world, covering major international airshows each year.

Photo credit: "Chao Cewei" WeChat Official Account

He believes that aviation and aerospace represent the pinnacle of human technology, and that capturing the grace of aircraft in flight is an artistic way to showcase the achievements of modern science. As he puts it, an aerial photographer's job is to use the beauty of art to reveal the beauty of industry and the beauty of technology.

During the session, he shared a thrilling behind-the-scenes story. Typically, photographers shoot aircraft from the ground, looking up. But Chao takes it a step further, capturing aircraft from a far more thrilling and unique perspective. He's gone to the UK and Belgium for air-to-air shoots, a method that involves being strapped to a transport plane with two safety harnesses and leaning out of the open hatch to photograph another plane flying right beside him.

"I was incredibly tense at first. Every muscle was tight, but once I got used to it, it was fine," he recalled, describing his first air-to-air shoot. Mid-flight, his legs dangled in the open air, half his body leaning from the aircraft cabin, camera straps anchored to his torso. Beyond battling the freezing temperatures and turbulent airflow, he also had to stay alert to the flight path and positioning of the plane he was photographing.

To him, success in such high-stakes photography requires absolute preparation. He plans for every possible variable, equipping himself with different types of gear to capture comprehensive footage from all angles. SmallRig's lightweight, modular gear has become essential to his workflow—supporting everything from video and stills to behind-the-scenes documentation. "When you're in the air, you can't change cameras, lenses, memory cards, or batteries," he said. "Everything has to be ready before takeoff."

After witnessing the launch of China's Mars probe at Wenchang with his family, Chao decided to take on a new challenge—photographing rockets.

While many photographers use telephoto lenses to capture launches, he approaches it differently: with full-scale video production and multi-camera setups. In one shoot, he even prepared eleven different camera positions.

Chao captures a rocket launch using a SmallRig tripod.

Just like aerial photography, rocket filming is a highly specialized subject. Rocket launches are fleeting and unforgiving; there are no second chances. Add to that the strict positioning constraints at launch sites, and both the photographer's skill and equipment are pushed to their limits. Chao shared in detail how he overcame these challenges, capturing unique and breathtaking shots from different distances and vantage points.

From fixing planes to filming them, from shooting aircraft to chasing rockets, and from aerial photography to authoring books—Chao's dedication to aviation and aerospace imagery has inspired countless fans and aviation enthusiasts. Looking ahead, SmallRig will continue to collaborate with Chao, driving innovation and creativity together in the field of aviation and aerospace imaging.