TRAGEDY is the most immediate thing Mark Goolmeer sees in his profession.
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As a Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service pilot, he works with people who have come out of horrific accidents and are fighting for their lives.
But as a photography enthusiast, Mark says there are plenty of beautiful things about his pilot job to focus his camera on.
Mark has been a pilot based in Newcastle for 27 years and started with the Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service 17 years ago.
He started photography in high school developing his own black and whites and shooting with Kodak Brownies.
Now he combines his passion for flying and photography by shooting the helicopter in the various landscapes it operates in.
“My photos don’t have broken cars in them,” Mark said.
“You don’t need to see the photos you may see in a newspaper, it's not something I intentionally take.
“I photograph the helicopter in the different scenery we find ourselves in, and the other emergency services we work with, like ambulance and police.”
It is the diversity of the jobs, and the fact the true owners of the helicopter service are the public that Mark wants to capture in his photos.
Mark said this year the Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service celebrated its 40th birthday, and for those 40 years it has been 100 per cent free to the public, even though it costs about $3500 per flying hour.
“It's stayed that way for last 40 years and the organisation is very proud of that,” he said.
“It's owned by the community for the community. Myself and the other folks that work here are fortunate enough to be doing it on behalf of the community as a whole.”
While acquiring better helicopters and other medical equipment has improved the organisation's life saving capabilities, social media has played an important role helping it reach out to the public.
The organisation now uses Mark's photos in its social media posts to get the publicity it needs to continue raising funds.
“I didn't start taking photos of the helicopter for publicity intentionally,” he said.
“I was combining an opportunity to do night and astro photography with the aircraft in the shot.
“But photography is now a way for me to contribute to the service while I exercise and practice those aspects of the art I enjoy.”
The Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service is always putting its pilots through training to keep their skills up to date so they are prepared for every situation.
“I've been involved in some demanding jobs,” Mark said.
“One year we did a night search for a fisherman who fell off his boat near Broughton Island.”
The job required most of the skills Mark and his colleagues had learnt in training.
“When we eventually located him at 6am, he was in a tired and fatigued state. We got him to John Hunter and two days later he was home.”
While Mark only has a limited time to take his photos, usually in transition from picking up a patient, sometimes he takes one that represents everything he loves about his job.
Mark tells the story behind a photo of the helicopter returning from Tamworth with a newborn baby in critical condition.
The helicopter is touching down with the back drop of a pink sunset.
“A couple of days latter a guy called up and said that was his bub that was airlifted,” Mark said.
“He requested a hi res photo so he could print it out and hang it on his baby's wall.”
Mark said that photo will now forever be with that child, just like the helicopter itself will be there for all communities across the state.
The Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service is celebrating its 40th birthday on December 6 at Merewether Beach and the public are invited to take part in the celebrations.
They have also released their 2016 calendar, which also has some of Mark's photos.
For more information go to: www.rescuehelicopter.com.au