David B . Nowell David Bailey Nowell is a camera operator and cinematographer for Hollywood films who specializes in aerial photography . He was a camera operator on and he was later the Director of Aerial Cinematography on both ' s and ' s . Nowell has been working in Hollywood since the 1970s . His first project was ' acclaimed 1974 drama " A Woman Under the Influence " , on which Nowell was a camera operator . Nowell then joined the tumultuous production of the acclaimed Vietnam War film " Apocalypse Now " , which featured Albert Hall and which won the 1978 Academy Award for Best Cinematography . Afterward , Nowell became an assistant aerial camera operator on the 1978 thriller " Capricorn One " , which featured music by Jerry Goldsmith and performances by David Huddleston and James B . Sikking . Other early aerial photography credits include " The Great Santini " ( 1979 ) and " The Blues Brothers " ( 1980 , featuring Henry Gibson and Charles Napier ) . Nowell won two Emmy Awards as camera operator on two " Magic of David Copperfield " television specials , 1981 ' s " The Vanishing Airplane " and 1984 ' s " Floating Over the Grand Canyon " . Nowell ' s other credits as camera operator include the 1983 James Bond film " Octopussy " , the infamous 1986 family comedy " Howard the Duck " , and the campy 1988 musical " Earth Girls Are Easy " . Shortly after " Star Trek III " , Nowell again operated cameras for that film ' s cinematographer , Charles Correll , on the 1984 National Lampoon comedy film " Joy of Sex " . Like " Star Trek III " , " Joy of Sex " also featured Christopher Lloyd in the cast . Nowell has provided aerial photography for cinematographer Jeffrey L . Kimball on four films : " Top Gun " ( 1986 ) , " Curly Sue " ( 1991 , featuring Branscombe Richmond , Barbara Tarbuck , and Cameron Thor ) , " Wild Things " ( 1998 ) , and " The Big Bounce " ( 2004 , featuring Bebe Neuwirth ) . Nowell also worked with and cinematographer Matthew F . Leonetti as an aerial photographer on the 1987 film " Dragnet " , starring Christopher Plummer . Like Dan Mindel , the Director of Photography on 2009 ' s " Star Trek " , Nowell has worked frequently with sibling directors and . As a result , Nowell and Mindel worked together on several films . On Ridley Scott ' s 1991 adventure - drama " Thelma & Louise " ( featuring Christopher McDonald ) , Nowell was the director of photography of the film ' s aerial unit while Mindel was the first assistant camera operator . Afterward , Nowell and Mindel collaborated on three films for Tony Scott . For the 1996 thriller " The Fan " , Nowell was a helicopter camera operator while Mindel directed additional photography , and for both " Enemy of the State " ( 1998 ) and " Domino " ( 2005 , featuring Stanley Kamel ) , Mindel was Director of Photography while Nowell was Director of Aerial Photography . Nowell and Mindel ' s most recent collaboration was the 2006 film " Mission : Impossible III " , where Nowell was once again Director of Aerial Photography and Mindel the Director of Photography . This film was directed by J . J . Abrams , who also directed and produced 2009 ' s " Star Trek " . In addition , Nowell has repeatedly collaborated with director . Nowell has served as Bay ' s Director of Aerial Photography on the films " The Rock " ( 1996 ) , " Armageddon " ( 1998 , co - written by J . J . Abrams ) , " Bad Boys II " ( 2003 ) , " The Island " ( 2005 , featuring Ethan Phillips ) , and " Transformers " ( 2007 ) . The latter two movies , like 2006 ' s " M : i : III " and 2009 ' s " Star Trek " , were written by Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci . Nowell is currently working with Bay again on the 2009 sequel to " Transformers " , entitled " Transformers 2 : Revenge of the Fallen " , also written by Kurtzman and Orci . Nowell ' s aerial camera work can also be seen in such films as Ridley Scott ' s " Black Rain " ( 1989 , featuring Tim Kelleher , Richard Riehle , and Stephen Root ) , Tony Scott ' s " Man on Fire " ( 2004 ) and " Deja Vu " ( 2006 ) , ' s " Jurassic Park " ( 1993 ) and " Minority Report " ( 2002 , starring Neal McDonough and Patrick Kilpatrick ) , ' s " Air Force One " ( 1997 , featuring Timothy Carhart , Spencer Garrett , Boris Lee Krutonog , Pavel Lychnikoff , Don McManus , Glenn Morshower , Dan Shor , Bill Smitrovich , and Dean Stockwell ) and " The Perfect Storm " ( 2000 , starring Bob Gunton and Christopher McDonald ) , ' s " The Ring " ( 2002 ) , " Pirates of the Caribbean : Dead Man ' s Chest " ( 2006 ) , and " Pirates of the Caribbean : At World ' s End " ( 2007 ) , ' s " The Lord of the Rings : The Two Towers " ( 2003 , featuring Brad Dourif and Karl Urban ) and " King Kong " ( 2005 ) , and blockbusters such as " Signs " ( 2002 ) , " Collateral " ( 2004 ) , both " National Treasure " films ( 2004 and 2007 ) , " Mr . & Mrs . Smith " ( 2005 ) , " Live Free or Die Hard " ( 2007 ) , " I Am Legend " ( 2007 ) , and " Iron Man " ( 2008 , featuring Faran Tahir ) . His recent non - aerial work includes the films " Last Action Hero " ( 1993 ) , " The Pelican Brief " ( 1993 ) , and " Interview with the Vampire " ( 1994 , starring Kirsten Dunst and Christian Slater ) . He was also Director of Photography for the weightless unit on the acclaimed 1995 film " Apollo 13 " . Besides " Star Trek " , other upcoming films which feature Nowell ' s aerial photography include " Hancock " ( 2008 ) , " Tropic Thunder " ( 2008 ) , " Eagle Eye " ( 2008 , executive produced by Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci ) , Ridley Scott ' s " House of Lies " ( 2008 ) , the James Bond film " Quantum of Solace " ( 2008 ) , " G . I . Joe " ( 2009 , featuring Rachel Nichols ) , and " Terminator Salvation : The Future Begins " ( 2009 , starring Anton Yelchin ) .