The man with a birds-eye view of the world below

Photographer Donn Delson's unforgettable aerial images typically sell for thousands of pounds apiece. As he shoots London, he takes the Daily Express for a helicopter ride to remember...

- Dominic Bliss

DONN Delson's feet are dangling in the air, hundreds of feet above the Royal Albert Hall. Leaning out of the open helicopter door, he focuses his camera lens on the domed roof of this famous Victorian building and clicks the shutter.

Then, suddenly, the pilot banks sharply, so that Delson hangs even further out of the helicopter. Sitting on the rear seat alongside him, I also lurch to the right, with a sudden rush of vertigo and a blast of cool spring air.

Fortunately, we are both securely strapped in by seatbelts. Delson has an extra harness, just in case he should accidentally slip out of the open door.

After taking off from London Heliport, in Battersea, beside the River Thames, (Tom Cruise passes us later after we land, jumping into the pilot's seat of his own matt-black chopper), we fly east, above other instantly recognisable landmarks such as the British Museum, the BT Tower, King's Cross station and the vast skyscrapers of the City of London.

Ten minutes later, we are hovering close to Canary Wharf, clearly visible from the Daily Express offices, at their home in the skyscraper known as One Canada Square. From here, we head further east towards City Airport.

Delson, 75, originally from New Jersey but now living in California, is one of the world's leading aerial photographers.

Over the past 10 years he has spent around 300 hours hovering in the skies above the United States, Japan, the Netherlands, Italy, Israel and the Bahamas. Today is his second series of flights over London.

"London is such an amazing city, with the mix of buildings and architecture you can see from above," he tells the Daily Express. "I get lost in what I'm looking at.

Sometimes I have to remind myself to press the button and take the photos."