From thousands of feet above the sea, cruise ships look more like intricate toys than gigantic vacation vehicles.
Acclaimed photographer Jeffrey Milstein, 70, captures the photos from a helicopter without a side door, using a high-resolution camera to capture the ships' details.
The pilot tips the helicopter over the ship so Milstein -- held in only by a seatbelt -- can get the shot.
“When I am shooting, I am so into it I don’t think about risks or anything like that. I find it really exhilarating,” Milstein told the UC Berkeley Cal Alumni Association. “I am usually one to four thousand feet (high). Lower in the helicopters. Higher in the airplanes.”
Milstein, who is based in New York, was an architect before he became a photographer. The attention to structural detail in his photography is clear.
"This is a series that relates to my AirCraft series in that they are both typologies shot symmetrically and against a neutral background to emphasize the designs of the ships and aircraft. Kind of like portraits," Milstein told Mashable.
Milstein has also photographed aircraft and airports, in addition to scenes of suburban life.
Milstein's work has been displayed at the Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum, the Benrubi Gallery in New York, and many other galleries and airports.
Applied Arts Magazine awarded him a 2015 Photography & Illustration Award for the cruise ship photos.
“I think I like being able to see so much of what is going on and to be able to move through space in any direction,” Milstein said of his affinity for aerial photography.
He received his pilot's license at the age of 17.
Milstein's website has more of his amazing work.