Banzai Pipeline in Oahu, Hawaii is a surf spot that serves up some of the largest and deadliest waves in the world. If you can hold your own above its razor sharp reef, the surfing community will respect you forever.

Using a GoPro camera and a DJI Phantom quadcopter, aerial photographer Eric Sterman has captured the world’s top surfers taming these massive waves.

The result is a truly breathtaking video from a perspective which used to be impossible for filmmakers to achieve without hiring a helicopter. I’ve watched a few surfing films before (Billabong Odyssey and The Endless Summer are my personal favorites) but this is by far the best footage I’ve ever seen from Pipeline.

We’ve seen some amazing use-cases for drones. Amazon wants to leverage them for same-day deliveries, a filmmaker used one to capture New York and the media enlisted them to document political protests in Bangkok last month.

For more from Eric Sterman, be sure to check out his Instagram, Vimeo and YouTube channel. You won’t be disappointed.

More: GoPro founder Nicholas Woodman says company not going public soon, but nice to have the option

➤ Pipeline Winter 2013 (Via Google+)

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