LIFESTYLE PHOTOSHOOT
Cirrus Aircraft X Pilots N’ Paws
CLIENT SERVICES:
BRANDED CONTENT DEVELOPMENT
LIFESTYLE PHOTOSHOOT
We spent the day with Aaron O’Connell capturing his journey of transporting Patches, a great pyrenes puppy, to her new home in his Cirrus SR22 Turbo aircraft.
Meet Patches
Meet Aaron
Aaron O'Connell is winning hearts on screen and in the air.
The actor, who played the romantic lead in Hallmark Channel's With Love, Christmas and 12 Gifts of Christmas, recently helped a rescue dog reach her new home with a dreamy charity flight.
O'Connell earned his private pilot's license in 2012 and has a Cirrus SR22T (Turbo) aircraft.
"I got my pilot's license and enjoyed flying, and then I bought a Cirrus, and I enjoyed flying even more," he tells PEOPLE, adding that he is getting his "commercial rating right now."
After becoming a licensed pilot, O'Connell started looking for more opportunities to fly. The actor says he focused on finding ways to give back through his flights.
"I started doing some Google searching and found Pilots N Paws," O'Connell says.
Pilots N Paws is a nonprofit organization that connects volunteer pilots with animal rescues and shelters looking to transport pets across long distances quickly and free of charge.
"I started doing these flights, and I found out that I loved it more than I thought I would because you're not only rescuing these animals, or taking them to life-saving surgeries, or adding new members to families, but you're meeting great people that want to be part of a great mission," O'Connell, who is the dog dad to a pup named Fig, says.
On March 28, O'Connell completed his most recent Paws N Pilots flight, where he had the honor of escorting rescue puppy Patches to her new home.
Patches was part of a surprise litter. An older family in Ramona, California, adopted her mother. Later, the dog gave birth to seven puppies, which shocked her pet parents, who did not know the canine was pregnant.
Patches snuggled up into the "nest" the pilot made and fell asleep within the first 10 minutes of the flight. After a "great flight all around," O'Connell landed in Bakersfield with Patches, where they met her adopter, Annie Beaman.
"I handed Annie Patches at the airport. Patches gave her a big hug; it was such an incredible moment. It makes all that worthwhile and worth the flying, and it just was so fun to see," O'Connell says.
Patches now lives with Beaman and her family, which includes an older Great Pyrenees who is excited to have a little sister. The family contacted O'Connell over Easter to let him know Patches was adjusting well to her new home.
DEFCON photographer, James Hughes, captured the mission with Aaron & Patches from start to finish providing Cirrus Aircraft & People Magazine with all media assets to delivery their story with Patches.
MISSION OBJECTIVE
Defcon Media, Inc. has been engaged with Cirrus Aircraft to produce a 1-Day photoshoot of the Cirrus Aircraft SR22/T with Aaron O'Connell during a Pilots N Paws mission to transport and save a K9 from being euthanized at an animal shelter. Our objective is to tell a visual story around our physical subjects using branded content that will showcase the mission of Pilots N Paws while highlighting the technical features of the SR22/T and showcasing Cirrus' involvement with the initiative.
The shoot took place in Southern California, with the mission beginning at Carlsbad Airport. DEFCON was in charge of all shooting & post photoshop work. All content was delivered for an immediate & time-sensitive release by Cirrus Aircraft & People Magazine.
