The photo above was taken on a fire south of Ashland, Oregon on September 21, 2009. It may have been taken with a long telephoto lens making the helicopter appear closer to the air tanker than it actually was. But even considering that, it is very unusual for a helicopter to be that close to an air tanker when the air tanker is dropping.

The photo is from an article about an air tanker that was finished with its season at Medford, Oregon on September 21 and was warming up its engines preparing to fly home when it got dispatched to a couple of fires.