Picturing the Landscape: A Guide to Aerial Photography
Source: www.designcenter.umn.edu
Topic: Aerial Photography
Sort Desciption: Design Briefs Design Center for American Urban Landscape 2 Picturing the Landscape: A Guide to Aerial Photography Frank Fitzgerald, Research Fellow Overview Aerial images have long been used to show ...
Content Inside:
Picturing the Landscape:
A Guide to Aerial
Photography
Frank Fitzgerald, Research Fellow
Design Center for American Urban Landscape
Design Brief, Number 12 / April 2004
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images
© Design
Center
for
American
Urban
Landscape
Design Briefs
Design Center for American Urban Landscape
2
Picturing the Landscape:
A Guide to Aerial Photography
Frank Fitzgerald, Research Fellow
Overview
Aerial images have long been used to show features in the landscape. The
Edward H. Bennett plan of 1917 for Minneapolis conveyed in hand-
drawn perspectives an image of a grand city with boulevards charging
into the distant landscape. Today, aerial images are still extremely powerful
and useful tools for revealing patterns and connections not readily seen
from the ground. Low-level oblique aerial photography is one method of
conveying this information.
This design brief presents the lessons of years of aerial photography by
Design Center staff. It covers arranging helicopter service, preparing for a
flight, basic equipment needs, types of images, and tips for organizing
your image collection.
Key points:
• Early morning photography flights are preferrable as the sunlight has a
particularly nice quality and shadows provide depth to the images.
•Spring, when the tree leaves are just emerging, will yield excellent
images with green vegetation while structures below the urban forest
canopy can be seen.
•A standard zoom lens in the range of 28-100mm is a good all-around
lens for aerial photography as it provides flexibility when framing
images. A telephoto lens or more powerful zoom lens is useful for
capturing detail.
•Organize equipment—camera, accessories, and film—before the flight
as most aircraft are small and time goes fast while in the air.
•Plan and prioritize a photo agenda in advance. On a map mark all of
the areas to photograph and a proposed route.
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