Dating back to the early nineteenth century when the French used photography from high above the ground to find enemy positions in the First World War, aerial photography or the method of taking pictures with a ‘bird’s eye’ view of the ground below from an airplane, rocket, satellite or kite has become a common method of reconnoitering land features.

Aerial photography is extensively used during war to guide invasions through land and is a guiding factor in naval warfare. Apart from military operations, aerial photography also unravels geological irregularities and can pin point international boundaries with relative ease and conviction.

Aerial Photography - Is it Legal

Though there is an element of foreboding surrounding aerial photography, since it is mostly done without much fanfare, it is considered quite legal since taking photographs do not necessarily involve trespassing or seizing the photographed part of a property - land or sea. However, certain strategic locations in any country are beyond the reach of the aerial camera for the safety and security of the nation.

Benefits of Aerial Photography

It is ideally suited for studying the topography of a region. Mountains, valleys, river systems and terrain can be classically pictured. It helps to select the sites of important installations like hydroelectric power projects or irrigation channel, which otherwise could have posed problematic. Aerial photography is also preferred by real estate developers whose area of operation is usually very extensive, sometimes covering several miles where a complete new township or rural community living quarters often takes shape. These aerial photographs are also useful for promotional work.

The United States Geological Survey has done some remarkable work with the help of aerial photography by categorizing different zones based on altitude, terrain type, nature of sub-soil, vegetation and other resources. Aerial photography is also used in GIS, which deals with maps and charts. Various state and federal governments benefit from this while planning or relocating satellite townships as well as restructuring existing ones.

Aerial photography - the only answer

Natural disasters like earthquake, flood, tornado, timber fire, volcanic eruptions etc can only be photographed from air to ascertain the enormity of the damage. The same is also true for space photographs. Aerial photography done by spaceships in mapping our planet is simply remarkable. Aerial photographs of the moon’s surface and the interior of Mars is yet another achievement, hitherto inconceivable to mankind.

Aerial photography - for the wicked one, too

Paparazzi all over the world are ready to pay anything to get aerial photographs of celebrity activities that are usually away from the public eye. The late shipping tycoon, Aristotle Onasiss is believed to have paid a million dollars to suppress the scantily clad Jacquiline’s photographs surreptitiously taken by an aerial camera from the couple’s personal island.

If you found this article interesting about aerial photography then take a moment to visit our website for more photography and outdoor resources at Photography Tips and Outdoor Activities.

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The business of stock photography has drastically changed over the last few years. Ten years ago, selecting photographs for your brochure or newsletter meant spending hours pouring over stock photography catalogs and ordering photo research to find the exact image. When the order came in a giant overnight package, designers would spread transparencies out on the light table, squinting through a magnifying loop to check every detail.

Enter the digital age.

High speed Internet connections. CD’s. Searchable Archives. Royalty-free stock. These elements have changed the face of communication design forever. The quality, quantity, affordability and accessibility of stock imagery have made it the resource of choice for many organizations.

The advantages of instantaneous access to searchable archives of good images are numerous.

• Speed :: We can never have enough of it. Search. Download. Import. It’s remarkable.
• Choice :: Searching “stock photography” on Google delivers 1,470,000 results. You can find pretty much anything out there.
• Price :: While there are free resources, unless you are doing a school report, you may need something slightly more exclusive. Also, many of the free images are only good enough for online display and the selection is very limited. Royalty-free images are reasonably priced, you pay for only the size you’ll use and images can be used as needed with no extra charges.
• Flexibility :: Image selections can be grouped, saved and emailed to others in the review cycle. People in different locations can simultaneously review ideas.
• Archiving :: Some companies even keep a record of your buys that you can re-download whenever you need them. To use this resource effectively, there are a few things you need to keep in mind.
• Plan ahead :: Will you ever need the picture to be printed? The low cost of “low resolution” images can lure you into costly mistakes. Images need to be 300 dpi (dots per inch) at the size they will be printed.
• Low-cost tradeoff :: Pictures are now so affordable, everyone’s buying them. That means your image could show up in your competitor’s brochure. Some projects call for more exclusive imagery.
• Image-enhancement :: When you need something totally unique, such as your product in the shot, it may be more economical to hire a photographer than to have your designer spend countless hours in Photoshop trying to get it just right.
• Availability :: Good images still cost money. While many firms have images on file, don’t expect your designer to have a database full of images right for your project.

When searching on the web, search for “stock photography” rather than doing an image search in Google or another search engine. Google returns all images from the web — including those that are the property of others and not legally usable.

About The Author

Beth Brodovsky is the president and principal of Iris Creative Group, LLC. Brodovsky earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communication Design from Pratt Institute, New York. Before launching her own firm in 1996, she spent eight years as a corporate Art Director and Graphic Designer, providing a sound foundation in management and organizational standards and structure. Iris Creative specializes in providing marketing and strategic communication services to clients in service industries and small businesses. For more information contact Beth at bsb@iriscreative.com or 610-567-2799.

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