What is aerial photography? Everything you need to know📸 | Crehana

You are flying over the sky, with a dream view, the perfect sunset and a vision that you will not forget not in 100 years Don’t you think about immortalizing that moment? Of course you can! And if you know what is aerial photography, it will be much easier.

Human beings have always dreamed of flying, always further, always higher. Drawn to the sky since ancient times, because it respects it and understands the wealth of opportunities that its exploration offers. And the aerial photo represents a new optics of the events that can be seen from above.

Matter of aptitude, attitude …and altitude Let’s fly together on this post🛫!

Index

1. What do we know about photos in the air?

2. What is aerial photography?

3. What is aerial photography used for?

4. What is aerial photogrammetry?

5. How is aerial photography taken?

6. What are the advantages of aerial photography?

7. Tips and recommendations

8. Aerial photo gallery

Before we start, what do you know about taking photos in the air?

When we talk about what is an aerial photograph, what is the first what comes to mind?

When it comes to aerial photos, we have quite diverse scenarios: from a selfie on a plane up to a drone capturing your features from the air. And so infinite possibilities, each one more elaborate than the previous one.

In essence, it is a photo taken from the air. But you want moreIt is not like this?

The idea of ​​this article is to get you out of any doubt in a way clear, straightforward and simple in relation to what is an aerial photograph.

The ABC of what an aerial photograph is

We are going to define it with experts, you think? For the Cartographic and Geological Institute of Catalonia, the aerial photo is “a perspective projection of an area of ​​the land from an elevated projection center”.

You stayed a bit in the same, right? Well we also have a definition exact and ambiguous at the same time.

Aerial photography is the art of taking pictures from the air.

Basically, it is a photograph taken from the air, offering original panoramas on specific areas and from a particular perspective.

This type of technology is not new. The first aerial photos date from 1858, when Gaspar Tournachon got on a hot air balloon and he portrayed the houses in France from the air.

However, those aerial photos would appear later. The first reported image was in 1860, when James Wallace Black took a snapshot of the city of Boston (again from a hot air balloon), over 650 meters.

Source: Unsplash

There are no records of The madness that it should have planted that photo in people, but we do know that the poet and professor of medicine at Harvard University Oliver Wendell Holmes came up with a name quite original for the first aerial photo ever:

“Boston, as they see it the eagle and the wild goose“. Poetic, shocking and slightly disturbing. But it encompasses everything that is aerial photography.

Everything is very beautiful, but what is aerial photography for?

Everything has a reason for being, so you must already be asking yourself: and what is aerial photography for?

It initially started with a war-military purpose (thats weird…), in which this type of photography was used for exploration, reporting and for mark military targets.

Although the digital age opens a spectrum of possibilities less …violent What is aerial photography used for today? It has acquired relevance in matters of exploration, geographic, scientific and artistic.

It is even used a lot for commercial and of marketing.

What if we talk about aerial photogrammetry?

Aha, time to get specific. If you are interested in knowing what aerial photogrammetry is, you have come to the right post.

This method consists of taking aerial photographs from the top of mountains very high, to lift the map of a region.

This aerial photogrammetry process appeared to save his life cartographers, as it saves time and many, many efforts (you don’t even want to know how they did in the Middle Ages🛡️).

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What is an aerial photograph? A world of possibilities in many professions and trades, as you can see.

And if you want to review the existing types of photography and their practical uses, we suggest you review this article.

I’m ready! Now, how do you take an aerial photograph?

The first thing you should know is that there is no one way to take an aerial photo. New technologies allow the range of possibilities be very wide and there are numerous tools at your disposal.

You can use planes, hot air balloons, light aircraft, helicopters and even satellites🛰️!

To take a good aerial photograph from any of these transports, you must consider several aspects.

How to take aerial photos in manned vehicles?

Are you flying over the city of your dreams and want this moment to be eternal? A good aerial photograph can help you.

But it is not just taking the camera out of your phone and that’s it. You must take into consideration some factors:

• Set up the camera– Avoid speed, shutter and focal length issues

• Use angular lenses: so you can portray areas and details together.

• You should be at the door of the aircraft for shots: In case of using the hatches, the image is likely to be distorted. Yes indeed,be very careful and take your safety precautions!

Another option is to locate the equipment under the plane and that this remains fixed. Depending on whether it is a relatively technologically advanced camera, it can be manipulated from the operator’s cab.

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If you travel hot air balloon (like those great adventurers of yesteryear), you can take photos at a lower height and the costs will not be so high.

And ready! In this way you will know what an aerial photography is and how to take it without so many inconveniences.

But what if you want some photos with a drone?

How to take an aerial photograph with a drone?

Drones are one of the main elements used today to take aerial photos, since it does not require no risk being manned by a pilot who may be (or not) on land.

If you want photos taken with drones, the mechanism you use must have a HD camera high quality and its flight duration should not be less than 30 minutes.

Anyone with the ability to control a drone, is trained to take pictures with him. Nevertheless, just an expert pilot drone will be able to take a professional photograph.

Source: Pixabay

Is there a special technique for aerial photography with drones?

You are surely looking for magic solutions and recipes miraculous to take the ideal aerial photo.

Although there are no miracle potions that turn you into the photographer of the century (we are not at Disney😞), if you can follow some steps to take photos with a drone, of great quality.

Set up the camera

If you have a GoPro or some other model, manually set the light exposure. You will avoid overexposure of the images.

Also, check your device so that the shooting intervals in bursts of 2 to 3 seconds.

Inspect the area

As a good explorer, your mission is check the area in which you will capture aerial images.

In this way, you can have the GPS position recorded and know exactly where is the socket you need.

Check the technical section

Adjust the gimbal in the angle and you will get the panoramic you want. Also if you have one fisheye lensAdd it to the camera and you can capture horizontal aerial images.

And if you place the drone in the brightest area, you can set the camera exposure.

Taking photos

If you want to know what a real aerial photograph is, just set the shots with the rotary system of the drone.

Also make sure the images have between 30, 50 or 100 centimeters away each.

And if you want to capture fixed items, increase resolution and rotate the drone slowly, in one direction only. Locate on the monitor those areas that you want to join and you will do it with great quality.

Source: Unsplash

And you will have your photos with your drone! May seem a lot of text, but in reality it is less complex than what is shown on paper (or on your screen, in this case).

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Are there several types of aerial photography?

Totally! exist two main modalities to take aerial photos. And they both refer to its basic shape.

Oblique

Taken at an angle of about 45 degrees (take out your protractor, your rules and calculate 📐), it is a resource widely used in questions of archeology and meteorologyas it is taken at a lower elevation than vertical.

A resource with a purpose very specific. And if you dare, winter is the time when these kinds of aerial photographs are best.

So get out your coat, scarf, and go capture those moments!

Vertical

The classic aerial shot. It is one of the most common, since there is no perspective that distorts the image. It is usually taken at regular heights for more consistency and at a single non-arbitrary angle.

Perfect if you want an overview of some terrain, field or area.

Source: Pixabay

What makes aerial photography stand out from the rest?

Being able to retain everything from a superior perspective brings various advantages that make aerial photography a step above others.

• Picture unique and artistic.

• Photos of professional quality over large spaces.

• Help the marketing and promote specific places.

Let’s recognize that for an aerial photo to look bad, we would literally have to have taken it with the worst teams and from the worst possible perspective.

And speaking of which you know how to avoid these kinds of situations?

Tips and recommendations

Can you imagine yourself in your plane or with your drone positioned to capture that majestic moment? Excellent.

But first, we give you some suggestions so that this photograph goes from an acceptable one to a “I don’t want my eyes see something else in the world other than this photograph. “

So keep these tips in mind so you can take the best instant photos.

• Place the camera contrary to sunlight. The higher you gain, the more extraordinary the landscapes you capture will be.

• Take advantage of your camera’s resources, including anti-vibration stabilizers and their lenses. If you are interested in exploring flora and fauna, it will be of great help.

• Home use of drones. Every day that passes, the possibility of taking good photos is more within your reach, so the appearance of drones expanded the possibilities of aerial photography.

Want to see great aerial photos? We have it!

We couldn’t talk about what aerial photography is and not feed the view, right?

Here is a list of aerial photography galleries for you to delight your gaze.

Source: Pixabay

What pictures so spectacular! The world is wider than we imagine and we do not know how much aerial images we are missing.

Did you know what aerial photography is? What do you think of this technique? Tell us in the comments and stay tuned for the photography courses that we bring you, so that you can maximize those skills.

Let’s keep learning together!