I grew up on a dairy farm in the mid-west.  I have many wonderful memories of that simple and honest way of life.  So often in our busy day to day life it is hard to keep memories of different stages of our lives alive.  Some of my most prized possessions are the aerial photos that were taken of our family farm.  Throughout the years that my parents owned the farm several aerial photos were taken. 

 

 My parents did not always have the money to purchase more than one copy, but we have now been able to make copies for each member of the family.  The use of aerial photography has been around since airplanes.  Many of the crop dusters had a sideline of taking photographers up to get the different aerial pictures.  It is amazing to see how maturing trees and adding or tearing down buildings change the appearance of the aerial photos.

Due to my early exposure to aerial photos I have always had an interest in them.  I find that the aerial photos that are used in reporting news stories are my favorite to look at.  I think that aerial photos capture events in a much more powerful way than still photos taken at ground level.  Many of the photographs taken from airplanes during natural disasters or times of war give the impact of actually being at the sight. 

 

The still aerial photos have a greater impact for me than video footage because when you are looking at the photographs you do not have the reporter talking or the images moving.

 

I was pleased to find that there are historical sites that archive thousands of aerial photos in a wide variety of topics.  Many local historical societies have hundreds of aerial photos that people have donated through the years. 

 

By contacting the historical society near our family farm I was able to find several early aerial photos that were taken prior to my parents owning the farm. I also found some recent aerial photos that were taken since they have sold it. 

 

We are arranging the aerial photos along with other pictures taken throughout the years to do a complete pictorial history of the farm.  We are going to use this to surprise my parents for their 50th wedding anniversary.

 

 

I recently had the good fortune to be invited to an exclusive photography exhibition. Being a shutterbug myself, I was thrilled at the prospect of seeing the work of a world-renowned photographer. Especially so, as I’d heard that his latest subject (which some called an obsession) was aerial photos. Sure, I’d seen aerial photos in the past.

 

And what’s more, begun to appreciate them as an art form! But I didn’t have a clue what this particular exhibition of aerial photos had in store for me. And boy was I swept off my feet!

 

Called ‘Earth from above’ this was an exhibition of a French photographer who specialized in taking aerial photos of different parts of the globe. There seemed to be no country that he hadn’t covered as a subject of his aerial photos. I was envious as I counted over 82 countries on the list that was handed out to the attendees. But then, you should have been there to see those excellent aerial photos.

 

At first glimpse, you could barely make out what some of them were all about. I mean, for most of us, being used to seeing the world from a position where our feet are planted firmly on the ground, subjects of photography have come to symbolize and even signify a certain closeness.

 

 But when it comes to aerial photos, the perspective changes altogether. What seemed like millions of dots on a blue background actually turned out to be flamingoes, gathered near a lake shore. And what appeared to be a marble painting of sorts, turned out to be the Great barrier reef from above, with swirling sands, shades of water and even a little boat placed in the frame to give us an idea of the enormity of the landscape.

 

Come to think of it, I really never wondered how aerial photos, which began as a science or defense project, came to become an art form capable of such excellent quality. Archives in most public libraries will reveal that aerial photos have existed ever since flight became a reality. But in their initial days, aerial photos were restricted to spy planes snooping over enemy areas of meteorological expeditions, intent on tracking the weather and other related phenomena.

 

While those kinds of aerial photos served a purpose, and were often clinical imaging of subjects for study, the exhibition I had the opportunity to witness extended a certain class and élan to aerial photos.

 

Truth be told, beginners like me will never be able to undertake aerial photography. Even professionals, unless they are well funded professional photographers, will scarcely be able to afford the prohibitive costs of specialized cameras, logistics and the hiring costs of planes that are required in order to take aerial photos.

 

Arial photos and aerial photography demand a lot more than mere interest. They demand cold, hard cash which most of us can never afford. But then, thanks to a minority breed of well funded aerial photographers, the rest of us can enjoy aerial photos and see this fascinating world of ours from a few hundred to several thousand feet above.

 

And believe me, unless you’ve seen the earth from above exhibition, you will never truly understand or even comprehend the beauty that lies in aerial photos.

 

Rememver, aerial photos are a wonderful way to remember events that impact your life.  Whether it is from major news events that have occurred or watching the landscape change in your neighborhood, they are a wonderful way to mark the passing of time.