Aerial photography began in 1858 with French artist and photographer Gaspard-Félix Tournachon, who used hot air balloons. Today, it can be done with various methods, including radio-controlled aircraft, and is used in fields such as cartography, archeology, and surveillance. Orthophotography corrects proportions for use in maps and GIS.
Aerial photography, or the art of taking pictures of the ground from a point in the air, may seem like a modern invention that requires modern technology in the hands of a professional photographer, but it actually started a long time ago. Aerial photography was first practiced in 1858 by the French artist and photographer Gaspard-Félix Tournachon. Tournachon, who used to go by the nickname Nadar, was a hot air balloon enthusiast. One of the first photographs of him was taken from the air above Paris, and since then the art has grown into a variety of applications and methods. In recent times, aerial photography has expanded the art’s use into cartography, archeology, surveillance, and a variety of other fields.
Aerial photographs can be obtained by motion or still camera from airplanes, helicopters, satellites, hot air balloons or other aerial means. Due in part to modern technology, aerial photography today does not specifically require a live photographer. A radio-controlled aircraft can be fitted with a camera equipped with a timer, eliminating the need for a live person to be involved in the photograph. Radio controlled aircraft, unlike other forms of aircraft, can easily fly at low altitudes without any problems, leading this to be the preferred method of aerial photography for real estate agents trying to photograph a home or organizations that need photographs of dangerous locations or difficult.
Outside the commercial field, aerial photography is also within the scope of reporters who want to capture and use images in photojournalism tasks. Film production and commercial advertising make frequent use of aerial photography to enhance their artistic projects with visually striking images of chosen locations. Professional photography experts may choose to try aerial photography for a series or collection. There are also companies that an individual can hire to take aerial photographs of locations for private use such as art or research.
A variety of aerial photography called orthophotography is the practice of taking vertical photographs of the ground and correcting the proportions so that the images can be used as a geographically correct map. This type of aerial photography is commonly used in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in government applications, as well as in computer software available to individuals, such as Google Maps and Google Earth examples. Questions about the ethics and legality of this practice have been raised with varying degrees of success. In the United States, for example, it is allowed to photograph any place or object seen from a public space, allowing individuals or companies to take aerial photos, even of those places considered private property.
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