50 Brilliant Bird’s-Eye Photos
- Posted in Inspiration
- 78 Comments »
By Dkumar M.
We love beautiful photography. In photos, beauty doesn’t always come from an eye-catching combination of colors. Also crucial are perspective, angle, composition and, most importantly, the idea behind the shot or the situation in which the shot was taken.
One interesting trend we have noticed recently is the use of a bird’s-eye view to take photographs. Modern photographers love to experiment with things and observe how people interact with their work. Although not yet the most common trend, still, as new design styles come up and more and more photographers notice and make use of them, it promises to be an interesting area.
In this showcase, you’ll find a variety of highly creative, beautiful, unique and inspirational photographs taken with a bird’s-eye view. We’re not looking for you to follow any specific trend. Rather, the aim here is to stimulate your creativity and inspire your imagination to forge your own photographic trend, because your work represents you and your brand.
For those who don’t know what a “bird’s-eye view” is in terms of Web design, it is basically a view of an object from above, as though the observer were a bird. It is often used to make blueprints, floor plans and maps. The term is also used to describe oblique views, drawn from an imagined perspective.
Throughout history, great artists have always found new ways to express their creativity and spark new trends and techniques that set their work apart from the rest. Defining art has become more critical because it is now more than ever a mode of communication or, more specifically, a well-defined platform for creativity. There is no “good” or “bad” in art, only “different.”
50 Brilliant Bird’s-Eye Photographs
chinx786
The Great Mosque, Makkah, Mecca
How To Take Bird’s-Eye Shots
You’ll need to do two things to take photographs from the air. You’ll need to get the camera in the air, and then you’ll need to trigger the shutter. Platforms for bird’s-eye photographs include fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, balloons, blimps and dirigibles, rockets, kites, poles, parachutes, space satellites, etc. Of these many possible ways, few are very common for taking such shots. Only two of them are actually popular: balloons and kites.
Option 1: A Balloon
Put your camera on a balloon. Aerial photography from a blimp or balloon is a unique approach to getting difficult shots between ground level and 1,000 feet (300 meters). Balloon photo systems are built with weight and ease-of-use as priorities. Keeping weight to a minimum is necessary to reduce the size of the balloon required. And make sure the equipment can be operated by one person. You just need to hang your camera and trigger device below the balloon and wait for the right angle.
To read more, please check out the following articles:
Get on a balloon yourself. The hot-air balloon is the oldest successful human-flight technology. A hot-air balloon is just a big bag made of fabric in a neat shape. Applied heat makes the gas inside expand and forces out some air. This makes the air inside hotter and thinner. With colder, heavier, denser air around it, the balloon now has buoyancy and can lift off.
To read more, please see the following article:
Option 2: A Kite
Kite aerial photography. Kite aerial photography (or KAP) uses the lifting power of a kite to provide an aerial camera platform. From the air, the camera gains a new and refreshing perspective. KAP seems to give the most compelling images from heights below those normally reached by aircraft.
To read more about KAP, please see the following articles:
Related Equipment
Resources And References
Prominent Aerial Photographers
Many talanted aerial photographers are out there around the globe. Here are some of our favorites:
- Yann Arthus-Bertrand
Yann Arthus-Bertrand (born 13 March 1946) is a renowned and internationally recognized French photographer. He originally specialized in animal photography but later turned to aerial photography of subjects in many locations across the world. He has produced over 60 books of his landscape photographs taken from helicopters and balloons. Yann Arthus-Bertrand’s work has been frequently published in National Geographic magazine. You can see his photoblog for his work. - Artist Spotlight: Stephan Zirwes Aerial Photography
But German photographer Stephan Zirwes is of the most deserving kind — words like incredible, phenomenal and fantastic are all but an understatement of his unlike-anything-else aerial magic. - George Steinmetz
Best known for his exploration photography, George Steinmetz set out to discover the few remaining secrets in our world today: remote deserts, obscure cultures, the mysteries of science and technology. A regular contributor to National Geographic and GEO Magazines, he has explored subjects ranging from the remotest stretches of Arabia’s Empty Quarter to the unknown tree people of Irian Jaya. You can explore more by visiting his photoblog. - Georg Gerster
George Gerster (born 30 April 1928) is a journalist and a pioneer aerial photographer. Born in Winterthur, Gerster earned a doctorate in 1950 from the University of Zurich in Germanistik. Through 1956, he worked as an editor for the inhabitants of Zurich’s “World Week,” Since then, he has been active as a freelance journalist, with an emphasis on science reporting and flight photography. You can explore his work on his official website. - Pierre Lesage
Pierre Lesage is a hotelier from Tahiti, French Polynesia. You can check out his work on his Flickr stream. - Rob Huntley
Rob Huntley is a part-time photographer living in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. He has particular interests in travel photography and kite aerial photography (KAP). Like most photographers, though, he’ll photograph whatever catches his eye. You can visit his photoblog for more or catch him on Twitter @KAPnRob. - Cameron Davidson
Cameron Davidson is an aerial and location photographer near Washington, DC, who shoots in a graphic style and covers the world. You can visit his photoblog for more.
Resources
- The Beauty Of Aerial Photography
- Earth from Above | Yann Arthus-Bertrand
- Kite Aerial Photography Flickr Pool
- A View from Above Flickr Pool
- Aerials Flickr Pool
- Above Flickr Pool
- Pierre Lesage’s Photostream
- Pole Aerial Photography
- George Steinmetz’s Photoblog
- Cameron Davidson’s Photoblog
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Tags: Photography, showcase
These look fantastic. Thanks for sharing!
Good job, go ahed
nice job!
I love the one from Yann Arthus-Bertrand, just so minimalistic. absolutely perfect! well done!
That’s really amazing! thanks Noupe for the list.
thanks for this best photo.
Great pictures.
The big open mine shaft in the picture with Unknown name is actually a diamond mine in Siberia (GEO Coordinates are 62°31′N 113°59′E for those who want to see it on Google Earth). It’s so big (1200m in diameter and 500m depth) that flying over the pit is forbidden since the air currents are strong enough to suck airplanes and helicopters flying at low altitudes.
WOW, these pictures are amazing, these are truly some magnificent aerial shots. Jason Hawkes and Yann Arthus Bertrand are two of the greatest aerial photographers!
Check out the incredible aerials of Adriel Heisey and Cameron Davidson. Both of these American photographers are world class aerial shooters and every bit the equal of Bertrand and Hawkes.
Some great pictures. As a pilot I think it’s a great view to have a of the world, just wish I spent a bit more time flying than I have been!
Totally awe-inspirng! I love these. Just wish I was tall enough to take some…
Wow this is incredibly interesting!
Apart from the absolutely great shots, it’s a real plus to know how to get started with this type of photography.
Thanks for sharing this.
really amazing pictures, i hope there is a photographer bird who catch these of all eye catching stuff.
wow, those a really great..
Awesome photos
Thanks for sharing. The list is amazing.
Very nice photos. Thanks for sharing.
beautiful and now I know how they made HOME documentary :)
get on balloon yourself is kinda risky but sensational and worth taking a pic.
these look fantastic, thanks for sharing :)
Awesome pictures.
No doubts that the posts like this one, all these photos and tips will be especially helpful even for professional web designers. I always read this blog.
wonderful and thoughtful snaps. Thanks for sharing
Some really amazing photographs there. Thank you for sharing :)
wow, didn’t know my picture was here until I discovered the link through my flickr stats.
interesting article & it’s nice to have my work included in this collection of so many really amazing pictures. thanks!
This is an excellent one.
What an incredible collection. (And thanks for the shout-out.)
For some lesser-known yet equally brilliant work, check out 360º Bulgaria, a phenomenal sustainability-focused series by Bulgarian aerial photographer Alexander Ivanov. Worth a look.
Amazing….The Great Mosque, Makkah, Mecca
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I’m totally gonna do that, thanks!
This is a great collection… thanks for sharing…
How did he get over those jets??
wow, that was an inspiring and awesome article. thanks!
Gorgeous shots !
Amazing pictures!!
uhauhauhauhaha Perefeitooooo!!!!!!!!
The great Mosque in Makkah. Truly Magnificent
most of these arent even birds eye view, to be birds i view the picture has to be straight down.
Great compilation! I’ve seen some great bird’s-eye photos, and these are among the best. Thanks!
Fotos para nunca mais esquecer de como a paisagem é algo maravilhoso, seja ela natural ou humanizada…
all of those photos were amazing. Are all those places real?
Amazing!
nice post, thanks
Super! thx nice foto!
Beautyful pics. But why do not appears where the pics were taken? I think it would be better and most interesting.
if i remember correctly, that massive hole is called the gate to hell by the local people.
it’s in kazakhstan.
Wow! Thanks for the photos and for the tips :)
Wow! Some Photos are really awesome !
Thank you, for this blog post !
Wow! “altas imagens”
thanks for sharing these images, i have seen same type of kind, but never know how to make it and you have added the tips ” how to ” its really great !! – good work. i must try this one with my old DIGI first ;)
Awesome pictures.
One way to take such beautiful pictures is parachutes… :-)
Thanks