Guest Posting October 18th, 2009

50 Brilliant Bird’s-Eye Photos

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.


By Yann Arthus-Bertrand

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

New york

Singapore

Watertown

Keppel Bay from Above

the world from above

Street

Zurich

Turkey

Morra bay

Schlehdorf

Paris

Sea

Salzburg

Cloud

Australia

Norway

City street

Lembang

San Francisco

Rostock

Switzerland

Czechia

Germany

Nagoya

Canyon

Atlantic city

Construction

Denver

Thailand

Hotel garden

Shallow pool

Building

Tropical beach

Chromatic

Garages

Winter

Paris

Hong kong

Beirut

Sea

Australia

Villas

Crossing

Guyam island

England

Plant

Belvedere

Santa Cruz beach

Road

Sea

Davenport

Saigon

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.

Photo by NOAA on Unsplash

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.

Photo by Andrea Enríquez Cousiño on Unsplash

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.

Photo by Andrea Enríquez Cousiño on Unsplash
Photo by bovin wook on Unsplash

To read more about KAP, please see the following articles:

55 comments

  1. 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.

  2. 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!

  3. 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!

  4. 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.

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