One of the neat things about being a commercial photographer is the fact that from one shoot to the next you could be photographing really different things. I’ve photographed neon signs at night, industrial pipe fittings, craft jewelry made artisans from all over the world, to buildings, and corporate head shots. This was one of the more unusual shoots, and one of the most fun.
An auction company needed some arial photography of a plot of land near Alabaster (south of Birmingham, AL). While not something I do everyday, it is sort of in my bloodline. My grandfather, a commercial photographer in Louisiana, made his living by standing on helicopter landing skids to photograph oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico. Fortunately for me I would be able to use a plane and not a helicopter!
Since I don’t know how to fly, I contacted my good friend James Coats (owner of Coats Classic Cars), who does. He graciously agreed to take me up. Meeting at Shelby Co airport, he picked out a high winged, Cessna 2 seater. The high wing would give me a more unobstructed view. We circled around the plot of land in question starting out low, going up to about 3,000ft, and then back down to 500ft. I was able to capture the subject from multiple angles by sticking the camera out an open window!
We got done with the shoot pretty quickly and we were very close to my house (Helena borders Alabaster), so James decided to do a fly by. I texted Kelly, who hadn’t gone back to work yet, that we were on our way. It took us a few passes to find my house since we are nearly in a forest, but soon enough we did. Kelly was even able to get a shot of us with her iPhone!
So take a look at the final result and if you ever need some arial photography give me a call!
click on thumbnail below to view full size image
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