Oblique photography seems very simple but actually requires more customer input than any other photo order. Our task at BPS is to try to get what you have visualized in your brain onto a work order that can be fulfilled in the aircraft. Several factors should be considered:
What is the purpose of the image? A photograph for marketing a commercial site may have the site centered and a large area shown in the background to place the site in its surroundings. A photograph for selling an existing building may be framed very tight to the sale property and minimize the surroundings.
Do the photographs need to be aligned with anything? Some projects want to have views on all 4 compass directions, others want to show the “front” of the building or align with major roads or rivers.
Do you want to have a steep or flat angle? A steep angle will show off the roof structure more, but also allow better visibility between buildings. This is a big issue in areas with tall buildings. A flat angle will show the sides of structures, but will tend to “condense” sites into a narrow strip through the image. If it is required to show the horizon in the frame, a flat angle will be mandatory.
Many times, we will define a series of views that come from you, the customer, and fill in other angles that our experienced photographers see that match your purpose.
Construction progress images are typically repeated on a scheduled basis (often monthly or bi-monthly). A view (or several) is selected from an initial round of photography and duplicated in angle and cropping each successive date. With an information title block along the edge of the frame, the photography becomes an important tool for documenting the state of a project on a given date. These progress views are delivered either as hard copy prints for inclusion in reports, or a digital files for email delivery.
Site conditions should also be considered, as they influence the ultimate look of the photo. For most projects, a haze-free, sunny, spring-summer-fall day is ideal. If we are including the horizon on a flat angle, it is particularly important to have a very clear day or we will be depicting a haze line or band of clouds instead of blue sky and mountains. Construction sites and tight views can often be done on less-than-ideal days, as we can shoot between clouds. Some sites may benefit from shooting under high clouds, as there will be no shadows and full detail will be visible throughout the frame. The end photo will be less brilliant, but may be more useful as a documentary tool. Remember also that pointing the camera in a southerly direction will be pointing into the sun. Especially in the winter when the sun angle is very shallow, we will be looking at the shadow side of buildings and trees. Winter photographs on sunny days should be done at mid-day and from directions that are down sun if possible.
