What is Aerial Photography?

Oblique aerial photos (sometimes called "bird's eye views") are angled photographs taken from up in the air. They are very different than vertical aerial photography (sometimes called "satellite views") which are taken straight down, usually for mapping purposes. Angled photos have a more aesthetically-pleasing, natural perspective and are similar to the view of being on a tall building or mountain-top.

Oblique aerial photos give the same view as being on tall building or mountain top

Dodger Stadium and Downtown Los Angeles Skyline

Custom views for every project

Our goal with every photo mission is to cater to each client's individual needs and capture the best imagery possible at a competitive price. No two photo missions are alike. We choose the best aerial platform and equipment for each project to minimize costs for our clients without sacrificing on quality. This flexibility and years of experience allow us to safely and legally photograph projects, even within restricted airspaces and hard-to-reach locations.

Aerial cityscape of the Downtown San Diego Skyline with the San Diego Convention Center and Petco Park in the foreground

Downtown San Diego Cityscape

Wide Cityscapes

Showing a site in relation to the surrounding areas

Close-up Views

Focusing on each property's distinct features and details

Residential real estate close-up photo of Copper Dome home in Malibu, California

Copper Dome House Close-Up

Commercial real estate photo of the Staples Center, LA Live and Ritz Carlton in Downtown Los Angeles

STAPLES Center, LA Live & The Ritz Carlton

Dusk and Night

While not for every project, these specialty photos highlight extraordinary projects

How does it work?

Each photo mission is prepared and flown with the appropriate aircraft. We use high-resolution cameras and top-of-the-line lenses, which are chosen for their clarity and superior optics. Circling around each site, photos are captured from all directions. The imagery is taken in a RAW format, capturing the most amount of detail and color data possible. Then each image is post-processed, where they are individually color-corrected, cropped, sharpened and geotagged. After post-processing is completed, the photos are uploaded to a secure gallery and a private link is emailed to the client.

Additional post-processing is also available, such as adding labels for other important locations, a compass to indicate direction or touching-up specific elements in an image (like a dirty roof).

Austrian Airlines Jet over The Forum

Services aerial vertical photo of the College of San Mateo, which was labeled and delivered as an aerial photo map

College of San Mateo Labeled Photo Map

Labeling

When needed, any aerial photograph can be marked-up or labeled to show important locations and boundaries

Before

A RAW image, straight out of the camera, before any color-correction or post-processing. When taken in a RAW format, images often look washed out and require color-correction

Raw Image of Downtown Los Angeles at Sunset

Aerial cityscape of Downtown Los Angeles Skyline at Sunset with Santa Catalina Island in the background

Color-Corrected Image of DTLA at Sunset

After

Once post-processing and color-correction has been applied, the colors in the photograph become much more vibrant. Color-correction tells the computer how to appropriately interpret the wide range of color data that is captured in a RAW format

What do you fly?

We need to be flexible, so there is no one answer. We choose our aerial photo platform depending on airspace restrictions and to account for any weather conditions. Some of the more common aerial platforms we use are airplanes, helicopters and UAVs (drones). There is no perfect platform and each one has its own pros and cons (more on the pros/cons of each platform can be found here).

Did you know, early aerial photographers used balloons and pigeons to take aerial photos?

Mark Holtzman Fueling Airplane at Delano Municipal Airport

Where do you fly?

Even though we are headquartered in Los Angeles, California, we are frequently working on projects across the country and in various international locations. We pride ourselves in being a single point of contact for our clients, giving them the peace of mind that they will receive a consistent quality in their aerial photographs, regardless of the project location.