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

frogchuter

chinx786

The Great Mosque, Makkah, Mecca

Brian J. McMorrow

Tanepierre

Stunning pictures

Jason Hawkes

Stress Fracture

Inside the raindrop

lucypassos

loupiote

kexi

betta_design

Stephan Zirwes

plotterpanik

Unknown

hotair2112

Anthony Thomas

Unknown

awfulsara

flickrdave

mmerton

Yann Arthus-Bertrand

drhundertwasser

Yann Arthus-Bertrand

hardwiredindustries

George Steinmetz

George Steinmetz

Yann Arthus-Bertrand

Yann Arthus-Bertrand

Yann Arthus-Bertrand

peace-on-earth.org

Petrenko

Foto Twerp

LostMyHeadache

Yann Arthus-Bertrand

CrZ_87

Yann Arthus-Bertrand

Stephan Zirwes

Mamboman1

Unknown

Mamboman1

Yann Arthus-Bertrand

dkilim

*dans

Today is a good day

Dave Goodman

Katarina 2353

Stephan Zirwes

gautch

416style

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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