The changing face of Aerial Photography

Aerial Photography is not new. It has been around for years, giving property portfolios that great opening shot of the beach stretching for miles, or the straight down shot from one thousand feet. For those of us who have used it, we quickly found the downsides. Hiring a full-size aircraft, pilot, and cameraman is expensive Also, when photographing property, the resulting shots are too far away to show any detail, and often show more roof than its architectural front, due to the height restrictions involved when flying conventional aircraft.
Enter Visual Air Productions. This innovative South African company is able to take pictures from a camera mounted on a radio control helicopter. Sounds amazing, but believe me, it works, and it works extremely well.
A team consisting of pilot and cameraman work together to get the photos. The cameraman sits behind a monitor and has full control of the camera, including exposure, focus, roll, tilt and pan. As a client, you are welcome to sit with the cameraman as the director.
The benefits are multiple. For a start, the

helicopter can fly in the three-quarter zone (skyline), which means the images have a very eye-catching angle and depth to them. Next is the detail. The pilot is not restricted to fly at one thousand four hundred feet, but can fly as close as you like and as far back to require the complete premises shot. This results in the detail coming out. The price is extremely attractive.

From R. 1 500 you get between twenty and fifty high-resolution digital images.

Compared with what it costs for a full-size aircraft, you are no longer restricted to a single opening shot, but can use it for close-up detailed images of property from multiple angles.
Stephen Verheul, Managing Director of Visual Air Productions, is passionate about what they do. “We have some of the best model helicopter pilots in the world, and our cameramen have years of

experience. We believe that our customers get true value from our photography,” says Stephen. Visual Air has been operating for almost six years all over southern Africa, so if you see an aerial photo in a portfolio, on the wall, or in an auction, the odds are it was taken by one of Visual Air’s teams.
In terms of the company themselves, they’ve grown over the last six years to two full teams of pilot and cameraman each, as well as a fulltime engineer. The stable of helicopters has grown to twelve, and at least ten cameras of varying formats, including a medium format camera for billboard applications. Although they are based in Johannesburg, they do trips to Cape Town and Durban at least once a month. The helicopters can be loaded into a vehicle and driven to the site. Visual Air also does aerial filming for companies such as National Geographic, M-Net and SABC.

* For more information on Aerial Photography and services offered by Visual Air Productions, visit http://www.visualair.co.za, or contact Stephen directly on (011) 640 1900.