Aerial Photography and City Planning

Posted by Retail Attractions Blog on July 12, 2016 in Blog | No Comments

We’re all familiar with the concept of aerial photography. These photos are taken from high up in the air to provide a big-picture view of the land below. If the photography is done correctly, the resulting images can be a useful asset for city planning and retail development projects. Aerial photography works for surveying sites, legal documentation, and marketing, among other things. It’s just one more tool Retail Attractions uses to make your city planning project a success.

Types of Aerial Photography

Aerial photographs can be vertical or oblique. The vertical photographs are taken with the camera pointed straight down. It’s also called a 90-degree or birds-eye view. This type of photo provides a map-like image without distortion.

Oblique photographs are taken at an angle. A 45-degree angle is popular, but they can be taken at many different angles and heights depending on how you plan to use the photograph. This type of aerial photograph shows perspective and provides a view that lets you look at the relative sizes of buildings, trees, and other objects in the area.

Using Aerial Photographs

The different types of aerial photographs have different applications. With vertical shots, multiple photographs of a specific site can be taken at the same height from the ground and combined with GIS (Geographic Information System) to use with surveying, engineering, site planning, and aerial mapping. These photographs can also be used to help resolve legal issues such as land disputes and accident analysis.

Oblique photographs have a more limited application for the technical side of city planning but still play a valuable role. Since they provide perspective, these photographs are useful for marketing the project and tracking construction progress.

Where To Get Aerial Shots

If you’re already working with Retail Attractions, we have current aerial photographs for most of our client cities on file and we can provide the data in print or electronically. If you’re just starting out with city planning or need up-to-date aerial photographs, we provide a variety of aerial photography services to meet your needs.

One of the many advantages of working with Retail Attractions for your aerial photography is that we have extensive experience with the type of photography that’s best suited for city planning purposes. You need an aerial photographer that has experience working with cities if you want to get the most useful aerial survey shots. If you’re interested in our photography, or our other economic development services, visit our website for more information and contact us today for a price quote.