Kelbra (Kyffhäuser)

Kelbra between town, reservoir and Kyffhäuser

Above Kelbra, the water surface of the reservoir is striking, especially when the light is reflected in it. The location with its roofs and courtyards provides a much more detailed foreground. The hills of the Kyffhäuser give the wide basin a clearly recognizable boundary.

Light over the Helmestausee

In Kelbra, the distance between the city, the lake and the mountains results in three distinctly different levels. The water can be read as a calm middle between the two more turbulent areas of the picture.

On a lake, a large area can appear almost uniform. Only an arch on the bank, a boat or the reflection of a slope gives the eye something to hold on to. In aerial photography, the image often appears particularly spatial, as it contains a piece of land in the foreground in addition to the water. For a wide image, the water surface can have more space. In a narrow format, their connection to the shore should be retained so that the landscape becomes a recognizable place and not just any blue area.

The graduation of the mountain ranges

In a mountain landscape the view is divided into the foreground, middle slopes and distant heights. What merges into a closed surface in flat light separates into individual ridges when lit from the side. A gap between two ridges is often enough for the viewer to estimate the depth. For a landscape photograph, this gap is an important part of the subject. If you leave them standing while cropping, the spatial effect is retained even in a smaller image format.

Shapes in the side light

Deep light places a bright side and a shadow side on the same shape. In this way, even small elevations gain a clear profile. However, a particularly bright area can also distract from the main subject. When selecting an image, it is helpful to briefly look at the photo in a reduced size. What first catches the eye will often be the introduction to a publication. Another crop can take advantage of the light accent while still showing enough surroundings to see the location.

Warm tones within the series

To switch between two of the 15 aerial photos, shot 10 and shot 9 can be called up directly in the gallery. In the second view, warm reds and browns have more weight than in the first. Red-brown and yellowish areas are particularly noticeable next to cooler surfaces. What is interesting when comparing is whether they are concentrated on a single object or appear spread out across the entire view.

Shot 15 and Shot 1 are among the views from April 17, 2020. According to the camera's time information, there are approximately 20 minutes between the two images. The exposure time was 1/240 second for the first of the images mentioned and 1/80 second for the second.

The Aerial Videos section supplements the photos with 5 clips. The aerial photographer's photographs linked there include “Kelbra (Kyffhäuser) in Saxony Anhalt”. The relevant video page on Adobe Stock can be opened using the respective preview.

Show the proportions of the landscape

For a series of natural history images, an observable form is the best starting point. Where does a surface end, what structure continues next to it, and how much environment do you need to tell the two apart? The questions can be followed directly from the photo. Statements about origin, depth or age, however, require additional sources. An aerial photographer can capture the visible traces and draw attention to a detail. In the later caption you can then clearly explain what can be seen in the photo and what comes from the technical classification.

Related motifs in the aerial photo archive

Two additional views can be used in the archive for comparison. The first can be found under Sittendorf. In the photos, Sittendorf lies between wide fields in front of a long, dark ridge. The second belongs to the article Bismarck Tower in Rothenburg (Thuringia). The Bismarck Tower near Rothenburg initially appears as just a small accent on the wooded back of the Kyffhäuser.