F4LUFTBILDER
Between Maloja Pass and Lake Sils
At the Maloja Pass, the direction of view changes with every bend in the road. On one side the curves pull into the slope, on the other Lake Sils opens up. In the wide shots, its turquoise surface looks like a quiet extension of the Engadin valley floor.
Pass road and water area
Seen from the pass, the view leads down to the lake. From the lake side, however, the mountain range appears higher. For an image series over Maloja, this results in two directions of movement, which show the same place once as a transition and once as a destination point.
A pass road shows the climb through its changes of direction. In an oblique aerial photo, several curves can appear to be at the same height. Only the embankment between two sections makes the difference in height visible. For a landscape photograph, it is therefore interesting to have a perspective that includes not only the street line but also the surrounding flanks. In a closer view, a single bend can then be the focus. Together, both images convey both the course of the route and the nature of the terrain.
The view over a calm body of water
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.
What role does visibility play?
When haze or clouds weaken the distance, the closer landscape stands out all the more. Colors and contrasts change with distance. For a calm landscape portrait, this may be exactly what you want. When it comes to the spatial assignment of a specific motif, at least one prominent point should remain clearly recognizable. A caption can indicate the visibility conditions. It makes it understandable why part of the landscape is only hinted at and where the view can begin.
The distribution of blue tones
For a direct image comparison, use shot 20 and shot 3 from the gallery with 21 aerial photos. In the first excerpt, shades of blue play a smaller role. In the second shot, blue areas take up more space. Blue can extend over a large contiguous area or only appear in individual parts. What also counts for the effect is whether these areas extend to the edge of the picture or surround the main subject.
According to camera data, Image 11 and Image 1 were taken on September 5, 2023. There is a gap of around 8 minutes between the two images. The exposure time was 1/500 second for the first of the images mentioned and 1/800 second for the second.
For a selection of moving images, the gallery contains 4 linked clips. Below is “Maloja Pass Switzerland from the air”. Under Aerial Videos the preview leads to the aerial photographer's respective offer at Adobe Stock.
Select landforms for a landscape portrait
When publishing about a mountain range, the direction of view should be stated in the caption, as long as it can be determined with certainty. The same ridge can look very different from one valley than from the other side. For the aerial photographer, the question arises when planning whether the location in the foreground or the shape in the distance should be the deciding factor. If a close and a distant reference point is retained in the image, even readers without local knowledge can understand the gradation of the terrain.
Related motifs in the aerial photo archive
The article France – Pyrenees offers another perspective. The Pyrenees series follows the sequence of valley locations, road bends and open mountain slopes. In the gallery Italy – Lake Garda there is a different focus. On Lake Garda, bright rock faces rise directly above the water surface.