Spain – Cadiz

Cadiz on the fortified coast

In Cádiz, bright roof terraces and fortress walls directly adjoin the water surface. In the steep view, the bank appears almost geometric. The panorama over the Andalusian city, on the other hand, shows how the built-up area extends far beyond the individual coastal promontory.

Between the old town and the Atlantic

In Cádiz, the fortified edge forms a clearly visible border with the sea. A picture along the wall simultaneously shows the course of the coast and the density of the buildings behind it.

At the sea, the direction of view changes the picture even over a short distance. If you look almost parallel to the coast, you will see ledges and bays one behind the other. From a steeper view, the actual contour of the bank is easier to follow. A piece of open water can deliberately remain in the cutout. It gives the land a recognizable outer edge and creates distance between two shapes extending into the sea. In a publication, an indication of the location together with the name of the visible stretch of coast helps to classify this view more precisely.

Follow the course of the border

You can usually only see the next side of a wall on the ground. From the air, several changes of direction are visible at the same time. The transition from a straight stretch to a corner or goal area is particularly revealing. It gives the image a tangible reference point. If you want to show the outer contour, leave some space in front of and behind the border in addition to the wall. This makes it clear which areas belong together and where the view extends into the adjacent terrain.

What the roofs reveal about the floor plan

A city center can often be read by its roofs. Where narrow gables are close together, the street space is also divided into short sections. A large, connected building interrupts this sequence. In the aerial photo you can follow the direction of an alley from such an interruption. For an illustration in a smaller format, a section with just a few easily distinguishable roof groups is worthwhile. In a large print, however, the spaces and small changes in direction are allowed to keep their place.

Warm tones within the series

If you browse through the 148 aerial photos, you can linger at shot 130 and shot 85 for a comparison. 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.

The camera data for shot 148 is November 16th, 2018, and that for shot 1 is November 17th, 2018. This gallery therefore contains more than one recording time. Anyone who compares the landscape or the building condition can incorporate this data into the image description. The exposure time was 1/1000 second for the first of the images mentioned and 1/200 second for the second.

The Aerial Videos section supplements the photos with 40 clips. The aerial photographer's photographs linked there include “Cadiz from the air”. The relevant video page on Adobe Stock can be opened using the respective preview.

Select the coastal view for a photo series

In a coastal view, water is both a motif and an open space. Whether a large piece of sea remains in the picture depends on the story. When reporting on the shoreline, it holds different landforms together. For a portrait of a coastal town, the development may need more space. An aerial photographer can take this difference into account when choosing the angle of the image. When publishing, it's worth taking a final look at the final format so that a headland or riverside path at the edge isn't accidentally cut off.

Related motifs in the aerial photo archive

If you are looking for related motifs, you can start with Tarifa. In Tarifa, a narrow strip of land extends into the open sea. It's worth taking a second look at Croatia - Dubrovnik. In Dubrovnik, the red roof of the old town stands out clearly from the Adriatic.