Suhl

Suhl in the wintry Thuringian Forest

In the Suhl series, the snow highlights individual roof surfaces and slope areas. Dark strips of forest limit the development, which thickens on the valley floor. A photo with a visible mountain range explains both the place and the typical location of the city in the Thuringian Forest.

Winter makes the heights legible

In Suhl, winter redraws the boundary between forest and development. Light-colored roofs stand out from the darker slope, streets appear as interruptions in the white areas.

Two different narrative directions emerge along a valley and across it. The longitudinal view leads into the distance and shows what is arranged one behind the other. Looking sideways, the width of the valley floor and the rise on either side become clearer. Which view is convincing depends on the question asked of the image. For a description of the location, a lateral view is often productive. For a stretch along a route, the longitudinal view gives the viewer a direction to follow across multiple subjects.

Which lines the snow emphasizes

Snow unifies the color of many surfaces and thereby highlights individual contours more. A dark edge or clear path can suddenly break up the image, although it is less noticeable in a snow-free view. Transitions where the shape under the snow can still be read are particularly revealing. When selecting for publication, this seasonal state should remain evident. A winter photograph can be understood as a concrete view of the place and its condition at the time.

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

Among the 8 photos in the gallery, shot 3 and shot 2 provide a good starting point for the 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 captured April 9, 2021 for shot 8 and shot 1. The time interval between these two views is approximately 2 minutes. The exposure time was 1/500 second for the first of the images mentioned and 1/400 second for the second.

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.

More aerial photos for comparison

Two further articles invite comparison. In the first, Meiningen, another detail is in the foreground. The aerial photos of Meiningen show a dense network of red roofs, larger buildings and green interior surfaces. After that, Arnstadt is a good option. In Arnstadt the squares are bright interruptions in the dense structure of the roofs.