Villanova

Villanova at the small harbor

In Villanova on the Apulian coast, the harbor is directly adjacent to low buildings and paved shore areas. Light-colored masonry and darker rocks mark the transition to the water. From higher up, the shape of the harbor and the small bays next to it can be seen together.

The harbor edge in front of the houses

In Villanova, a small piece of harbor wall is enough to distinguish the open coast from the harbor basin. The waterfront houses give both areas a familiar scale.

In a harbor, the individual areas are best seen from the water. A pier delimits the entrance, straight edges frame a pool, smaller footbridges divide the area. Boats and ships provide an indication of size without an exact distance being able to be derived from the image. The shape of the harbor provides an overview. A closer look at the edge of a quay, on the other hand, shows how the water directly connects to the landside paths, buildings or open spaces.

The coastline as orientation

From land the first thing you notice is the open water. In an aerial view, the process can be reversed and the coast can be seen from the sea. Wherever it changes direction, small protected spaces are created. Other sections extend almost straight to the edge of the picture. When selecting a motif, it is worth comparing these transitions with each other. A single, striking rocky outcrop can identify a location more clearly than a much larger expanse of water with only light and waves visible.

How the place changes from the inside out

The center of a town can often be recognized from the air by the intersection of several streets. These lines diverge towards the open landscape, the properties become longer and the distances between the houses become larger. Anyone who chooses an image for a location portrait can pay attention to these transitions. A motif with a piece of the surrounding area tells where the place is. A narrower shot, on the other hand, gives people who live or have lived here more opportunities to find familiar buildings in the picture.

The distribution of blue tones

To switch between two of the 4 aerial photos, Shot 3 and Shot 1 can be called up directly in the gallery. 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.

Shot 3 and Shot 1 are among the views from October 18, 2019. According to the camera's time information, there is less than a minute between the two images. The exposure time was 1/320 second for the first of the images mentioned and 1/400 second for the second.

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

Two additional views can be used in the archive for comparison. The first can be found under Apulia. In the series from Puglia, bright, densely built-up places stand next to rocky stretches of coast. The second belongs to the article Durres. In Durrës, long piers reach out into the Adriatic.