where there’s smoke there’s fire

The next guest post is by Mike Hagen (www.outthereimages.com/blog) who contributes this chapter from a recent book he helped write with Cyrill Harnischmacher called The Wild Side of Photography, Unconventional and Creative Techniques for the Courageous Photographer (www.rockynook.com/books/147.html). Mike is the author of The Nikon Creative Lighting System and Nikon Capture NX 2 After the Shoot. He is also the director for the Nikonians Academy (www.nikoniansacademy.com). Make sure you click on each image for larger view. You can follow him on Twitter at @MikeJHagen.

Frequently in photography, the best vantage point for a photo is high above the crowd. Taking all your pictures at eye level can get boring after a while. For years, travel photographers have known that great coverage of every destination should include an opening shot that sets the scene. This opening shot is often taken from the second story of a building or parking garage in order to show the surrounding area from a higher vantage point.

But what happens if you can’t get to a higher vantage point? What if the second story of the building is closed? What if you are photographing in a location where there isn’t any way to get to higher ground? In these cases, you need to make your own aerial photography monopod.

Aerial photography is typically defined as taking photographs from an airplane, helicopter, or kite. These methods all provide a high vantage point for your photos, but each method has some potential pitfalls. Using an airplane or helicopter is very expensive, and you can’t always get into the right spot at the right time due to federal and local flight restrictions. Kite aerial photography requires steady wind, and that isn’t always available at the exact time you need it. Also, who wants to attach their $4000 digital SLR to a kite?

A simple solution for getting your camera up into the air for a higher vantage point is to build an extension pole with a ball head on the end. You can then attach your camera to the end of the pole, raise it into the air, and take your photographs.

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