Boppard

Boppard and the curvature of the Rhine Valley

In Boppard the city spreads out along the Rhine. A wide view brings the river arch, the town center and the rising slopes into context. In a narrower section, however, the gaps between the rows of houses and the distance of the first buildings from the water become visible.

The Rhine Valley as a city panorama

In Boppard, the wide curvature changes the view of the opposite banks. A slightly broader panorama helps to assign individual roof groups to the correct section of the loop.

At the river it is worth taking a second look at both edges of the picture. Sometimes a road ends there and continues along the water in the next section. In another place, a line of trees frames a stretch of bank. Such clues connect the place with its river valley. For a double page spread, you can choose an overview showing the course and juxtapose it with a close-up view of the shore. It helps if at least one bend in the bank or a building can be found in both motifs.

What the roofs reveal about the floor plan

If you look at it at an angle, the houses not only show their roofs, but also their facades of different widths. This gives the motif more depth than in the pure top view. Even the change from a low neighboring building to a taller building reveals something about the gradation of the place. Such a view is particularly useful for a local chronicle if the caption indicates the starting point of the view. Readers can then follow the rows of houses themselves to the edge of the picture.

The slope of a landscape

It is difficult to estimate how steep a slope is from a top view alone. A street that rises in curves or the staggering of neighboring buildings gives the eye additional clues. The relief becomes even more vivid if part of the valley floor or the bank remains in the picture. Anyone who selects a recording for a location description can pay attention to this connection. It helps to understand the position of individual subjects without having to estimate height differences from the apparent distance in the image.

Light and dark areas of the image

For a direct image comparison, use shot 5 and shot 1 from the gallery with 6 aerial photos. In the first photo, light and dark areas are closer together in tonal value. In the second shot the contrast is more pronounced. When switching between photos, it is worth looking from the lightest area to the dark areas. The greater the distance, the more individual contours can stand out, even in a small preview.

According to camera data, Shot 6 and Shot 4 were taken on December 9, 2018. There is a gap of less than a minute between the two images. The exposure time was 1/60 second for the first of the images mentioned and 1/50 second for the second.

Explain the course of the river in the picture

For a publication about a river, it is worth explicitly naming the bank side if it is known. The left side of the photo and the left bank of the river are two different details. The photo can look in any direction, the bank name follows the direction of flow. Anyone who describes a desired view to the aerial photographer can therefore orientate themselves on a bridge, a settlement or an easily identifiable section of the bank. The same reference points make it easier for the reader to orient themselves later when the river appears to be going in a different direction in the next shot.

Related motifs in the aerial photo archive

The article Kamp-Bornhofen offers another perspective. Kamp-Bornhofen follows the Rhine along a narrow bank zone. In the Spay gallery there is a different focus. Seen from the water, the Spayer houses form a long strip in front of the slope.