F4LUFTBILDER
The Frankenwarte on the Würzburger Höhe
There are open areas and autumn-colored forest edges around the Frankenwarte. The silhouette of the height is interrupted by slender buildings that can be seen from afar. A wide section explains their location, a closer look separates individual towers and paths from each other.
The panorama of heights
A side view of the Frankenwarte in Würzburg is particularly revealing. It shows how far the tower rises above the treetops and how close the forest reaches to its base.
Up close, a tower draws the eye upwards. In the aerial photograph this movement is reversed. From the top, the eye follows the sides down to the ground and finds paths, neighboring buildings or vegetation for size comparison. A steep perspective shortens the visible shaft. When viewed from the side, it stands out from its surroundings. When selecting a representative image, it is therefore crucial whether the shape of the tower or its location in the terrain should be shown.
What the treetops reveal
A forest changes the view of every structure and every path that lies on its edge. From one side the treetops cover the lower area, from another a small gap opens. Photos in which the boundary between open space and vegetation can be clearly seen are particularly interesting. They explain which parts of a motif are visible. In a description, it is possible to distinguish precisely between the section depicted and the terrain hidden by the foliage.
The graduation of the mountain ranges
In a mountain landscape the view is divided into the foreground, middle slopes and distant heights. What merges into a closed surface in flat light separates into individual ridges when lit from the side. A gap between two ridges is often enough for the viewer to estimate the depth. For a landscape photograph, this gap is an important part of the subject. If you leave them standing while cropping, the spatial effect is retained even in a smaller image format.
Shades of green in the image
For a direct image comparison, use shot 1 and shot 2 from the gallery with 2 aerial photos. In the first image, green areas make up a smaller part of the section than in the second. It's worth tracking the green areas individually. Only in connection with neighboring forms does it become clear what is in the foreground and what belongs to the more distant surroundings.
According to camera data, Shot 2 and Shot 1 were taken on November 12, 2018. There is a gap of less than a minute between the two images. ISO 100 and an exposure time of 1/80 second are recorded for both files.
Communicate architecture and location together
For a post about a building, two captions can fulfill very different tasks. The first names the system and explains its location, the second leads to a visible component. Historical construction phases or previous uses can hardly be determined from the roof color and current wall edges alone. However, an aerial photographer can show precisely which parts will actually be visible in the later photo. For a guide or local chronicler, this separation makes it easier to work with people who know the local building history.
Related motifs in the aerial photo archive
The article Bismarckturm Bad Kissingen offers another perspective. The bright Bismarck Tower rises above Bad Kissingen from the autumn leaves. In the gallery Bismarckturm Würzburg there is a different focus. The Bismarck Tower in Würzburg is surrounded by dense foliage in this series.