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Albanian landscapes between coast and mountains
In the Albanian landscape series, narrow beaches alternate with mountain ridges and open slopes. A coastal image lives from the transition between clear water and land, the view from the mountains from the staggered heights. These differences are suitable as a starting point for a series of images about Albania.
From the coastal fringe to the hinterland
In the Albanian landscape photographs, the depth of the image changes with the subject. An open bay allows a view of the sea, while a mountain ridge obscures the next incision in the terrain.
At the sea, the direction of view changes the picture even over a short distance. If you look almost parallel to the coast, you will see ledges and bays one behind the other. From a steeper view, the actual contour of the bank is easier to follow. A piece of open water can deliberately remain in the cutout. It gives the land a recognizable outer edge and creates distance between two shapes extending into the sea. In a publication, an indication of the location together with the name of the visible stretch of coast helps to classify this view more precisely.
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.
Light and surface of the water
On water, colors and brightness change with the direction of the light. A bright spot can be a reflection, a darker stripe can be caused by the shadow on the bank. The easiest way to describe such differences is to use a solid bank edge or an object in the water as a comparison. Two different distances are attractive for a sequence of images. The closer view shows small surface structures, while the overview makes their location in the entire water surface understandable.
The distribution of blue tones
To switch between two of the 48 aerial photos, shot 19 and shot 38 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 1 and Shot 48 are among the views from July 23, 2020. According to the camera's time information, there are approximately 491 minutes between the two images. The exposure time was 1/500 second for the first of the images mentioned and 1/30 second for the second.
For a selection of moving images, the gallery contains 28 linked clips. Below is “Pogradec in Albania from the air”. Under Aerial Videos the preview leads to the aerial photographer's respective offer at Adobe Stock.
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 The Castle of Borsh. At Borsh Castle, the surviving walls follow the irregular bedrock. The second belongs to the article Blue Eye. At the Blue Eye in Albania, the water changes from light turquoise to deep blue in a small space.