Aerial Photography - Photographing Wales From The Air

What is it about the view from above that is so enthralling? I have always been fascinated by the vistas revealed from high places, and soon discovered that mountain-walking satisfied this longing to look down from a high vantage point. Many of Britain’s highest peaks are more that 3000 feet above sea-level and provide a lofty perch from which to view the surroundings.

The view from the air is different. The observer is no longer rooted to the ground, but instead can soar above it, without the need to follow roads or footpaths. It is possible to take in wide areas at a glance, and gain a far greater understanding of the relationships between the man-made and the natural landscape. From the ground, often only the largest features of the landscape – mountains, rivers, lakes and valleys – can be appreciated for their form and scale. From the air, you can gain a much greater insight: a tidal estuary appears as an intricate network of channels, almost mirroring the roots of a tree; farmland often resembles a patchwork quilt; towns and cities, which may appear formless from the ground, can be seen to have grown around natural features, such as a river or surrounding hills.

Nowhere is this more true than in Wales, where the landscape has largely determined how the built environment has developed. In the north, the major settlements hug the coastline whether they are the coastal resorts of Llandudno and Prestatyn, or the defensive towns of Conwy, Caernarfon and Beaumaris, guarded by the fortresses of Edward I’s castles. Further inland, the rocky cliffs and crags of Snowdonia safeguard the land from too much human encroachment. To the south, the Brecon Beacons mark the northern end of the industrial south. Today, little remains of the mining industry and the valleys that flow down to Cardiff are crammed with former coal and steel towns such as Merthyr Tydfil, Ebbw Vale and Pontypridd.

One of the many glories of Wales is its coastline, and the best way to see it is from the air. The most westerly part of Wales along the Pembroke coast is marked by the rocky headland at St Davids, and the windswept islands of Skokholm and Skomer just off the coast. The aerial viewpoint reveals the full drama of these remote outposts.

I have visited Wales many times over the years. When I look down on the familiar landscape from above I am reminded of the Welsh national anthem and the people who are fortunate to dwell in the country, “in which poets and minstrels rejoice.”

Award-winning principal aerial photographer Simon Kirwan has over 25 years professional experience as an aerial photographer, and is the author of several books of aerial photography, covering England and Wales, titles including Lake District From The Air, and Wales From the Air, and is available for new book publishing and commercial projects. Simon Kirwan was named The Observer Outdoor Photographer of the Year 2000, and is a member of the Association of Photographers and the National Union of Journalists, and is represented by Altitude-Photo, the world's only specialist aerial photographic agency, established by Yann Arthus-Bertrand, author of The Earth From The Air, and The Earth From Above.

Aerial Photography by Simon Kirwan
Travel Photography by Simon Kirwan

Aerial Photography - Photographing the Lake District From The Air

The Lake District is often regarded as a place of lakes and mountains, interspersed with the honeypot tourist-traps of Windermere, Ambleside, Grasmere and Keswick, and for many people this is indeed their experience of this most scenic corner of England. But there is much more to the Lake District than this, and from the vantage point of a Cessna 172 light aircraft, the true splendour of Cumbria is laid out in all its diverse glory.

My first taste of Lakeland fells came aged twelve, when I stayed at Barrow House Youth Hostel, near Keswick at Borrowdale, on the banks of Derwentwater. Our school party made the ascent of Sca Fell Pike by the Corridor Route from Seathwaite, and so began my fascination with high places which has taken me to the hills and mountains not only of England, Ireland , Scotland and Wales, but further afield, to the Alps of France and Italy, the High Tatras of Poland and Slovakia, the Usambara Mountains of Tanzania, and the Nepal Himalaya.

Since that school trip all those years ago, I have stood on the summit of Sca Fell Pike, and all of the other principal Lakeland peaks many times, in all weathers and in all seasons. This fascination with high places has been enhanced by producing the aerial photography for this book, the Lake District from the Air. Cumbria is revealed anew, from the coastal towns to the west, with their islands and cliffs, to the castles and stone circles of the north, as well as the fells, lakes, rivers and mountains already so familiar from ground level.

Successful aerial photography depends on a combination of factors: the air must be clear, the sky preferably cloudless, and the sun bright. I am very fortunate to fly with a highly experienced and very skilled aerial photographic pilot, who so far has resisted my attempts to persuade him to emulate the feat of 1926, when a light aircraft landed on the summit of Helvellyn. Nearby, Haweswater is the last nesting–place in England of the golden eagle. It has been my great privilege to spy this marvelous landscape from the viewpoint of eagles.

Award-winning principal aerial photographer Simon Kirwan has over 25 years professional experience as an aerial photographer, and is the author of several books of aerial photography, covering England and Wales, titles including Lake District From The Air, and Wales From the Air, and is available for new book publishing and commercial projects. Simon Kirwan was named The Observer Outdoor Photographer of the Year 2000, and is a member of the Association of Photographers and the National Union of Journalists, and is represented by Altitude-Photo, the world's only specialist aerial photographic agency, established by Yann Arthus-Bertrand, author of The Earth From The Air, and The Earth From Above.

Aerial Photography by Simon Kirwan
Travel Photography by Simon Kirwan