Patterns
Aerial photos are fickle things. Different perspective, yeah, but the danger is not having a clear focus as to what’s going on in the photo. For me, it’s all about patterns. Find the pattern on the ground and that’s one way to move things through the image. When I was flying with the “Angry Birds” (Nope, I’m not talking about the game. If you’re feeling slightly out of sorts, look two posts back.) I kept noticing all these patterns on the ground as we flew from the urban areas of Baghdad, over the Tigris and out over various desert landscapes.
The patterns. The Tigris itself, winding it’s way through the desert. And the the canals. Lots of canals. Irrigation for farming. The turquoise water looking slightly unnatural as it strikes a straight line through the sand. The water greener against the tanscape. (Yes, I just made up a word. Pretty apropos, I think.)
Then there were these two that are essentially the same image. The same strong diagonal line. The same vastness of space. But, one could be Iowa with its deep greens and rich, loamy earth and the other could be Tatooine, a sea of unending tan. The structure there even looks somewhat like Luke Skywalker’s home. It’s not. Rather, it’s a train station.
And then there were the cars. The vast parking lot of yellow and white sedans and vans all parked in wavering, unsteady lines looking like a traffic jam of taxi cabs.
It’s the patterns. I kept seeing these and others all day. Aerial photos are fickle things. Different perspective, but it’s all about the pattern to help bring that out.
