Up Dated

Feb 20, 2011.

At the bottom of this Aerial Photo page is a link displayed to the -

“Glenbow Museum” website in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

The Glenbow now holds the rights to many of the aerial photographs that I took over the years and donated to the museum. Most of the photographs are of areas in south central Alberta, Canada. They are primarily of the Calgary, Banff, Edmonton and Lethbridge areas. There are also pictures of the "Calgary 1988 Olympic Winter Games" venues.

Most of my photography I did on speculation thereby retaining all the copyright. My clients ranged from industry, federal and provincial government, real estate, tourism, Calgary 1988 Winter Olympic Games and the movie industry.

Over the years, I acquired many thousands of negatives on file. 

I have scanned and continue to scan and donate these many negatives to the Glenbow Museum. I still have many remaining and the project will take me more years to complete. As I send them in, Glenbow adds them to their website for public internet viewing.

For those who are interested, I did my own flying and shooting and rarely carried a passenger. I used various high-wing Cessna aircraft and either removed the window or door for an unrestricted view for composition of the area. Depending on the subject, I occasionally contracted helicopters with pilot.

I used a Pentax 6x7 camera with various lenses. The 45 mm was my favourite and the lens I used most widely. For an aerial close-up of a subject I used the 105 mm standard lens. For clients who required positive slide film, I used a 35 mm Leica R4 camera and Leitz lens’s. Again I favoured the wide angle 19 mm and 60 mm for close-ups. On occasion I did video when requested by a client.

I designed and attached a camera grip with trigger cable release. This grip enabled me to use one hand to support the camera and rest the camera grip on my shoulder while composing the shot and flying the aircraft with my other hand.

To compose the shot, I would fly the aircraft from the left seat and while continuously looking through the view-finder, I would manipulate the aircraft into position. Once I had the direction, altitude, speed and the proper throttle setting pegged and just prior to the position I required for the shot, I would maintain a speed just above slow-flight. I then removed my right hand from the aircraft control column and reached for the camera sitting on the right seat.

Approaching the target, I raised the camera mount to my left shoulder, pointed the camera to the subject and composed the shot taking great precaution to avoid any of the exterior of the aircraft coming into the viewfinder. While holding the camera and mount with my right hand and flying the aircraft with my left, I abruptly directed the aircraft into an attitude that allowed me to acquire a perfect shot.

After the shot I then placed the camera on my lap and flipped the film advance to the next frame. Once this was done I placed the camera on the right seat, called ATC and obtained permission to proceed to the next location.

For aerial photo I used Fuji 120 NSP negative film. I found that Fuji favoured blues and greens, which enhanced the blue sky and green foliage below. For the very few times I did portraiture photography, I used Kodak as it favoured reds and yellows, which I found was not suitable for my aerial work.

These pictures are available to view for those who are interested in traveling to and visiting these various areas. Also as a source reference for those interested in historical photographs, or in comparing the past with present development.

As I am no longer doing aerial photo and with all these negs sitting in storage, Canada Archival indicated their interest in the historical value of these images. As the Glenbow Museum is in Calgary and most of these images are within Alberta and this museum has the storage facility, Glenbow museum now retains these images and displays more than a thousand of them on their website.

Prior to me donating the negatives, I scan them, colour correct in Photoshop, then sign over the negatives rights to the museum, which are then displayed on their website.