March 29, 2009 Irish Mail on Sunday
I visited a friend last week for the housewarming party of her recently built home. Designed by her architect husband, the house is stunning. What I love about visiting new homes is that I can pick up new ideas that I can invariably use at some time or other in my own home or, indeed, while advising clients.
I immediately noticed a large, striking elevated photograph of the house. It was beautifully mounted and framed in a simple, contemporary style. I hadn’t seen this kind of shot since the Eighties. It struck me that this kind of image would be very eye-catching as a promotional picture for a home that is on the market.
 So, I asked, ‘when was the helicopter around?’ It turns out that there had been no helicopter visit and the shot was taken from the ground. I was even more intrigued. My friend discovered Air Take Photos at the ploughing championships last September. It is run by Hannah McMahon and Donal O’Brien, a young couple who have a sophisticated piece of camera kit that is elevated on a mast 30 metres in height.
Air Take Photos will come to your home and, for the inexpensive sum of about €189 plus VAT (depending on the size of the building), they will take a series of property shots that are printed there-and-then for your files, together with a disc of images that are up to 12 megabytes each.
‘The great thing about this kind of specialised photo service,’ said my friend, ‘is that as they were taking the photos in their van and manoeuvring the mast, I could choose the angle of the photo and see the shots being taken on screen. So I was fully involved in achieving the image I wanted. This was a gift for my husband and it was great to see immediate images, rather than having to wait for the proofs’.
Air Take Photos operates in a number of sectors. It shoots photo images for county councils, websites, commercial clients, architects, auctioneers and one-off houses.
Health & Safety Services provides on-site training for the construction industry. It wanted elevated shots for its corporate brochure, outlining the size of the building, location and car parking facilities. It considered using one of the helicopter services but none could provide the tight shot that was required.
According to the Irish Aviation Authority website, any helicopter taking photos in a built-up area must be 300 metres above the building that's being photographed and be within a 600 metre radius. In rural areas, the photos must be taken 150 metres above any person, vehicle or structure, otherwise it becomes an invasion of privacy.
The Hub exhibition centre in Kilkenny chose to use the mast, as it wanted the site to look more intimate and the helicopter shot could not achieve that.
The use of mast-elevated photography is becoming more popular in terms of the technology offered and there are several other companies offering the service. However, there are only three 30 metre-high masts in the country, the rest in operation being only 15 metres in height.
Eye Opener Properties in Fermoy has used the mast to gain the edge on other auctioneers.
The property images are stylised, eye-catching and diverse, yet the difference in price as opposed to a frontal shot is minimal. The main advantage is that the prospective buyer can see an unusual, complete site size in one sharp image.
Ireland isn’t renowned for copious amounts of sunshine. But you can be assured that your photo will be basking in blue skies and a few fluffy white clouds thanks to the genius of’ digital imaging. The quality of the images is so high (300 dpi) that it is possible to print the picture up to 125cm in diameter without compromising the impression.
• For further information: www.airtakephotos.ie, Tel. 087 953 8682. Liz can be contacted via her website www.lizokane.ie. |
