Gypsy Hill Place @ (Old) Robert E. Lee High school - Staunton, VA

The historic transformation of the former R.E. Lee High School is underway. Gypsy Hill Place is named in honor of the 214-acre park next door. The landmark building, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is being repurposed in accordance with federal historic rehabilitation guidelines. Scheduled for completion in mid-2010, the rehabilitated project will offer 62 independent living apartments for lease. The building will provide active adults (55 and older) with an option to live in a historic landmark building, minutes from downtown Staunton. ShenanArts and the Staunton Senior Center will occupy space on the ground floor. Octagon Partners of Charlottesville is the developer.

This is the type of oblique view of Staunton, Virginia that you just can't get from Google Earth. It is even more photogenic once you are down there walking the streets. The offices for Virginia Aerial Photography can be spotted if you know where to look, not to mention the American Shakespeare Center's Blackfriar's theater, numerous works by T.J. Collins, the New Street Parking Garage, a corner of Mary Baldwin College, Stuart Hall, and more... I am posting this today so commemorate the City of Staunton's new designation of much of what you see here as an arts and culture overlay called the Red Brick District.

Under the wing

When shooting photography from a plane it is essential that the window is open. When the window is open, it is tempting to go out of the window for a better view. In such cases, a hand strap is recommended for peace of mind! This is a view from above Burke's Garden in Tazewell County, an incredibly beautiful... valley. Its hard to know what to call it. It's a unique (to my mind) geological formation, a collapsed mountain ringed by ridges that were once the flanks of a colossus. A tremendous, porous limestone landscape of sink holes and fertile soil at an elevation of about 3000' above sea level. The cloud ceiling was low the day we shot photos there, so we couldn't get to high up above it all. This shot was taken with a wide angle lens to grab it all, and we grabbed some of the plan as well. More about this cute little plane later...

Corn Maze

Here's my first post to this blog: Its an aerial view of a corn maze near Mount Jackson, VA. It might be useful in case you'd get lost in there... Actually, if you look closely, you'll see that the maze is roughly laid out to represent the lower 48 states. That's the Mississippi running down the middle, complete with a bridge. You can make out Florida, The Great State of Maine, Puget Sound up in the Northwest etc...
When one is flying en route to shoot a specific location, there are always so many interesting things to look out down below. So I just shoot away and try to stay organized so as not to let my hard drive get swamped.
One more thing... Shouldn't this be called a maize maze?

Welcome

Welcome to the Virginia Aerial Photography blog. This is our first foray into blogging, and we hope to start a conversation among aviation and aerial photography enthusiasts. First, a bit about us. Why did we start an aerial photography company? The idea hatched over a long lunch where two friends, one a pilot and one a photographer, realized there was a potential synergy in their interests.

Peter Aaslestad is a professional photographer who has been featured in Virginia Living, Inform Magazine, Traditional Building and other publications. He is is also a preservation architect. His expertise in architectural documentation is frequently sought by leading preservation architects across the country to collaborate on projects that require a high degree of reliability and graphic excellence. Past commissions have included national landmarks as well as many everyday structures.

Will Moore is a commercial pilot and flight instructor who has logged over ten thousand flight hours, and still fancies any chance to take to the skies in his taildragger airplane.

Together, we hope to create a different kind of aerial photography company. We believe there is an unmet need in Virginia to capture compelling aerial perspectives of Virginia's natural resources, its communities, historic sites and buildings, and other landmarks. We think every picture truly does tell a story - to that end, we carefully listen to the unique needs of each client. We pledge to present our subjects in the best light possible as a way to provide its clients with an excellent product that will gain in value over time. We provide a full range of digital aerial photography for a variety of uses:

• real estate homes, farms and estates
• construction progress
• economic development site selection
• industrial commercial sites
• film industry scouting
• heritage sites
• panoramic viewsheds
• tourism
• art

We look forward to hearing from you. What are you looking for in an aerial photographer?