I’ve just finished the first screening of the images from our Natural Landscape competition and I’ve been reminded of my love-hate relationship with aerial photography. Firstly I’ll go with the ‘hate’ (although hate is too strong a word really, disappointment perhaps). The problem with a great deal of aerial photography is that it is so refreshingly surprising. Why is this a problem? Because once you get past the “Oh! Doesn’t that look interesting from above!” this is almost always followed by “OK. bored now, next please”. The initial surprise makes it stand out from other photography so much that it is often rewarded and applauded well beyond its true worth. Having said that, what I really love about aerial photography is the occasional exception when the initial interest is followed by a continued fascination with the subject matter, the composition, the perspective etc. The very best aerial photographs are wonderful - after all, a drone should mostly be considered a great big tripod which really puts the onus back on the photographer to create great work, which, fortunately, they sometimes do.

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