Above Tampa Bay

Tampa, Florida skyline along the Hillsborough River and Convention Center

It was a really clear day as my chartered helicopter lifted off from the Clearwater, Florida Airpark and headed towards Tampa. Pilot Don remarked that he had not seen it this clear in a long time. We had four projects to photograph that were scattered around the Tampa Bay area. I had been wanting to create some “aerial panoramic images”.

I create digital panoramic images by taking multiple vertical photographs and then “stitch” them together back at the studio to create large high resolution digital file. It is one thing to photograph a series of vertical images (with some overlap on the sides) when you are using a tripod and standing on the ground. It is another thing to try this when you are photographing out the door of a moving helicopter!

I couldn’t pass up this beautiful clear sky day - so I decided to extend the flight time and update my skylines of Tampa, St Petersburg and Clearwater Beach.

Clearwater Beach, Florida near Pier 60 looking North East toward Island Estates, Dunedin and Caladesi Island

St Petersburg, Florida skyline looking East towards the new Pier, city marina and Albert Whitted Airport

Tampa, Florida skyline looking Northeast towards Port Tampa City, Amalie Arena, and the Port of Tampa

It is always amazing how different the view is from 600 feet above the ground. I see things that I drive by all the time and never knew were there.