On Friday 27^th January 2012 High Level Photography flew a large aerial photography sortie. The route was from Fairoaks Airport in Surrey (our head office) to the North of England via South East London and back.

As well as the aerial photography commissions on the route we also took the opportunity to gather images for our aerial photography library.

Towns and cities oveflown

Redhill,  London City Airport,  Romford,  Welwyn Garden City,  Hemel Hempstead,  Luton Airport,  Bletchley, Northampton,  Corby,  Nottingham,  Sheffield,  Leeds,  Manchester,  Winsford,  Worcester,  Bracknell.

Sample Photography

Have a look at some of the aerial photography from along our route in the gallery below.

A Summary of the Aerial Photography Flight

The morning started off very cold (-2 degrees) and the aircraft was covered in a thick layer of frost,  plans were made to chemically de-ice the aircraft,  a Cessna 172 hired for the day.  In the end when the sun started to rise the warmth of the sun gently de-iced the aircraft, also with a little help of some elbow grease!!

We departed our base at Fairoaks Airport at 9.00am and headed south east towards Redhill in Surrey for the first assignment, after completing this site we headed north towards Romford. On the way we transited over the east of London City Airport and snapped off a few library images with iPhone and camera.   We then headed north to our next subject locations.  Luton Airport let us cross over the eastern end of the airport  (see gallery on this page).  After just over 2 hours of flight we landed at Nottingham airport for a pit stop and refuelled both ourselves and the aircraft.   If you are ever near Nottingham Airport they do a great bacon and egg roll !

Weather, rain, snow and sun

We checked the weather for our next photography destinations and it looked OK but with some cloud around.   As we headed towards Sheffield the sun started to hide behind some clouds now and again.  When we headed further north from Sheffield we had to fly through some low cloud that happened to be thick with sleet/snow.  We got through that after a few minutes and at Leeds we saw some intermittent sunshine.

 Photography Gods

After Leeds onwards towards Manchester. We couldn’t see the centre of Manchester as it was under thick cloud, rain and snow!!  As luck would have it our site just to the south of Manchester was in the sunshine.  Then we set course for home via another site and once again flew through thick rain showers en route but back into sun for the next site.  The photography gods were certainly with us on this flight!!.

The final straight home, through sunshine with a final site at Bracknell to photograph,  then back to Fairoaks Airport at about 3.30pm

Aerial Photography flight summary

All in all over 5 hours in the air

Aerial photography can be great fun and you really do see some great sights whilst flying to and from the subject sites. You get a fantastic perspective of the countryside, towns and cities.

Needless to say weather is the enemy for both flying and taking photographs.

If you need some photography please call, we are often flying around, in addition to our mast and ground photography.

It was very windy gusting in excess of 17 knots and the mast was whipping around.  The sun was a out but just as we left in disappeared behind dome large black clouds.

PS the pictures below were taken on an iphone, hence the quality is not to our normal standard of photography!!! (;0)

The children, athletes and dignitaries formed the human Olympic rings on the George Abbot School playing field, in Guildford, at 12.45pm.

The world record for the largest number of people to form the Olympic rings was broken on Thursday the 23rd June 2011 by 1,900 people, mostly children.

Surrey County Council organised the event at George Abbot School in Guildford, Surrey, England to celebrate World Olympic Day and the 400 day countdown to the London 2012 Games.

The children were joined in the record bid by Team GB athletes including Rachel Cawthorn (kayaking), Abigail Edmonds (kayaking), Sophia Warner (athletics) and Adelle Tracey (athletics) as well teachers and councillors from Surrey County Council.

High Level Photography were once again called upon to record another world record.   High Level Photography have extensive experience in recording large scale world record.  We were commissioned to record the Michael Jackson world record poster in December 2010

The picture below was taken seconds before the rain arrived.  You can see in the top left hand corner of the picture a menacing cloud and it’s rain!

The event also celebrated the final day of Surrey County Council’s P&G Surrey School Games 100 days of sport, which has seen 3,500 children compete in a wide variety of sports including mountain biking, motor racing, athletics and hockey. Olympic mascots Wenlock and Mandeville (pictures below) and the 1948 Surrey Olympic torch bearer Austin Playfoot attended the celebrations.

Denise Saliagopoulos, Surrey County Council’s Cabinet Member for Community Services and the 2012 Games, said: “It was fantastic to see so many children making a piece of Olympic history. There was a thrill of excitement in the air during the build up and it was spectacular to see everyone forming the Olympic rings. It started to rain just as the record was broken but it certainly didn’t dampen the spirits. There were smiling faces everywhere you looked.”

The event was a great success despite the rain.  There has been great coverage in the national papers and it even made the local TV BBC South and ITV London news.

Some images from the day

At High Level Photography we have a number of images in our  internal  library that would be suitable to have placed in selected major picture libraries such as Getty Images, Rex Features and Alamy, to name a few.  We already have some images placed with Rex features but we need a person to review our images and indentify suitable ones keyword them, process them using Lightroom, Photoshop and Genuine Fractals etc. Then upload them.  Also to identify other libraries that would be suitable for our images.
In simple speak we are looking for someone to assist us in reviewing our internal library of images and then:-

1. Identifying
2. Selecting
3. Keywording,
4. Processing
5. Uploading to selected and suitable picture libraries
6. Reviewing

Past experience or knowledge in this field is essential.  We do not have the facility to train people for this role,  we need the training ourselves!!

If other skills are present then we at High Level Photography would love to know about them

A more formal job description might be

• Responsible for leading overall strategy, implementation and workflow of the Digital Asset Management system for High Level Photography Ltd
• Acts as primary liaison between High Level Photography Ltd and various photo picture agencies such as Getty, Rex features.
• Responsible for assigning appropriate metadata for assets to ensure accurate usage rights
• Manages the Digital Asset system and facilitate the uploading of assets as well as maintaining and upgrading the system
• Facilitates retrieval of previously catalogued images/shoots
• Processes raw images using the appropriate software
• Archive assets as necessary
• Generates asset download reports
• Maintains accurate procedures and records for the system
• Keeps informed of latest Digital Asset Management technology trends and innovations
• Other duties as identified and assigned

Please send a CV via email addressed to Ian Leslie at High Level Photography then please call on 0845 094 4640 to ensure we have received it.

We are based at Fairoaks Airport, Chobham, Surrey, 5 minutes from Junction 11 of the M25 between Chertsey and Woking

Look forward to hearing from suitable people.

High Level Photography is an equal opportunities employer (why wouldn’t we be)

Honeywood House is an attractive 18th Century home set in 10 acres of beautiful parkland with panoramic views to the south. Please see more images here

More Pictures have been released of Michael Jackson and the Guinness world record breaking poster.

Guinness World Records Adjudicator Tarika Vara has posted a blog along with some of the pictures we took of the setting out of the poster.

Here’s an excerpt from her blog

“On Wednesday 8th December on a frosty winter’s morning I had made my way to Rectory Farm in Hounslow near Heathrow airport to adjudicate the world’s largest poster.

The poster represents Michal Jackson ‘Michael’ album that was released on 13th December and in anticipation for the launch the poster was displayed to celebrate the musical icon. With Michael Jackson already holding 12 Guinness World Records, the potential for a 13th filled the entire Sony Music UK team with a great deal of anticipation and excitement.

As I arrived onto the farm I watched as cranes, tractors and crew members shifted the 1 tonne PVC poster across the farm to be laid out for the attempt.” To see her full article visit Guinness Community Forum.

Michael Jackson Record Breaking PosterPicture Copyright High Level Photography Ltd / Sony Music Entertainment Ltd

Guinness World Records confirms Michael Jackson’s ‘Michael’ album artwork as the world’s largest poster
The 29,070 ft² poster smashes the previous record by more than 110 ft²

London, UK (9 December 2010) – Guinness World Records, the global authority on record breaking, today confirms that a poster erected to mark the release of Michael Jackson’s ‘Michael’ album (released 13th December) has set a new record as the world’s largest poster.

Guinness World Records confirmed that the poster of Michael Jackson’s ‘Michael’ measures 171ft by 170ft with a total surface area of 29,070 ft², smashing the previous record – held by the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver – by more than 110 ft².

To put it into perspective, the ‘Michael’ poster would take over three quarters of the pitch at Wembley stadium, is longer than the equivalent of six Routemaster buses end-to-end and if upright would be higher than Nelson’s column.
The poster, made of PVC and weighing one ton, took engineers three hours to install – and is less than 3,000 meters from one of Heathrow’s main runways, literally viewable by all planes arriving/ departing.

Guinness World Records requires the world’s largest poster to be publically displayed and formed of one single piece of material; it must also advertise a commercially available product. Guinness World Records sent an official adjudicator to the site situated at Rectory Farm in Middlesex to officially verify and measure the ‘Michael’ poster.

Tarika Vara, Guinness World Records adjudicator, said:“This is a massive achievement and it brings me great pleasure to confirm that with this new world record, Michael Jackson’s ‘Michael’ has earned its place in history. This poster has not only achieved incredible scale but it has combined this with intricate detail and having seen it up close I can confirm that the quality of the image is fantastic. Michael Jackson already holds a number of Guinness World Records and we are thrilled to award another title to the King Of Pop.”

The image of the album cover of ‘Michael’ was created by painter Kadir Nelson in 2009. In the original oil painting, Kadir – who is known for story telling through his art – takes us on a journey through some key moments and important people in Michael Jackson’s life. ‘Michael’ is the much-anticipated album of newly completed recordings by the King Of Pop.
The poster will stay at what will be known as ‘Michael’s Field’ until 23rd December, after which, the poster will travel via sea container into continental Europe where it will be toured and displayed.

Michael Jackson’s Guinness World Records include:

• World’s best-selling album for ‘Thriller’
• Highest annual earnings for a pop star from 1989 and this record remains unbroken 21 years later
• Most hit singles on UK singles chart in one year in 2006 when Michael had 19 singles in the UK Top 40

About Guinness World Records:

Guinness World Records is the universally recognized authority on record-breaking achievement. First published in 1955, the annual Guinness World Records book is published in more than 100 countries and 25 languages and is one of the highest-selling books under copyright of all time with more than 3 million copies sold annually across the globe. Guinness World Records celebrated its 50th anniversary edition in 2004, a year after the sale of its 100 millionth copy. Guinness World Records also annually publishes the Gamer’s Edition; a records book devoted solely to the world of computer gaming and high score record achievements.

High Level Photography were photographing and filming the event.

Video Available to view at High Level TV

Pictures are available to purchase for news stories via Rex Features or direct. Please call 07795 840 770

It contains a wide selection of images from varioues shoots we have done over the last two years. The PDF also containes examples of aerial images shot from a plane along with some exmaples of the High Level team in action.

High Level Case Study and Examples PDF

As you may know, on 26th April it was announced Getty Images’ intention to acquire Rex Features and its associated companies in the US. Getty Images voluntarily informed the Office of Fair Trading of the intended transaction to enable the OFT to carry out an investigation in advance of the deal being completed. Following its investigation, the OFT has decided to refer the proposed transaction to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission for competition clearance.

Although the MMC may ultimately have cleared the deal, it was felt  that the six- to eight- month process which would be carried out by the Commission would be too disruptive and unsettling for Rex Features loyal staff and suppliers who have already had to endure weeks of uncertainty. It has  therefore BEEN decided to call off the proposed merger and the acquisition will not now be going ahead.

Rex was never actively seeking a buyer,  and “we are not seeking one now.  With the deal off we will continue to do what we have been doing all along — give photographers and photo users in the UK and around the world a service which is second to none.”

The fact that the OFT had reason to refer the proposed transaction to the MMC is in itself an indication of Rex Features’ strength and confirmation of the Company’s leading position in the market.  Rex had many calls from clients today after the decision, welcoming the news and the fact that Rex is going to continue to be there as their independent picture source of choice.

Rex goes on to say:-

“Our staff have been working as normal all through this period and we will continue to work as hard as ever, to compete effectively with our many industry rivals, and to build on the more than half a century of history and reputation with which the name Rex Features is synonymous”