Aerial View Maps

How do i get clear aerial photos of my parents home and business without spending thousands of dollars?

Public Comments

1. Jump really high or buy a really long ladder
2. google earth, or google maps both are pretty much the same thing
3. You can actually get one free from maps.google.com. Save it onto disk or onto CD and get it printed out at the print shop. You can also forward this to your friends and family via email.
4. Any GOES or other NASA/Goverment owned sattleite that has web access can be used. you paid for it.
5. maps on yahoo .zillow.com learn to fly like an eagle ? tie a camera to a baloon or a kite ? know some body?
6. googleearth....BUT.....googleearth is NOT up-to-date. It is over 5 years old, because of 9-11 terrorists not getting accurate info....and certain areas will not let you zoom in for a clear picture....and most large metro areas are blanked out. Sorry to burst the bubble :( ...jj http://earth.google.com/
7. Well I guess it depends on what kind of photos you want but you can go to most any municipal air port to find out if they rent aircraft and pilot to take you over the areas you mentioned and take them yourself ,,,,,,,, If the air port doesn't offer a service like that then they mostly likely will be able to tell you which ones do ,,,,
8. If you have a camera........... Rent a ride in a plane. You ought to be able to get an hour for under $100. Do this on a crisp and CLEAR day, though. If there are any trees on the property, consider whether the leaves will block your view and, if they will, wait until the leaves are down. Someone hired me to do an aerial shot in June and it turned out they lived in the woods. You couldn't even see the house from the air. We had to wait until October and the guy was not too happy. Stupid and not too happy. If that's out of the question, rent a high-lift and take one yourself with a wide angle lens. It's not really an aerial photo, but sometimes this is all people want anyhow; just a different perspective on something familiar.
9. If you are taking a flight anywhere that goes over your area, try taking one from the plane window. Here is the trick. 1. Find a clean window without scratches, face grease, or kid slobber. 2. Set your camera to the maximum aperture, so you will not have the window in focus. This also gives you a faster shutter speed to offset movement. 3. Set focus to infinity, or "landscape". When you get the result, it will be bluish. If you use Photoshop, simply apply "Auto Levels", or "Enhance" in other programs. You will be amazed at the results.