A group participates in a Stand Up Paddle Board Yoga on Wednesday, June 29, 2022 on The James River in Richmond, Virginia.

Kayakers paddle down the James River near Belle Isle. “The drone is a useful tool to capture a sense of place and different angles,” said RTD photojournalist Daniel Sangjib Min.

A runner makes his way on T. Tyler Potterfield Memorial Bridge in Richmond, Va., on Tuesday, July 12, 2022.

A group participates in a Stand Up Paddle Board Yoga on Wednesday, June 29, 2022 on The James River in Richmond, Virginia.

Summer campers of Passage Adventure Camp learn kayaking on James River as downtown Richmond is shown on the background in Richmond, Va., on Tuesday, July 12, 2022.

A kayaker goes down the James river on Sunday June, 25, 2017 near Browns Island.

As recently as 10 years ago, if you wanted to present a bird’s-eye view of something, you needed to rent a helicopter or airplane and file a flight plan with the hope of capturing a view that was only possible from an elevated position.

Now drones are all the rage, and there are usually more than a handful at any significant event. So much so that the Federal Aviation Administration will often restrict the air space around events like the demolition of the Dominion Energy tower or the removal of the Lee statue.

Drones are celebrated for their ability to capture a unique vantage point, be it the beauty of the landscape from high above or the devastation of a natural disaster such as the flash flooding in Buchanan County. But they are only the latest development in a long history of aerial photography.

According to Paula Amad’s 2012 overview of the history of aerial photography — published in the journal History of Photography — Gaspar Félix Tournachon, more commonly known as “Nadar,” is credited with taking the first successful aerial photograph in 1858 from a hot air balloon tethered 262 feet over Petit-Bicêtre (now Petit-Clamart), just outside Paris.

The first widely distributed aerial photo was by George Lawrence, who captured the damage created by the devastating 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire. He used 17 kites to suspend a camera 2,000 feet in the air to record the image.

At more than $1,000 per hour to rent a helicopter, aerial photography really wasn’t cost-effective for most news organizations. For the price of a single flight, we now have the ability to offer not only stills, but video whenever the situation allows. The Times-Dispatch currently has two licensed drone pilots and two drones.

“Drones can bring us unique viewpoints and give us extended access to places that were seldom possible,” said staff photographer Daniel Sangjib Min. “As a photojournalist, the drone is a useful tool to capture a sense of place and different angles.”

So, today we kick off a new view of our community. Each week we will offer a different perspective or unique view of Richmond that is only available through the air. We would love your input. So, if you have a suggestion or a view you would like to see from above, drop us a line at (804) 649-6344 or jwallace@timesdispatch.com.

In the meantime, we hope you enjoy the view.

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In Luray on July 30, visitors navigated their way to search for hidden goals at The Garden Maze, which is located at a popular tourist attract…

A group participates in a Stand Up Paddle Board Yoga on Wednesday, June 29, 2022 on The James River in Richmond, Virginia.

Kayakers paddle down the James River near Belle Isle. “The drone is a useful tool to capture a sense of place and different angles,” said RTD photojournalist Daniel Sangjib Min.

A runner makes his way on T. Tyler Potterfield Memorial Bridge in Richmond, Va., on Tuesday, July 12, 2022.

A group participates in a Stand Up Paddle Board Yoga on Wednesday, June 29, 2022 on The James River in Richmond, Virginia.

Summer campers of Passage Adventure Camp learn kayaking on James River as downtown Richmond is shown on the background in Richmond, Va., on Tuesday, July 12, 2022.

A kayaker goes down the James river on Sunday June, 25, 2017 near Browns Island.

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