View Large
The Cathedral of Christ the Light, situated adjacent to Lake Merritt in downtown Oakland, California, is one of the more spectacular architectural specimens recently built in the San Francisco Bay Area. It was designed by Craig Hartman of Skidmore, Owings, & Merrill in San Francisco, and completed in 2008.
The cathedral is the home of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Oakland and the surrounding East Bay communities.
I have tried on several occasions to photograph the cathedral up close with a kite-lofted camera, but the proximity of some of Oakland's tallest buildings, several lanes of motor vehicle traffic, and several other obstacles made this proposition difficult to impossible.
I was finally able to get the photograph I envisioned by using a helium balloon-lofted camera.
© All rights reserved
Tags: Cathedral of Christ the Light church architecture aerial Craig Hartman Skidmore, Owings, & Merrill balloon aerial photography BAP Oakland California
© All Rights Reserved
View Large
The Berkeley Art Museum is another wonderful gem of the Berkeley community.
The building was designed by Mario Ciampi and opened in 1970. It is constructed of concrete, steel and glass and is wonderful from both the inside and the nicely landscaped outside.
This is a subject I had attempted to photograph with my kite on a couple of occasions, but never successfully due to its proximity to motor vehicle traffic, tall trees, and power lines. Lifting my camera with a large helium balloon made this a much easier target for aerial photography.
I was very lucky that the sun emerged from behind a low cloud cover just before sunset to light the museum nicely.
Taken by a camera lofted by a helium balloon.
© All rights reserved
Tags: Berkeley Art Museum Mario Ciampi University of California Berkeley aerial balloon aerial photography BAP Berkeley California
© All Rights Reserved
View Large
There was an incredible sunset on the evening of the maiden voyage of my helium balloon lofted camera. In the foreground is the Campanile (bell tower) which stands 307 ft. high, with the U.C. Berkeley campus and the rest of Berkeley unfolding out to San Francisco Bay and the Golden Gate.
The extremely tight spot I was in to capture this view can be seen here.
Many thanks to Tgran, whose help was instrumental in getting the balloon and camera safely into the air.
Taken by a camera lofted by a helium balloon.
© All rights reserved
Tags: University of California Berkeley The Campanile Sather Tower aerial aerial photography sunset balloon aerial photography BAP Berkeley California
© All Rights Reserved
View Large
Wellman Hall, seen here flanked by Giannini and Hilgard Halls, is one of my favorite buildings on the University of California, Berkeley campus. Built in 1912 and 1918 respectively, Wellman and Hilgard Halls were designed by John Galen Howard. William Charles Hays designed Giannini Hall, which was built in 1930. All three of these buildings are in the National Register of Historic Places.
My undergraduate department, Conservation of Natural Resources, was in Giannini Hall and my graduate school department, Epidemiology, was in Haviland Hall which is just out of view, over a bridge which crosses a beautiful creek in the densely wooded area in the upper right of the photograph.
Taken by a camera lofted by a helium balloon.
© All rights reserved
Tags: Wellman Hall Hilgard Hall Giannini Hall University of California Berkeley John Galen Howard William Charles Hays National Register of Historic Places aerial photography balloon aerial photography BAP Berkeley California
© All Rights Reserved
View Large
Many square miles of this extremely arid valley are planted with grapefruits and oranges.
I can't speak about the oranges, but the grapefruits were sweet, tart, juicy and absolutely delicious.
The San Jacinto Mountains, whose snow and rain runoff provides water to this valley, are seen in the background.
Taken by a camera lofted by a helium balloon.
© All rights reserved
Tags: Grapefruit orchard citrus aerial helium balloon aerial photography BAP Hemet California
© All Rights Reserved