Photographer Vincent Laforet says that he's dreamed of creating a series of photos of cities from high above since he was a kid, but it's only recently the technology has caught up with his vision. And what a vision it is. We've seen our fair share of aerial shots of Los Angeles—even just on the morning news or establishing shots in the movies—but Laforet's are really stunners.
Laforet says that he was nervous about shooting Los Angeles because it's so vast, but he called it the "most remarkable city to photograph from directly overhead." Aw, shucks. He said it was incredibly quiet and peaceful from above, and he was amazed by all the colors. Each city and even each neighborhood looks a little bit different based on the different sorts of lights being used, and Los Angeles features of brew of LED lights, older sodium vapor lights, and fluorescents that appear blue, orange, and green. He writes on his blog:
The variance of the color of the lights is amazing! You can make out entire neighborhoods (Richer and poorer) based on the color of the lights. The more affluent ones have brighter daylight (blue balanced) LED lights - whereas the older less modern sections are still bathed in the orange glow of sodium vapor lighting
His photos stand out from other aerial shots because of a combination of the altitude (he's up 10,000 feet high), the subject and his gear. For the camera geeks, here's his explanation to Gizmodo when he released his photos of NYC:
Armed with cameras such as the Canon 1DX and the Mamiya Leaf Credo 50 MP back- both capable of shooting relatively clean files at 3200 & 6400 ISO and a series of f2.8 to f1.2 lenses including a few tilt-shift lenses (see image above.)
The full set of Vincent's photos of Los Angeles can be seen here on Storehouse. You can also sign up to pre-order a book on Vincent’s Air series here.
Los Angeles from above (Photo courtesy of Vincent Laforet)
Los Angeles from above (Photo courtesy of Vincent Laforet)
Los Angeles from above (Photo courtesy of Vincent Laforet)
Behind the scenes (Photo courtesy of Vincent Laforet)
Behind the scenes (Photo courtesy of Vincent Laforet)
Behind the scenes (Photo courtesy of Vincent Laforet)
Behind the scenes (Photo courtesy of Vincent Laforet)
Behind the scenes (Photo courtesy of Vincent Laforet)
Los Angeles from above (Photo courtesy of Vincent Laforet)
And here's a video from the wild ride:
LaforetAIR Los Angeles from Vincent Laforet on Vimeo.
