AIAP Newsletter 04/05/06

Dear AIAP Members,

This may be old news to many of you, but to those who haven't heard, Google now has an amazing new application called Google Earth.  This is a great tool that has numerous benefits for architectural photographers.  Simply put, Google Earth allows you to view any location on planet earth!

You can learn more and download Google Earth free at the following link:

http://earth.google.com/

You'll need to run it on a fairly new computer.  There are also some paid upgrades that have very useful features.

There are literally hundreds of cool things you can do with Google Earth, but let me tell you how I personally use it:

1. Determine compass orientation and sun angle of exteriors.
For me this is HUGE!  I travel extensively, and one of the hardest things to determine when planning a shoot is "best time of day".   My experience has been that the people on site are rarely able to tell me accurately which direction the building faces.  With Google Earth I simply enter the address of the building and "fly-in" to the location and view its orientation--Amazing!

2. Determine the effect of adjacent buildings, parking lots and potential conflicting businesses on a site. 
Have you ever arrived at an out of town location with a limited amount of shooting time and discovered that your subject was in the shadow of an adjacent structure?  With Google Earth you can predict these potential problems.

3. Find nearby accommodations and services.
Another huge deal for me.  I hate booking a hotel in a distant city and discovering that my subject site is on the other side of town.  Google Earth allows you to find nearby lodging, restaurants, etc.

4. Find directions to and from a subject site.
I realize that this is old stuff if you use Mapquest, Yahoo Maps or Google Maps.  However, seeing directions plotted out on the actual view of the area is vastly superior to any written directions.  Google Earth zooms out and draws the way for you.

Undoubtedly you'll discover unique uses for this utility.  Why not give it a try?


Best regards, 
Alan Blakely, Director
The Association of Independent Architectural Photographers
http://www.aiap.net