Thursday, May 3, 2012

From The Air

Perspective is everything.


In the case of these two pictures, it's all about being thousands of feet above the ground from the vantage point of a helicopter. These pictures were taken by Leah Holiove -- @Leah_Holiove on Twitter -- who regularly takes picture from the air in the course of her day job and these two are from her latest round of photos.


One shows the construction of the new Port Mann Bridge. (It's easy to spot because there's still a gap.) I've driven over the current bridge thousands of times and I've never given any thought to anything other than what drivers are doing around me. I've never considered how spectacular it might all look from a different perspective.


The other picture (above) looks westward to Vancouver. (The helicopter was probably close to the Iron Workers Memorial Bridge.) There's something really awesome seeing this from the air like this. Google Maps/Earth is great -- with Street View and satellite pics -- but there's something missing from those resources. Maybe it's a "texture" or maybe it's just the angle of the picture. Maybe it's the sun shining on the city and the rain brushing up against the slope of land in the distance. Or maybe it's the way the picture is framed. I can't quite put my finger on it.

What I do know is that the pictures put me in a different frame of mind.

It's really easy to fold in on oneself and focus on the issues that sit in our line of sight and nothing else. There's a lot more out there to consider. People we haven't met, friends we haven't made, stories we haven't heard, and places we've never been. Given a little perspective, a view from the sky, makes me better appreciate what this part of the world has to offer and just how good we have it here.

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