Flying High Over Rocketts Landing

Saturday, March 21, 2009

Armed with a Canon single-lens reflex digital camera, Tom Stiles takes to the skies above Rocketts Landing. Stiles is the owner of Skyshots, a business that specializes in aerial photography, and he has been snapping photos of the Rocketts Landing development project from the cockpit of a Robinson R-22 airplane for the past three years.

During a photo shoot, Stiles and his co-pilot take anywhere from 50 to 60 digital photographs while maintaining an altitude of 1,000 feet, the minimum altitude allowed by FAA regulations.

“Many people do not have the opportunity to experience a bird’s-eye view of the Richmond-area first hand,” said Stiles during a phone interview. “So it’s nice to be able to share with those people what it’s like to be in the cockpit of an airplane through my photography.”

Sky Shots has been operating since 1999 and is currently based out of the Hanover County Airport. The company has been hurt by the recent economic downturn do to the lack of development projects in the Richmond-area. But Stiles says he still takes photos of about six to 10 sites a week.

The Rocketts Landing development project is of particular interest to Stiles because of its size and location.
 “It’s nice to see a new development in the old, industrial landscape that surrounds Richmond,” he said.  “Unlike other job sites which usually have only one square building, Rocketts Landing is made up of numerous buildings all set against a backdrop of the James River which depending on the weather changes color.”

Because Rocketts Landing is located within a five mile radius of the Richmond International Airport, Stiles must also be in constant radio contact with flight coordinators while taking photos of the development project.  

The pilot has had an interest in photography since high school and learned how to fly as a result of his father, a retiree of the United States Air Force.  He told me over the phone, “Flying lets you see the big picture which helps put the smaller issues in life into perspective.”

Photo courtesy of Skyshots.

Check back in a few weeks when we go up with Tom and post a handful more photos from above Rocketts.