As it’s Friday we thought we should write a quick article to clarify exactly which type of photography we provide – aerial photography, areal photography, Ariel photography, Airiel photography, or arial photography. Not that this has caused confusion for many people in the past, however, it’s always best to be completely clear from the beginning to avoid problems – imagine us turning up to a job thinking we’re going to be creating drone film and aerial photography capturing sweeping views of a country mansion, only to find the customer just wants close-ups of the wires running up the chimney! Firstly, we thought we should start with a few definitions:

• Aerial, as an adjective, means relating to the air (or atmosphere). Its roots – Latin (‘aerius’ meaning airy) and Greek (‘aerios’ meaning of the air) – give us a clue to the word’s modern meaning. Aerial, as a noun, is a rod (usually metal or wire) that transmits or receives radio waves.
• Areal is an adjective and has its roots in the Latin word ‘arealis’ or area usually meaning level ground or open space. However, this word has only become popular more recently with its usage in computing (when referring to ‘the number of bits per square inch of storage surface’) or in meteorology (when pertaining to, or of the nature of, an area).
• Ariel is a name that most people will recognise from the 1989 Disney film The Little Mermaid. However, its usage in literature dates back many hundreds of years – meaning ‘a creature or spirit of the air’, it was often used for supernatural creatures. Examples include Shakespeare’s The Tempest, Milton’s evil angel, or Alexander Pope’s playful spirit.
• Airiel is normally relating to the American Indie band from Chicago, or a simple misspelling.
• Arial, a word most of us are familiar with, is a neo-grotesque style computer font or sans-serif typeface.

Theoretically, we can provide all these types of photography – areal photography, Ariel photography, Airiel photography, arial photography – however, the only one we’re really good at, and offer as a service is aerial photography. Here are some examples of the different types of aerial photography and aerial film we provide:

Aerial Photography examples – 360 degree interactive image

The following aerial photography example is a 360-degree aerial view of the Advanced Manufacturing Park and Sheffield Business Park. Use your mouse to look around or, if you’re on mobile, use touch to view (click the ‘full screen’ option to view a larger version):

Aerial Photography examples – standard aerial photography

The following are examples of standard aerial photography. The drone allows you to get to capture views you normally wouldn’t be able to. This type of aerial photography is perfect for letting agents, estate agents, hotels, bed & breakfasts, tourist destinations, businesses with commercial premises, etc. Our drone photography is fast and inexpensive providing 4K resolution images (click the image to view a larger version):

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Indoor aerial film example

It is certainly possible to use a drone to film inside a building – and the results can be amazing. You’re able to get shots you wouldn’t normally be able to get any other way and it’s very inexpensive. The following is an example of some footage taken indoors using a drone:

Adding aerial photography & aerial film to your website

Adding aerial photography & aerial film to your website can be very simple and fast to do. There are many options available from self-hosted to letting us do everything for you. We’re even able to provide you with new website design if needed in conjunction with our partners Seven Creative if you like. Call us for more information

In summary

Don’t confuse areal photography, Ariel photography, Airiel photography, or arial photography with aerial photography – they’re very different things!