(center) Nadar's earliest surviving aerial image, taken above Paris in 1866.
(right) Bosotn from a tethered balloon, October 13th 1860, by James Wallace Black.
The very earliest means of taking photographs used a variety of different mechanisms. The first known aerial photograph was taken in 1858, by French photographer and balloonist Gaspar Felix Tournachon, known as "Nadar". His photograph depicted a view of a small French village, Petit-Becetre, taken from a tethered hot-air balloon reaching 80 meters above the ground. This was at the time when the early collodion process was used to develop pictures, and thus it was extremely challenging. Following the development of the dry-plate photographic process, it was not necessary to carry so much equipment especially in the basket of the balloon.
Improvements in aerial technology with the goal of taking photographs, also included kites and rockets. Among the first to take a photograph with success from a kite was English meteorologist E.D. Archibald, attaching a camera to the last kite in a series of kites. Another pioneer in kite photography was Arthur Batat, who set an automatic timed exposure via a slow burning fuse - which was timed to trigger the camera shutter after the kite had been launched. His first photograph was taken in May of 1888.
Julius Neubronner was born in 1852, to a family whom had specialized in the apothecary business since the very early 19th century. As a practice started from his father, Neubronner used pigeons to deliver medicine across town, sometimes in weights of over 2.5 ounces. He positioned many of his pigeons with a wholesaler of medication in Frankfurt to get even faster deliveries. The idea to equip the pigeons with an a camera came after one of his pigeons was lost in the fog but had returned four weeks later, appearing in great shape. The goal was to trace the pigeon's paths. Having interest in photography and previously toying around with Talbott's box cameras, Neubronner set to develop a lightweight camera fit for a pigeon.
Julius Neubronner with pigeon and camera, from the National Air and Space Museum Spy Technology Section
The pigeon was fitted with an aluminum breast harness with a miniature camera, which was light-weight and set on a timer. The camera had two lenses, which pointed in opposite directions (forward and backward, with a focal length of 40mm. The camera could take two simultaneous glass plate exposures. To take a picture, the pigeon was taken to a location about 60 miles from it's base home, fully equipped with the camera. The bird would typically fly back home on a direct route at a height ranging from 160 and 330 feet. A time delay was set to activate the shutter on the camera as the pigeon was mid-flight. To accommodate the pigeon's return, a dovecoat (the structure that houses doves and pigeons) had a wide landing board and large entry hole.
First and Second Photograph: A view of Schlosshotel Kronberg.
The two photos above are examples of photographs taken by Neubronner's birds. As you can see in the first photograph, the wings of the photographer can be seen, which made the photograph quite remarkable. Previous attempts in aerial photography were done via placing cameras in unmanned object's, such as Nadar's balloon photographs in 1858. Later attempts were done with kites, as well as rockets at the end of the 19th century. As pigeons were used extensively during this time and the early 20th century to deliver post as well as war-time pigeons, the opportunity to use pigeons was exciting.
In 1907 after many attempts and multiple models of his camera made, Neubronner applied for a patent for his work, "Method of and Means for Taking Photographs of Landscapes from Above". Originally rejected by the German patent office due simply to disbelief that pigeons could carry such a load, a year later the patent was approved after authenticating photos taken by Neubronner's pigeons. A year later, he was able to demonstrate the camera and it's unique, feathered-photographer at the International Photographic Exhibition in Dresden, and the International Aviation Exhibition in Frankfurt. The camera-equipped birds flew into the show while the audience watched, and the images were developed at the show to later sell as postcards.
After the success of demonstrating pigeon photography to the exhibitions in Germany, Neubronner next set to inspire the military to utilize his invention. During this time, aerial photography was limited to balloons, kites and rockets. Pigeon photography would aim to take detailed photographs from lower heights than these previous technologies. While Neubronner's pigeons were tested in battlefields during World War I with adequate results, the technique eventually faded as aviation technology perfected. Though hundreds of pigeons were being trained for photography, it was unclear if any had actually been used. German and French armies, as well as the CIA, would later experiment with pigeon photography as well.
Though aerial photography has advanced far beyond kites, balloons, and birds, unusual ways of capturing photography and video footage from high in the skies are still utilized. Falconers have equipped cameras onto special helmets for hawks to research how they hunt for prey, and other birds of prey have had cameras equipped for birds as they dive to the earth in high speeds.
References:
The Public Domain Review, Dr. Julius Neubronner's Miniature Pigeon Camera, from
http://publicdomainreview.org/2011/08/09/dr-julius-neubronners-miniature-pigeon-camera/
The History of Pigeon Camera Photography, from http://webodysseum.com/history/the-history-of-pigeon-camera-photograph
Professional Aerial Photographers Association, The HIstory of Aerial Photography, from http://www.papainternational.org/history.asp
http://www.petapixel.com/2012/08/15/helmet-cam-strapped-to-hunting-falcon-captures-birds-eye-view-footage/
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