Behind the Shot: Documenting Washington County's Farmland Preservation Story

In June, SightRidge Media had the chance to support a local story on farmland preservation in Washington County — land that's being protected from development so it can stay in agriculture for good. One of our aerial shots ended up as the lead image for the piece, published on LocalNews1.org. It's the kind of assignment that reminds me why I got into aerial documentation in the first place. A ground-level photo can show you a field. An aerial shot shows you the whole story — how the land connects to the farms around it, how much is actually being preserved, and why it matters at a scale you just can't see standing on the ground. For this shoot, I flew the DJI Air 3S over the property to capture the property's full scope, working with the reporter to get the framing that would tell the story best. A few of the shots from that day are below.

This shot was taken on a Baltimore County property; the LocalNews1 story covered farmland preservation more broadly in the region.

If you're a journalist, land trust, or agricultural organization working on a story or project that needs an aerial perspective, I can help.