Reporting from a helicopter is more difficult than I thought it would be. But this time I was art-directing the shoot. We flew two passes at different heights to get the images needed for a double-truck presentation. Labels, icons and views from the street of the challenges that connect the area with Center CIty were layered over the merged images.
We began this graphic …
… with a brainstorming session. A designer, and former photo editor, introduced the idea of collaging multiple photos together into a long panoramic of Philadelphia's riverfront, Penn's Landing.
I jumped in and translated the idea to a graphics editor who could not understand the concept. It took a bit of doing in the meeting but he trusted me, and we set out on a new way for us to do a graphic.
I went up in the helicopter with a staff photographer and art-directed the shoot. Then in PhotoShop, I morphed 13 pictures into seamless art and we emphasized physical issues hindering successful development of the prime property. The story by Inga Saffron spawned a forum that our Editorial department later spearheaded.
