"Field of Dreams" from Penn Gazette, Nov-Dec 2011

Recently the Penn Gazette ran a long feature on Penn Park, the University of Pennsylvania’s recently completed development of twenty-four acres for use as a public park and athletic fields.

Greg was given the assignment to photograph for the article. The assignment gave him an opportunity to capture a place and the people using it.

To illustrate the many uses of Penn Park and show it from many angles, Greg visited the park on four separate days. He also photographed it from a helicopter to show how the park sits in relationship to Penn’s campus and Center City Philadelphia.

Joggers using Penn Park.

Penn Park is a welcome addition of green space to this section of Philadelphia.

Soccer practice.

Rainwater that falls on the artificial turf of the athletic fields flows into underground cisterns that will store 2 million gallons of storm water annually. This water will help irrigate trees and grass on the site.

Penn Park offers many ways of enjoying the trees and open air.

Penn Park supports a series of athletic activities.

Spread from Pennsylvania Gazette's article on Penn Park.

Penn Park sits between the Penn Campus and Center City Philadelphia.

For Penn Gazette’s coverage of Penn Park, photographs from the ground are not able to tell the entire story. Greg hired a helicopter to gain a higher angle in order to show the size of the site and how it sits in relation to the Penn campus and Center City Philadelphia.

Penn Gazette Nov-Dec 2011 cover

Getting good images from the air is an exercise in team work between the photographer and the pilot. To photograph from a helicopter it’s best to fly with the door off. The cabin is very noisy and once in the air the only way to verbally communicate with the pilot is through a headset. The pilot also needs to stay attentive to any instructions he may receive from air traffic control, so chatty photographers need to keep their talking to a minimum for the sake of safety.

Greg getting ready to feel the wind in his hair.

Prior to hiring a helicopter, Greg shot the park from nearby high buildings, like Franklin Field. The view from there has power lines and the railroad line is prominent. The limitation of shooting this project from the ground led to using a helicopter.

View from the top of Franklin Field, Penn's football stadium.

For all the complications, costs, and considerations, aerial photographs show angles that photography from the ground cannot. Satellite images, while showing a view from above, do not have the same spatial quality.

Penn Park in relation to the rest of Center City Philadelphia.

For more on this assignment, see our post about photographing Penn Park from the ground.