Britain From The Air - Looking Down On The UK - A New Exhibition

Britain from the Air shows you Britain as you have never seen it before. 100 huge images of our natural and built landscapes and captions tell stories of our heritage, bring alive the beauty of our environment, and challenge us all to understand the changes taking place today in our towns and cities. 

“All too often, chasing far away places, we forget just what beauty we have on our doorstep and just how rich and diverse a country we live in. I can think of no better time to celebrate Britain¹s built and natural landscapes. The scale of the hundred images that make up this spectacular street gallery is breathtaking, and I very much hope it will one day travel to every major city in Britain” - Michael Palin (RGS-IBG President).

The street gallery exhibition, featuring a large walk-on Ordnance Survey map, is being launched in Bath on 28 September by Society President Michael Palin, and will be free for everyone to view in the city centre, 24-hours a day, until early 2011.

Salmon farm in the Shetland Isles, Scotland

Photograph: Adrian Warren and Dae Sasitorn/PA

Aerial Photography by Jason Hawkes - New York at Night - New Book

A new series of aerial images has been brought together in a compelling new book called New York At Night , with words by Christopher Gray. It goes on sale next month. This time Jason Hawkes spent 15 weeks hovering above New York in twilight to capture "the city that never sleeps", a perspective we see in the movies but rarely in stills. We previously previewed his earlier book, London at Night - click here.

Aerial Photography by Jason Hawkes - London at Night

"All my work is done from a twin engine helicopter flying between 800 to 1500 feet above the ground," said the 42-year-old from London. "The door is opened and I am strapped into a harness and I begin taking my pictures. The key to the strength of the pictures is the increase in quality of digital cameras and the upgrades available in stabilising mounts for the camera, which allows me to balance my shots. I use the very latest Nikon cameras. For my normal aerial work I shoot using the D3x and the D3, but have just updated to the D3S for my night work. You also have to use specially adapted gyro stabilising mounts to take away the vibration caused by the helicopter"