Recently I had the opportunity to see a body of my large city aerial panoramas adapted for presentation inside Lightroom London — one of the most visually striking immersive venues anywhere.
The work was projected at enormous scale throughout the space, allowing the cityscapes to move well beyond their usual life as still images and into something much more environmental. Seeing aerial photography take over a room like that was a pretty special thing.
The project came about after the creative team came across a London Standard editorial feature on my work and got in touch to explore how these city panoramas might translate into an immersive environment. They later sent through a narrated piece they had developed, and we began shaping how the imagery could support an event intended to spark discussion around the future of urban planning and infrastructure.
A New Way to Experience Urban Aerial Photography
Most of this work began life above cities, captured from helicopters in fleeting windows where light, atmosphere and timing all had to align.
Some images were full 360 panoramas, others were dedicated aerial stills, but all were created to carry depth, detail and atmosphere long after the moment of capture.
That is what made this project so compelling. In a venue like Lightroom, the image is no longer contained by a frame. It has to live across a huge space, and still feel clear, convincing and immersive from edge to edge.
Dusk Aerial above London River Thames
Editing Files for the Space
To get the imagery working properly at that scale, I went back to the original RAW files and rebuilt a number of the selected images from the ground up.
That meant testing new approaches to scaling, refining detail, and pushing some of the files well beyond the way they had originally been prepared. Some responded beautifully straight away, while others needed a more experimental approach depending on the camera system and era they came from.
Working with Capture One, DXO, PtGui, Photoshop and After Effects a few of the final files were pushed into entirely new territory in post production. It was a much bigger process than a standard re-export, but seeing the final files in the room made it worthwhile.
Why immersive spaces suit aerial work so well
Aerial photography feels surprisingly natural in an immersive space.
When viewed from my vantage point, leaning out from the helicopter’s open door, a city is already more than a skyline. It becomes pattern, light, movement and atmosphere happening all at once.
That is what makes this format work. Once the imagery starts to extend beyond the frame and into the surrounding space, it becomes something you feel as much as something you look at.
The Moment It All Came Together
The event was private, so I’m only able to share a limited number of approved wide shots from the venue.
Even so, seeing the imagery fully come to life in that environment was one of the most rewarding parts of the whole project. After all the extra work that went into refining and upscaling the files, it was incredibly satisfying to watch them hold together so strongly at that scale.
It was a very special setting for the work to live in.
Panorama of New York City wrapped around all 4 walls at London Lightroom
Looking ahead
Most of these panoramas were created to make people see a city they know from a new perspective. To pause, look closer, and experience it in a way they had not before.
That is part of what made this project feel so satisfying. In a space like Lightroom, that original idea becomes amplified. The imagery is no longer confined to a single frame or screen. It has room to unfold around the audience, drawing them further into the scale, atmosphere and detail of the city.
It becomes less about looking at a picture and more about stepping into a different way of seeing.
That feels like a very exciting direction to keep exploring.
London Lightroom Event – iPhone Behind the Scenes
