Gerhard Launer
Encyclopedia
Gerhard Launer is one of the best known aerial photographers
in Germany.
. From early on he received violin lessons and was invited at the age of nine by the world renowned violin soloist and teacher Tibor Varga to spend three months with him at his home in Switzerland
. At the age of fourteen he enrolled at the Conservatory Wuerzburg to study violin. An accident forced him to give up on his goal to become a musician.
While working for his degree in Graphic Design, he obtained his private pilot license. Later he added the professional pilot license and so combined his two interests, photography and flying and became a professional Aerial Photographer.
His passion is to capture nature’s art in features and structures that are discernible only from the air and to present these in his photos to the public in books and calendars. In 1996 he won first and second prize at the Frankfurt Book Fair, awarded by the German Publishers and Booksellers Association, with his calendars Structures and Wind, Water, Waves. In 2003 Gerhard Launer was featured in the television show Galileo on ProSieben to explain how aerial photography is done. In the spring of 2004 the Knesebeck Publishing House released his first book titled Germany from Above – Day by Day. More books were published. In May 2005 the magazine Stern featured Gerhard Launer with his photo series Beautiful Germany.
) , is based in Rottendorf
near Wuerzburg. Gerhard Launer with his two airplanes and special aerial photography cameras (analog: Lindhof-Aerotechnica, film format 4x5 inch; Hasselblad
H2D, resolution 39 Mio Pixel) took photos of nearly all the towns, cities, villages, landscapes and sites of interest in Germany. In addition he has in his archives aerial photos from many countries, including the USA.
He employs digital processing and prepares his photos in his own laboratory.
Aerial photography
Aerial photography is the taking of photographs of the ground from an elevated position. The term usually refers to images in which the camera is not supported by a ground-based structure. Cameras may be hand held or mounted, and photographs may be taken by a photographer, triggered remotely or...
in Germany.
Life
Gerhard Launer was born in 1949 in WerneckWerneck
Werneck is a market town in the district of Schweinfurt in Lower Franconia, Bavaria, Germany.-Geography:Werneck is in the Main-Rhön region of Bavaria, approximately 12 km from Schweinfurt and 25 km from Würzburg. It is located on a bend in the Wern, a tributary of the Main, on the edge of...
. From early on he received violin lessons and was invited at the age of nine by the world renowned violin soloist and teacher Tibor Varga to spend three months with him at his home in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
. At the age of fourteen he enrolled at the Conservatory Wuerzburg to study violin. An accident forced him to give up on his goal to become a musician.
While working for his degree in Graphic Design, he obtained his private pilot license. Later he added the professional pilot license and so combined his two interests, photography and flying and became a professional Aerial Photographer.
His passion is to capture nature’s art in features and structures that are discernible only from the air and to present these in his photos to the public in books and calendars. In 1996 he won first and second prize at the Frankfurt Book Fair, awarded by the German Publishers and Booksellers Association, with his calendars Structures and Wind, Water, Waves. In 2003 Gerhard Launer was featured in the television show Galileo on ProSieben to explain how aerial photography is done. In the spring of 2004 the Knesebeck Publishing House released his first book titled Germany from Above – Day by Day. More books were published. In May 2005 the magazine Stern featured Gerhard Launer with his photo series Beautiful Germany.
Gerhard Launer WFL-GmbH
Gerhard Launer WFL-GmbH, which specializes in aerial photography (axonometric projectionAxonometric projection
Axonometric projection is a type of parallel projection, more specifically a type of orthographic projection, used to create a pictorial drawing of an object, where the object is rotated along one or more of its axes relative to the plane of projection....
) , is based in Rottendorf
Rottendorf
Rottendorf is a municipality in the district of Würzburg in Bavaria, Germany....
near Wuerzburg. Gerhard Launer with his two airplanes and special aerial photography cameras (analog: Lindhof-Aerotechnica, film format 4x5 inch; Hasselblad
Hasselblad
Victor Hasselblad AB is a Swedish manufacturer of medium-format cameras and photographic equipment based in Gothenburg, Sweden.The company is best known for the medium-format cameras it has produced since World War II....
H2D, resolution 39 Mio Pixel) took photos of nearly all the towns, cities, villages, landscapes and sites of interest in Germany. In addition he has in his archives aerial photos from many countries, including the USA.
He employs digital processing and prepares his photos in his own laboratory.
Books
- Germany from Above – Day by Day: Publisher Knesebeck, Munich 2004, Gerhard Launer and Rainer Greubel, 365 color plates, ISBN 978-3-89660-209-1.
- Bavaria from Above: Publisher Knesebeck, Munich 2005, Gerhard Launer, 100 color plates, ISBN 978-3-89660-320-3.
- Hesse from Above: Publisher Knesebeck, Munich 2005, Gerhard Launer, 100 color plates, ISBN 978-3-89660-320-3.
- Flights – The Rems-Murr-District from Above: Publisher Silberburg, Gerhard Launer and Teja Banzhaf, 96p, ISBN 978-3-87407-674-6.
- Northern Germany from Above: Publisher Knesebeck, Munich 2007,Gerhard Launer, 100 color plates, ISBN 978-3-89660-461-1.
- Germany from Above, narrated for children: Publisher Knesebeck, Munich 2007, Gerhard Launer and Manfred Mai, ISBN 978-3-89660-461-3.
- Germany. Views from Above: Publisher Ellert &Richter, Hamburg 2010, Gerhard Launer, 91 color plates, in three languages, ISBN 978-3-8319-0411-2.
- World Heritage – natural site – Mudflats. Views from Above. Publisher Ellert & Richter, Hamburg 2010, Gerhard Launer and Holger Schulz, 69 color plates, ISBN 978-3-8319-0413-6.
Calendars
- Wind, Water, Waves: Aerographie ’97, Publisher Dipla, l997, Gerhard Launer, ISBN 3-932008-75-8.
- Structures: Aerographie ’97, Publisher Dipla, 1997, Gerhard Launer, ISBN 3-9322008-73-1.
- Calender Girls: Scheiner Druck and Gerhard Launer, 2004, Benefit Calendar.
- Germany from the Air: Heye, 2005, ISBN 3-8318-2025-2.
- The World from Above: Publisher Palazzi, 2005, IBSN 3-93641-27-7.
- Germany from Above: Publisher Knesebeck, 2006.
- Germany from Above: Publisher Knesebeck, 2007.
- Germany from Above: Publisher Knesebeck, 2008.
- Bavaria from Above: Publisher Knesebeck, 2006.
Media
- Photo Technik International: November/December, Nr. 6/98.
- Chip Foto-Video: August 2004.
- Germany: Nr.4/2004, August/September, D7999F.
- Stern Nr. 21, May 13, 2004
- Viva: Nr. 11(217), May l9, 2005
- Galileo: ProSieben, 2 segments about Launer, broadcast still repeatedly on N24