by Jeff R.
My grandfather, Walter L. Richardson, was the first aerial
photographer for the Navy. He started his Navy career in 1911, as a ship’s cook
on the Mississippi, and was pursuing photography as a hobby. The base commander
of the newly formed Naval Air Arm in Pensacola, Florida, soon asked him to take
official photographs. My grandfather saw great potential in taking photographs
from airplanes and was credited with inventing the first handheld oblique
camera for aerial photography. He established photographic schools at various
Naval Air Stations and became known as the "Grandfather of Naval Aerial
Photography."
One hundred years later, as his youngest grandchild, I develop
software to process aerial photographs into 3D models for mission rehearsal and
training. The software, called TacForge GeoSketch, is a product of Lockheed
Martin Missiles and Fire Control. GeoSketch is used by Special Operations
Forces Planning, Rehearsal and Execution Preparation (SOFPREP) to build mission
rehearsal database for Special Operations Forces. GeoSketch was also used by
the US Secret Service to build 3D databases of Tampa, Florida, and Charlotte,
North Carolina, to support field agents at the 2012 political conventions.
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| My grandfather was a pioneer of aerial photography. |
