Aerial Photography - Other Sources

Private Sector

In some parts of the state, usually the urban and growing areas, private sector aerial photography companies have flown areas on speculation, with the hope of future sales; private companies also provide air photo search and custom services. Several of these companies are locally owned or have local offices. Check for these companies in the Yellow Pages, or do a web search for:  photographers - aerial; surveyors - aerial; or maps.

Several companies provide ways to search for information about their collections online:

• Aerials Express:  Markets Maps
• Aero-Metric (acquired Markhurd):  Aerial Film Library
• The Sidwell Company:  Aerial Photography Map Prints

Some companies provide research services to locate, custom assemble, and deliver photos or view them online:

• Historical Information Gatherers:  Aerial Photography
• Historic Aerials: use "swipe" and "dissolve" tools to compare photos from different years

If you know of other companies that provide similar information about their air photos, please let us know:  clearing.house@state.mn.us

Historical Collections

• John Borchert Map Library, University of Minnesota: The library has the best collection of historical aerial photographs in the state. The public is welcome to use the over 330,000 photographs; most can be checked out by those with University of Minnesota library privileges. The Library is open fulltime during the academic year and part-time during the summer. Check the website for hours or call before visiting.
  • Online air photo holdings guide including paper, negative, 35mm slide and digital formats
  • Minnesota Historical Aerial Photographs Online:  provides access to over 105,000 digital copies of Minnesota air photos found in the library's collection and available from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources' Landview online map.
     

Return to MnGeo's first-stop Aerial Photography page