Aerial Photography Reproductions

If you would like to view or scan any photographs, you may wish to visit the Cartographic Research Room, located at 8601 Adelphi Road, College Park, Maryland, where you can view and copy our records. Information about visiting our facility can be found on our website here. If you cannot make it to our facility, you may wish to hire a professional researcher to conduct research and make reproductions on your behalf. Information regarding this research option can be found here.

We have light tables available in our research room to view rolled aerial negative film.

Reproductions of rolled aerial film can be made by taking photographs of the rolled film using privately owned cameras and tripods that can be brought to our facility. Researchers may also bring their own laptop to connect to a flatbed scanner (Epson Expression 13000XL Photo Scanner or Microtek ScanMaker 9800XL Plus) with the capability to make digital scans of rolled aerial film and prints.

The true optical resolution for each scanner is:

Microtek ScanMaker 9800XL Plus: 1600 dpi

Epson Expression 11000XL Photo Scanner: 2400 dpi

The software for each scanner can be downloaded prior to your visit via the following links:

Microtek ScanMaker 9800XL Plus: Under "Search by Using Product Model Name" enter "ScanMaker 9800XL Plus", select your operating system from the drop-down menu and click the "Search" button.

Epson Expression 11000XL Photo Scanner

Epson Expression 13000XL Photo Scanner

Please note that we have three aerial scanners available and use of these scanners may have to be limited and shared among researchers during your visit. You can also bring personal scanners onsite. Information regarding this option is available here. Rolled aerial scanners require approval from our preservation team prior to use in our research room. We do not have the ability to make any type of printed reproductions of rolled aerial negative film within our facility.

In addition to rolled film, we also hold some oversize flat aerial photography negatives, included indexes and exposures. These can be viewed in our research room using our oversize light table.

The vast majority of our aerial photographs are original negatives (ON can numbers) located on 9" by 9" rolled acetate film. Due to the unstable nature of acetate film, it has to be stored in climate controlled rooms at temperatures below 40 degrees Fahrenheit at our facility in Lenexa, Kansas. Researchers onsite in our College Park research room may request up to 10 specific cans of aerial film to be shipped to College Park three days a week. The turnaround time for these shipments is typically four business days before it can be made available for use here in our research room. A small amount of film has been duplicated (typically DN can numbers) onto a more stable polyester film base and is stored onsite for researchers to access at regular record pull times throughout the day.