Queensland Property Industry Mourns Photographer

The Queensland property industry has paid their respects to well known aerial photographer Chris Powell who was killed earlier this week doing the job he loved.

Mr Powell died when the crane he and his son Brendan were using to take photos of a development site at Newstead collapsed. Brendan remains in hospital with serious injuries.

The pair were using the crane to take aerial photographs of a vacant site being developed by Brisbane's Tom Dooley Developments (TDD). TDD has approved plans for construction of a mixed-use development on the Longland Street site.

A spokeswoman for the developer said the man had been subcontracted to take photos of the site.

"Investigators are still working to determine the cause of the rollover," the TDD spokeswoman said. "The vacant site is currently owned by FKP. TDD is in final negotiations to purchase the site and had contracted Binyan Studios to undertake some preliminary photography for marketing purposes.

"Construction is not expected to start for another year.

"The team at TDD are deeply saddened by the tragedy and their thoughts are with the family and friends of the deceased." The scene of the accident at Newstead in Brisbane (Source: Photo: Penny Dahl/ Australian Traffic Network)[/caption]Mr Powell leaves wife Lea and three children – Brendan, 27, Cameron, 15 and Samantha, 10.

He is well known in property circles through his business Jumbo Aerial Photography which he has owned and operated since 2002. He used helicopters, UAVs and blimps to take high resolution images for the real estate, property, construction and mining industries.

The company's website said Chris' love of aerial photography developed early.

"From a very young age, Chris used to look at aerial photos that his dad was working from his own aerial mapping company that was also based in Brisbane," it said. "After too many years in the computer game, Chris decided to revisit this side of his childhood, and not only found that he had an eye for aerial images, but that he loved it too."Mr Powell's brother-in-law Luke Riley told the Brisbane Times Mr Powell regularly went out of his way to help others and was involved in charity work.

"He was certainly very committed to his family," Mr Riley said. "He was a very caring guy. He spent time with people, connected with people and helped people."

The family is now awaiting the results of police and workplace health and safety investigations into the accident, with initial reports suggesting "geotechnical issues" may have been the cause.
On behalf of the entire industry, we pay our deepest respects to Chris's family and friends.

 [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=633_Yq_OLmo]