Kentucky is now the first state in the nation to capture oblique (side/angle view) photography of its entire geography from the sky. The KYFromAbove Program and its contractor, NV5, achieved this milestone after pilots flew 2,600 flight lines over Kentucky’s beautiful landscape, travelling 117,000 miles and capturing 40,660 square miles of the commonwealth’s land, including our cities, towns, farms, lakes, mountains and more.

“This is an amazing resource that will improve public safety, all while boosting our infrastructure projects and economic development,” Gov. Andy Beshear said. “These images will have an immediate impact, because they can help first responders find and assist Kentuckians after a 911 call. And they’ll have a long-term impact, as more companies and families choose to move to our new Kentucky home. Congratulations to KYFromAbove, NV5 and every pilot that helped us lead the nation and reach this goal of statewide coverage.”

Aerial images make it easier for emergency management leaders to assess damage after natural disasters and find safer places to rebuild. They can also enhance:
  
• economic site development and selection;  
• plan and design work for infrastructure projects; 
• broadband deployment; 
• wildlife management; 
• property assessment; and  
• a variety of projects undertaken by engineers, surveyors, real estate firms, commercial developers, roofing and fencing contractors, consultants and other professionals.  

The NV5 team completed acquisition of oblique imagery of the entire state in just two years, despite challenging requirements to accurately capture Kentucky’s geography. The imagery could only be collected under ideal conditions: minimal leaves on the trees, no clouds, no snow, no flooding and at a sun angle of greater than 30 degrees.
 
The KY From Above Program was established in 2010 by the Kentucky Geographic Information Advisory Council (GIAC) and is managed by the Commonwealth Office of Technology’s Division of Geographic Information. Its mission is to democratize access to geographic information in Kentucky by providing detailed elevation data and aerial photography at KYFromAbove.ky.gov, all at no cost to government leaders, the private sector and all Kentuckians.
  
The new imagery is being stored in a publicly accessible cloud folder, thanks to the Amazon Open Data Sponsorship program. This means that every community across the commonwealth now has access to both oblique and ortho (top-down view) imagery at a stunning three-inch resolution. Typically, these images would only be available in larger cities and counties due to budget constraints, but now, even the smallest communities will have full and equal access.
  
Dispatchers at Kentucky’s certified 911 call centers are some of the first to benefit from the new aerial images.
 
“The KyFromAbove aerial photography initiative is highly beneficial to Kentucky’s first responders,” said Mike Sunseri, the Kentucky Office of Homeland Security’s deputy executive director and 911 Services Board administrator. “Adding the ability to leverage oblique imagery is another valuable tool to increase situational awareness during emergencies and better direct emergency response.”
  
The accuracy and clarity of the new imagery provide an unprecedented aerial view of Kentucky’s landscape and context for hundreds of map layers in state and local government agencies.
 
“High-resolution orthoimagery is a vital foundational component of our community’s geographic information system and is our most widely used base map,” said Curt Bynum, Louisville/Jefferson County Information Consortium (LOJIC)’s director. “Oblique imagery coming with the most recent, statewide acquisition will be an important new resource for a wide range of public services including emergency response, asset management and economic development in Louisville Metro. LOJIC has been closely involved with the KyFromAbove effort since its beginning in 2010 and we commend our Kentucky Division of Geographic Information for many years of building Kentucky orthoimagery and LiDAR resources and for leading the effort to make Kentucky the first state in the U.S. to acquire statewide oblique aerial imagery.”

Kentucky Finance & Administration Cabinet  

Three kids. Four professional cameras. A brand new studio at 223 W. Bremer Ave., in Waverly, right in the former Gade’s Appliance store.

That’s the space for Alexis Dawson, the owner of Alexis Rose Photography, one of Waverly’s newest businesses.

On Sunday, she had her first scheduled session for a newborn, a great beginning to her adventure in photography as a business woman. Alexis will also focus on event photography, such as fundraisers, celebrations, weddings, and portraiture.

A 2013 graduate of Clarksville High School, she honed her skills in photography as one of the editors of the school’s year book.

But it wasn’t until she moved to Chattanooga, Tennessee, in 2019, with her fiancé, Nikolas, that her passion for capturing special moments was reignited. What prompted Alexis to do that was the birth of her daughter, Vaeda Rose, who was born just before the pandemic hit.

“I couldn’t afford to pay a photographer to take her pictures because I wasn’t working at the time, but I knew I could learn the skills of photographing newborns,” she said.

From there, Alexis branched out into family photography and her first paid session was an engagement for a couple who found her work on Facebook.

“It lightly rained that day and I called this session ‘Kissing in the Rain,’ she said, smiling at the memory. “And from there, I knew this was what I wanted to do as a career.”

Moving back to Iowa in 2022 for Nikolas’s job, now as a mother of two, Alexis decided she needed to carve out her own professional niche. The family bought a house in Waverly, where Nikolas’s mother, Kristi Demuth, had an insurance business on West Bremer Avenue.

“The support of the community is outstanding and I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else,” Alexis said.

About a year ago, when she drove by the vacant Gade’s building, she had an epiphany. It looked like the perfect space for what she had always wanted to have – a photography studio.

“When I saw the ‘for rent’ sign, I did not hesitate to call,” she said.

In mid April, with help from Nikolas and his dad, Joel, the family started remodeling the interior. They painted the walls, laid new flooring, and are in the process of turning the back room into a dressing room.

There are nine backdrops for portraits and a boho setup, with wicker furniture and white curtains for family photographs.

In the loft, which is accessible from the main open space, they created a playroom for the kids, Jayce, 11, Vaeda, 4, and Elliot, 5 months.

“It will be a place for work and also a place for raising my kids,” she said.

Clients are lining up for various projects, including milestones, sports, graduation photos and weddings.

“I am so excited to have a space because it will allow me to accommodate bad weather situations and also, I really like the look of milestone portraits indoors,” she said.

SAN ANTONIO – Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar is putting out a call for other potential victims to come forward in a case involving a local photographer accused of sexual assault.

John Steven Lill, 48, is accused of having sex with a client, a woman in her 20s, after giving her alcohol.

Salazar said the woman told investigators the drink, which she believed was wine, made her woozy.

“To the point where she may have lost consciousness,” Salazar said. “When she came to, the next thing that she remembers is the suspect was urging her to bathe, we believe, to cover up evidence.”

Salazar said tests are being done to determine whether anything else may have been added to the drink.

The woman told investigators the incident happened at Lill’s home outside Boerne this past Saturday.

She told them she hired Lill to take boudoir-style photos of her.

Salazar said the woman told investigators she arrived at Lill’s home with a friend, but Lill sent that person away, saying the photo session would take a long time.

The sheriff said after the alleged attack, the woman was able to contact someone she knows, and that person then called 911.

Deputies later arrested the suspect at his home.

When questioned by investigators, Lill admitted to giving the woman wine and to having sex with her, Salazar said. “Of course, obviously, he’s claiming that this was a consensual nature. The victim states otherwise,” the sheriff said.

Although Lill was booked into jail, he has since posted bond and been released.

The photo session, Salazar said, appears to have been intended as a side job for Lill.

KSAT 12 News found out he also worked on staff as a photographer at USAA.

Salazar said there is no evidence at this point that anything happened involving the company.

Still, a spokesman for USAA said Lill was terminated immediately after the company was notified about his arrest.

Christian Bove also said USAA is cooperating fully with the criminal investigation.

In the meantime, sheriff’s investigators urge anyone who may have been a potential victim to call them at 210-335-6000.

Court records show the photographer accepted a plea deal in court. A judge ordered them to pay $900 in restitution within six months.

COWETA COUNTY, Ga. — Allison Gardner dreamed of the perfect wedding day as she began making plans. 

Her family would fly in from across the country to watch her get married. She would wear one dress for the ceremony and another for the reception. 

And a photographer would be there to capture the memories. She said that’s how her perfect day began to unravel the morning of her wedding.

“She said that she was having some kind of medical problem and she wasn’t going to be there, so of course, I was freaking out,” Gardner said. “I was saying, like, can I get a refund? I needed to pay somebody, like, right now.”

11Alive contacted the wedding photographer — Danielle Caldwell — who said she had every intention of showing up to Allison’s wedding until she fell ill the morning of.

“This wasn’t done out of malice. I was getting ready for her wedding, already dressed and loading my equipment, when I started feeling very light-headed, and my chest started pulling and hurting badly,” she wrote in a Facebook message. “The money was used towards bills to pay rent as any job would be… so that’s why I didn’t have the money.”

Gardener said she felt trapped and decided to warn others about her experience on a Facebook group. She was surprised by some of the comments.

“I probably took off work 3 to 4 different times and never got any photos,” one person wrote.

 “Same exact thing happened to me,” another posted in response to the commenter.

Gardner decided to take her concerns to a Coweta County Judge, who issued a warrant for Caldwell. 

In October, Caldwell cut a plea deal with a state court judge, who ordered her to serve a year on probation and pay Gardener $900 in restitution within six months.

Gardner said she’s only received a fraction of that money so far.

“That six months was in April… I’m still fighting this,” Gardner said. “It’s not even about the money anymore.”

The photographer told 11Alive that this one mistake won’t define her as a person and that she has learned from this.

“This issue has already been handled through the courts. I believe this is nothing more than a plot of malice because she hasn’t been paid off by the estimated time,” Caldwell said. “I have an extension until June 7th that’s been probation approved… In conclusion, Allison will get paid off before June 7th.”

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