D. (Douglas) Darian Smith (1900-1984) was a South Australian who returned from World War I to become a pioneering aviator and aerial photographer. His first photographs were captured as a passenger of the great aviator (Sir) Ross Smith in his Vickers Vimy; he went on to document South Australia from the air into his mid-seventies.
As a commercial pilot and engineer, Paul Dare brought more than 25 years' experience to producing the contemporary photographs for South Australia From Above, drawing on his knowledge of photogrammetry, imaging technologies and aerial surveying.
Adelaide-based Paul has been a photographer since childhood. He is now one of Australia's leading airborne imaging experts, applying new technologies to aerial survey in a range of contexts including bushfire mapping, environmental monitoring and primary industries.
Sharon Mascall-Dare is a journalist, broadcaster and writer based in Adelaide, South Australia, with a special interest in journalism ethics, ethnographic journalism and media coverage of Anzac Day. Born in the UK, in 1970, she studied Modern Languages at Oxford University before gaining a postgraduate diploma in Broadcast Journalism from City University, London. She joined the BBC in 1993, producing and presenting programmes for both television and radio, specialising in European affairs. After moving to Melbourne in 1999, Sharon worked as a freelance journalist, broadcaster and newsreader for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's international service, Radio Australia, and continued to produce radio features for the BBC. She was also a regular contributor and columnist for Melbourne's leading broadsheet, the Age. In 2003 she moved to Adelaide, where she continued to produce radio documentaries for the BBC and write features for Australia's leading newspapers.
In 2023, she was made a Member of the Order Australia in the General Division 'for service to media as a journalist'.
Denis Parslow worked as an aerial photographer for the South Australian Department of Lands (now the Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources) from the 1970s until 2003, when the Aerial Survey Unit was outsourced. He then worked as a freelance aerial photographer for several different private companies. Denis has always had a fascination with geography, photography and aviation. After completing his education, he qualified as a cartographer, held a private pilot's licence and studied commercial air navigation. He has remained a dedicated amateur photographer since retiring and has pursued his life-long interests in aviation and photography by purchasing a drone with the capacity to take high resolution moving and still photographs.
Over the years many people helped the Atkins family manage the precious D. Darian Smith collection of photographs that Darian Smith had trusted them with. The biggest contributor was Denis, who digitised much of the collection using a rudimentary copy process with an early digital camera the Atkins devised, opening a significant portion of the archive.
Kathy Parslow was a contributor for South Australia From Above.