Notes on Kite Aerial Photography: Background
Your
author and Robert Marcial from the first roll of kite aerial
photographs ever taken from the Campanile
(April 1997, Yashica T4 Super, 43k jpg).
As we suffered
(?) through another extended bout of sunny Spring weather I
decided to practice flying from the balcony. Robert Marcial and I
took a quick trip to the top during our lunch hour and found a
fitful breeze. The wind was out of the northeast and thus was
descending from the Berkeley ridgeline to reach the campus. This
sets up large scale eddies that manifest themselves as wide
shifts in wind speed. While flying the kite during this session
we would have the wind shift from 15 mph to 2 mph and back to 15
mph in a ten-minute period. It is the slack period that produced
the views from well below our flying position.
It is
strange viewing the top of Sather Tower from a nearby vantage
point. Designed to have a slender, vertical proportion the upper
edifice takes on a heavy magic-carpet made-of-stone quality in
this view (April 1997, Yashica T4 Super, 29k jpg).
These shots were taken with KAP Rig #3 carrying the Yashica T4
Super below a Sutton 16. I was better at launching the kite this
time around.
A
quartet of vertical-format views (April 1997, Yashica T4 Super,
38k jpg upper left, 33k jpg upper right, 43k jpg lower left and
29k jpg lower right).
I can report that it is somewhat
disconcerting to see your camera rig flying below you at an angle
steeper than -45 degrees. I've developed a locking loop
arrangement to secure my Hangups to the kiteline more securely in case of
slack line conditions. They usually rely on a tension in the
kiteline.
Postcard views (April 1997, Yashica T4 Super,
46k jpg left and 36k jpg right).
As I have gained more experience flying the Canon rig I've come to the conclusion that the SLR takes a better photograph. Exposure and lens clarity seem consistently better with the Canon and I'm noticing vignetting more and more on the T4 Super. Everything is relative and the T4 Super is still and impressive point-and-shoot. When possible I fly the heavier rig. It would not have flown on this day without a very large kite.
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Comments to author: cris@ced.berkeley.edu
All contents copyright (C) 1997 by Charles C. Benton.
All rights reserved. Revised: Saturday, November 24, 2001
URL:
http://www.ced.berkeley.edu/~cris/kap/backgrnd/sather4.html