Notes on Kite Aerial Photography: Photo Gallery
My
family on the beach - brother Tino Sheridan, mother Mary Sheridan, and father Val Sheridan
- taken during an evening stroll on East Beach (26K jpg right, Yashica T4 Super, August
1997).
I am a Southern boy, born and raised in Macon, Georgia, and still visit the family on
occasion. When I was young the family would escape the hot-humid summers of Georgia
by vacationing at St. Simons Island along the Atlantic shore. I am still very fond of the
Georgia Coast. Here I married Claudia in the lovely Christ Church on St. Simons
Island. Here too the boys were christened in Faith Chapel on Jekyll Island.
So on our summer trips to Georgia we invariably schedule a session down at the
beach. Last year's visit was the first one since I began KAPing so this was my first
chance to fly kites in Georgia. This gallery page and the four that follow contain images
from the Georgia Coast.
On the left is a view over East Beach and the marsh toward St. Simons Island proper. We
were staying in a condominium near the photograph's center. On the right is the old
main entry to the King & Prince Hotel on East Beach. Claudia and I spent our
honeymoon night here before moving over to Sea Island (30K jpg left and 28K jpg
right, Yashica T4 Super, August 1997).
It is difficult to imagine a coastal landscape more
different from California's rocky, cold Pacific frontage than the warm, silty waters of
the Southeast's Altantic Coast. Along the Georgia coast the topography varies
little, taking 300 kilometers of horizontal distance to slope the last 100 meters of
elevation to the sea. The coast itself is an intruiguing transition from swamp to
marsh, from marsh to barrier islands, and from islands to the sea itself. The
resulting gradient provides a beautiful, biologically rich landscape. The ocean
moderates Georgia's warm summer temperatures and provides a sea breeze during the day. The
shots were taken along East Beach on St. Simons Island. East Beach seems to have
been in an erosion mode during the last couple of decades - the barrier islands are shifty
by nature. The rock you see in the photos is not indigenous, it is rip-rap imported to
protect the shore.
A midday, high altitude view of the King & Prince
"beachfront". Rip-rap separates the beach from the pool deck in a dacades long
struccgle to fend off the ocean. On the right are Charlie and Thomas on beach
tricylces under the high midday sun. (39K jpg left and 26K jpg right, Yashica T4
Super, August 1997).
I forget how hot this sun can be. Though I do confess
that I schedule our trips home for the summer so Claudia will not get too nolstagic for
her home territory. On this day, I spent a few hours flying the kites during the
bright portion of the day. Brightness seems such a characteristic condition for the
climate that I figured I should take some midday shots. The beach is a fine, grey hardpack
which extends quite a distance at low tide and disappears altogether at high tide.
The couple in the lefthand image kindly looked after my KAP bag
while we took the kite for a walk. The woman was a bit camera shy. Note the ample
number of tricycle tracks on the beach surface. On the right is a beach umbrella on
the same beach. The tide has washed the beach clean of tricycle tracks - sort of
like a giant Etch-a-Sketch. (24K jpg left and 17K jpg right, Yashica T4 Super, August
1997).
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All rights reserved. Revised: Monday, August 02, 1999
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