Notes on Kite Aerial Photography: Photo Gallery
Charlie,
Thomas and Claudia as we walked toward Mont St. Michel and, on the right, a view from within
the walled city conveys the densely occupied, and vertically exuberant character
of the place (Canon S100 Digital Elph, July 2000)
But first a quick ground-based visit to Normandy's Mont St. Michel. After
leaving Fontevraud the Bentons four headed for a couple of pleasant days at Mont
St.
Michel. What a stunning setting for kite photography! Unfortunately the place
was a' swarm with tourists and my family was a bit weary of KAP so I passed on
the chance. It is not that I lacked fantasies of flying the kite as
the model photograph suggests below. It is just that the density of tourists and
the compactness of the site made it seem too much of an intrusion to fly without
permission. It would be a great thing to go back to Mont St. Michel,
perhaps during a less busy season, and spend several days taking KAP
photos.
Photograph of a lovely display model of Mont St. Michel. I wonder if I am the
only one who embarks on fantasy flights above architectural site models? On the
right you see Claudia and myself marking the transition from transept to nave in
the cathedral atop Mont St. Michel (Canon S100 Digital Elph, July 2000)
I
did get a camera aloft at the seaside town of St. Malo, with its walled, old city and narrow
cobblestone streets. I had long wanted to visit St. Malo, the fabled town of buccaneers
on the Brittany coast. The old town is surrounded by a broad wall that
provides a promenade of sorts and beyond this is an ocean landscape with an
impressive tidal range and outlying defenses. The town itself has narrow and
sometimes winding streets with ample character. The cathedral is the highest
building in town -- a sign of restraint that is altogether too rare these days.
The walled seaport city of St. Malo in Brittany was largely destroyed during
World War II. It has been rebuilt, however, true to the original town's scale. I
had a nice afternoon snack under the blue awning (Canon 24-mm, July 2000)
During
our afternoon visit to St. Malo Claudia noted the fresh breeze and, remembering
my restraint at Mont St. Michel, suggested that I might want to go fly a kite
while she took the kids for a swim in one of St. Malo's concrete pools. I
retrieved the KAP gear from the car and set up shop just outside the fortified
walls on a seaward corner. The wind was fine but the weather was a bit gray with
intermittent drizzle. The left image below shows my launching site just outside
the walls of a fortified corner.
On
the left you can see a ground shot of my launching location and on the right an
aerial view of that same wall (Canon S100 Digital Elph and Canon 24-mm, July 2000)
[ Home Page | Background | Equipment | Gallery | Maps | Discussion | Others | Search | What's New ]
Comments to author: crisp@socrates.berkeley.edu . All content,
graphics and
images contained throughout are Copyright (C) 1995 - 2005 by Charles C. Benton
and are protected by United States and International copyright laws.
No text, graphic or image may be used whole or in part, individually,
or as part of a derivative work without express written permission.
All rights reserved. Revised: Sunday, June 03, 2001
URL: http://arch.ced.berkeley.edu/kap/gallery/gal185.html