Kite Aerial Photography
Kites used in kite aerial photography (KAP) are typically controlled using the same reels and spools as non-KAP kite flyers. The best KAP work seems be done at lower altitudes than you might imagine (100-200'), so no special equipment is required. The most problematic KAP flights are when the best camera shot requires the kite to be flown amongst tall trees or buildings, so quick haul-in can be a plus.
The camera rig itself is attached to the kite line some distance beneath the kite, preferably with a pulley scheme that will permit the camera to float in a level attitude regardless of the kite's gyrations. The Picavet system is one such scheme.
Further sophistication in kite photography comes with live video and radio control features to control where the camera is pointing. This is superior to the minimal rig which simply clicks the camera every few minutes and must be hauled down to earth to change the direction in which the camera points. The penalty of the radio control rigs is weight, which requires higher winds to do photography. So in addition to clear skies, you must also have high winds, which will limit opportunities for photography.
Read more about this topic: Kite Control Systems
Famous quotes containing the words kite, aerial and/or photography:
“A saint about to fall,
The stained flats of heaven hit and razed
To the kissed kite hems of his shawl....”
—Dylan Thomas (1914–1953)
“Every year lays more earth upon us, which weighs us down from aerial regions, till we go under the earth at last.”
—E.T.A.W. (Ernst Theodor Amadeus Wilhelm)
“If photography is allowed to stand in for art in some of its functions it will soon supplant or corrupt it completely thanks to the natural support it will find in the stupidity of the multitude. It must return to its real task, which is to be the servant of the sciences and the arts, but the very humble servant, like printing and shorthand which have neither created nor supplanted literature.”
—Charles Baudelaire (1821–1867)