Notes on Kite Aerial Photography: Photo Gallery
These shots were an interesting experience because I never actually
visited St. Martin nor could I get a good sense of the village as I battled the Sutton 30 from
my
sandbar flying site across the river. (Canon 24-mm, July 2000)
While flying from a sandbar
across the Vienne River I spooled out enough line to take the kite almost across
the river. From my flying location I could see a village on the opposite banks
with low buildings lining the banks. Turns out the village in named St. Martins
and the photographs revealed a fine, tidy townscape.
Views
of St. Martins from a relatively high vantage point (Canon 24-mm, July 2000)
While I did not form strong impressions of St. Martin during this session I do
have vivid memories of the kite flying. More often than not these days I am
flying single-handed have developed an efficient routine that involves
temporarily tying the kiteline off to a handy object (e.g., tree, lamppost,
bench) with a climber's strap, a carbineer, and a quick clove hitch. Employing
these temporary anchors My sandbar location thwarted this technique due to an
absence of potential anchors. Normally, this would not be a problem as I would
just hold the kiteline reel manually. As the Sutton 30 was aloft for this
particular roll the wind increased dramatically. Pretty soon I was in a bit of a
pickle.
More views of the handsome village of St.
Martin (Canon 24-mm, July 2000)
Over a ten minute period my
attention turned from composing images to wrestling the kite to wondering if I
would be able to get the rig down intact. When the kite really loads up I have
the habit of taking a turn or two of line around my hand to avoid the kiteline
reel slipping from my hand. When my hand starts to hurt it is time to get the
kite down. In this case I abandoned the transmitter in the sand and laboriously
pulled the kite up the sandbar to the edge of the woods. There I found a stout
sapling and with great relief managed to tie things off. And it was a good thing
too since I was approaching the limit of my capacity to handle the kite
manually.
With the kite anchored I pulled out my split pulley (another bit of climbing gear) and began to walk the line down. I was a great relief to get the camera to the ground and after it the kite. I am now up to around five hundred aerial rolls of film without losing or even damaging a camera. This session provided one of my closer calls.
Photographs
taken from approximately the same location showing views down the Loire toward
the west and up the Vienne toward the east. Just visible in the left image is
the Chateau de Montsoreau which was undergoing reconstruction in 2000 (Canon 24-mm, July 2000)
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All rights reserved. Revised: Wednesday, May 30, 2001
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