Notes on Kite Aerial Photography: Photo Gallery

Children's Playground
Golden Gate Park, San Francisco



An oblique view of the spaceframe climbing structure inside the elliptical sidewalk (July 1996, 49K jpg left).

go to location mapAnother stop during sister Carden's visit was the Children's Playground in Golden Gate Park. This is an enormous, well-equipped playground that our kids have enjoyed for the last ten years. In the playground is a large climbing structure made of modular metal components. It always seems to be full of children. The structure is confusing when viewed from ground level (or in the oblique image opposite). However, when viewed in plan its layout becomes clear. On this day we had a high overcast of varying density. This light helped transform the climbing structure into pleasing abstract patterns.




The climbing structure seen in plan view (July 1996, 54K jpg left).

The winds was reasonable near the playground so I launched the Sutton Flowform 30 over an adjacent ball field and flew it during our picnic lunch. Convinced that the kite was flying in a stable fashion I lofted the camera and flew it over the field. After doing this for 15 minutes I moved into the playground and took these shots. If the camera had not been very stable I would not have tried.

If you look at the larger jpgs of this structure you will start to see children and adults emerge from the structural pattern.




Plan view images taken when the clouds were thicker (July 1996, 50K jpg left and 45K jpg right).

These images have nice dense colors and a tangible third dimension.





Closer plan views (July 1996, 47K jpg left and 45K jpg right).

These are shots from a lower altitude.



Plan view of kids on a spinning platform (July 1996, 32K jpg left).

I like the juxtaposition of curves in this image and the ground provided by the sand.




Adjacent climbing structures (July 1996, 38K jpg left).

A wooden climbing structure located in the same playground. Your author is visible in the upper left of the frame. The kite had been pretty stable trough these images but, soon after this one was taken, it began to fade. I was unable to walk downwind to my launching spot. So I landed the rig and then kite in the middle of the playground. This, of course, attracted a throng of kids who asked all the usual questions while standing on top of my gear.




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All rights reserved. Revised: Thursday, August 1, 1996


URL: http://www.ced.berkeley.edu/~cris/kap/gallery/gal44.html