Notes on Kite Aerial Photography: Photo Gallery
Having quickly crossed the Pt. Reyes peninsula, our springtime northwest wind then continues into Drake's Bay. This produces handsome windswept waves at Drake's Beach, a break that attracts surfers. (23K jpg, Canon 100-300 mm shot from bluff, March 1998).
Last Sunday we headed out to Pt. Reyes for a picnic and wildflower viewing. It was a
glorious spring day with clear skies and a stiff sea breeze blowing around 20 mph.
The family having decided to hang out at Drake's Beach for a while, I hiked up to the
bluff with the KAP gear. The surfers were loitering about 200 yards offshore, a
compelling KAP target. Since I was on the bluff and already 100 feet or so above the
water I decided to use my longest KAP lens -- the 50-mm Canon, f1.8. With the 24-mm lens
the surfers would be mere specks in the water. I also used the smallest kite in my
bag, the Sutton 16, so the rig would stay as low as possible. The challenge would be
placing the KAP rig the correct distance out over the water.
Water textures in my surf shots often have
an indeterminate scale. The surfer in this image adds a scale clue. Each of the subsequent
photographs features one or more surfers. (48K jpg, Canon 50-mm, March 1998).
My efforts to place the rig over the surfers were
greatly aided by one of my favorite new toys, the Bushnell Yardage Pro 400 Infrared Laser
Rangefinder. This lightweight instrument looks like a pair of binoculars and
measures distances to within a meter by a pulsing infrared laser on a target and timing
the reflected light. This seems miraculous to me given the speed of light. Turns out
the surfers were between 170 and 180 meters out so I kept letting line out until the rig
was about 210 meters out, a target distance established through trigonometry (via slide
rule of course.) I will post a page in the equipment section soon describing the
device and technique.
The lefthand shot features a surfer dragging
his hand in the water as he carves (detailed
view). This would make the wave about 8 feet high. On the right a surfer
sits on his board at the bottom of the image (21K jpg left and 40K jpg right, Canon 50-mm,
March 1998).
Two surfers vie for the wave in the lefthand
image while a surfer prepares to turn turtle in the righthand shot. (40K jpg left and 45K
jpg right, Canon 50-mm, March 1998).
The wind is sweeping a fine mist off of the
wave in the lefthand image and producing a subtle rainbow (it is more clear in the jpg and
clearer yet in the photograph). On the right, sole ownership of a left break (21K
jpg left and 27K jpg right, Canon 50-mm, March 1998).
I enjoy these shots particularly for the scale that the surfers lend to the waves and water texture. I think I will have to come back and shoot some more of these.
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