A humbling week of KAP

I've been spoiled by my KAP (kite aerial photography) so far. I've gotten used to smooth winds and so many good shots I had a hard time editing them down. But this week has been different.

I've been fascinated by Puerto Rican cemeteries since I first traveled here. They are hidden behind high walls that allow only glimpses of monuments over the wall or crypts through narrow gates. The cemeteries are open to the public during the day but those teasing views suggested a cemetery might make a good KAP subject. And then there's the intrigue of peeking OVER the wall.

So I found a cemetery with a small field across the street on top of the mountain where I thought there might be decent wind. The day I went to shoot there was great wind here at Lola's Corner and on Shacks Beach. Up on the mountain the wind was much lower and I needed my big 32 sq ft flowform kite to lift the KAP rig. I don't like using the flowform as a lifter. It has lots of lifting power but it's a really squirrly kite. This day was no exception. The kite was swinging all over the sky, bouncing the camera and making it hard to position.

In the end I only took four shots. I wanted to get the kite and camera down safely.

The next day I went to another beach east of Shacks, right at the foot of the hill below Isabela. (More about that in another post.)

Craig Wilson is one of my KAP heroes. He has beautiful shots taken close to buildings. One looks right into the lens of a lighthouse light.

There is an upscale condo complex right along the edge of the beach. I hoped to emulate Craig and shoot some fairly close up shots of the complex, looking at the repetition of the forms from a different perspective.

HA! What I came away with was not great - or even good or even interesting - shots of the complex but rather a renewed awe for Craig's abilities.

Winds were again light and I used my squirrly flowform kite as a lifter. Even in the relatively open space of the beach I don't like using that kite. I couldn't get close enough to the buildings to get the kind of shots I wanted - the kite was just to squirlly, too bouncy in the sky. So I tried to shoot the beach, the colors of the water. Even that didn't go as well as I was used to.

Oh, well. It's all an experiment. Every flight is a learning experience. You can see more from both the cemetery and beach shoots in the flickr site.

Thanks for looking in.