Runnymede KAP (Kite Aerial Photography) 19th May 2024

How Do All,

I am a couple of months late posting this as I wasn't happy with the photos I took, but they've grown on me so I'll share them now.

I went the National Trust Runnymede again, site of the signing of the Magna Carta.

I wanted to try a new camera out for some KAP, an Insta 360, Ace Pro, the name is a little deceiving as its not actually a 360 camera, its actually a high quality action camera that can take 48mp stills, and is equipped with a Leica lens so the optics are of a high quality.

Read more about this camera here: Insta 360 Ace Pro / Ace

This is one of the stitched together panoramas which did not work out so well, but its ok for the overall picture.

My plan was to take several shots using my rotating Picavet rig to then stitch together as a panorama, however the lack of wind, wind direction and my setting of the rotation speed of the rig all worked against me, and I could not stitch the pictures I took together without mismatches in the joining/blending.

I also did not realise that the camera had an AI Pure Shot setting, which I did not turn off, that processes the picture automatically and Enhances it, not in my case! if you look at the bottom photo, the Last Survivor sculptures have been "enhanced" and lost any detail in the process. I have turned off this feature now.

Runnymede on the River Thames, looking over the meadow and the Jurors sculpture towards Staines.

The Jurors Sculpture is or are, twelve intricately worked bronze chairs that stand together on the ancient meadow at Runnymede, created by artist Hew Locke to examine the changing and ongoing significance of Magna Carta. The Jurors is not a memorial, but an invitation to sit down and reflect upon the histories depicted in the artwork.

Read more here: The Jurors at Runnymede

The Runnymede visitors centre with the Last Survivors sculptures by Sara Holmes in the meadow.

"The Last Survivors" KAP (Kite Aerial Photography) 30th March 2024

 How Do All,

Today I cycled back to Runnymede to see the "The Last Survivors" Willow and stainless steel sculptures by Sara Holmes, Commisioned by The National Trust, Installed at Runnymede, site of Magna Carta, Old Windsor, UK

See Sara's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/willowtwister1

I took along some kites and 3 different KAP rigs (Kite Aerial Photography) to play with in the hope of getting some nice pictures of the sculptures from the kites eye view.

The wind was very fickle and coming from the south, over the tree covered ridge making it difficult to keep the kite up, let alone a camera rig. 

I did get my DJI Pocket II camera rig to fly a short while and got some ok photos, but I've got all summer to go play kites and KAP at Runnymede so hopefully I'll get some better shots!

I decided to give up trying for the money shot and got out my pointer kite instead which sparked quite a interest, and made me some new friends, two of which; Ebenezer and Xena ( I'm still not convinced they are their real names ) ended up going away seasoned kite flyers after spending time flying my pointer kite; and then my 9 foot delta which I was using for the KAP, they both handled the kites really well and I do hope they buy a kite or ten and join me again sometime.

Ebenezer flying the 6 meter tall Pointer kite 

Inside each of the willow sculptures are a series of poems, here two of the many, all of which were written by young offenders serving time, school children, a judge, a policeman and I forget whom else, maybe a milkman.

Sutherland Grange KAP (Kite Aerial Photography) 28th January 2024

 How Do All,

After my last attempt to photograph Dorney rowing lake from my kite line, I decided I needed to be at the opposite end of the lake and across the River Thames to get a better overall picture of the lake.

The above picture is a composite of two photos stitched together using a computer program called Hugin. 

I'm not so clever at working with it so this picture has a small fault but can you see it?

I had hoped to get my camera situated so I could get a shot including the River Thames running along the length of the lake alongside but the very light wind was blowing from the south, this put my kite and camera on the wrong side of the lake, however the photos I did take came out pretty good non the less.

Dorney rowing lake with the River Thames winding its way around.

The building at the end of the lake is the Eton College rowing centre and boat house.

Maidenhead can be seen just behind the far end of the lake.

Royal Windsor Race Course (horse racing) which has a yacht basin (marina) and and lodges. 

The industrial sprawl of Slough can been seen running along the horizon. 

An over head picture of the inlet from the River Thames which leads to the yacht basin.

Dorney Rowing lake KAP (Kite Aerial Photography) 6th January 2024

How Do All, 

My first KAP Expedition of the year.

I rode to Dorney Rowing lake,  which is situated WNW of Windsor in England, and was used for the 2012 Olympic games.

This above picture is a 180 degree Panorama made up from 4 single photos and stitched together using the Hugin program.

I actually wanted to get the whole lake in the image but the direction of the wind put my kite over the lake, next time I will get it, and with hindsight I could have positioned myself in a small field behind a large bank at the top end of the lake.

The finish line end of the lake and me at the other end of the kite line.

The wind was very up and down, and as it dropped so did my camera and kite; which I got this photo of.

Looking across the rowing lanes towards Slough. Windsor castle can just be made out of the far right of the horizon.

Some information on Dorney Lake.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Dorney Lake
Aerial view of Dorney Lake in 2007
Dorney Lake
Location	Dorney, Buckinghamshire, England
Coordinates	51.4933°N 0.6655°W
Type	Artificial lake, rowing lake
Basin countries	United Kingdom
Built	2006
Max. length	2.2 kilometres (1.4 miles)

Dorney Lake (also known as Eton College Rowing Centre, and as Eton Dorney as a 2012 Summer Olympics venue) is a purpose-built rowing lake in England. It is near the village of Dorney, Buckinghamshire, and is around 3 km (2 miles) west of Windsor and Eton, close to the River Thames.

The lake is privately owned and financed by Eton College, which spent £17 million developing it. Additional grants, totalling £500,000, were obtained from Sport England, UK Sport, the DCMS and SEEDA in order to build the lake's finish tower. The project was completed in 2006, after 10 years of construction.^[1] The facilities are hired out for rowing, as well as for canoeing, Hospitality, dragon boating, and triathlon.

2012 Olympic venue[edit]

The lake was used as the 2012 Summer Olympic venue for rowing and canoe sprint, and as the 2012 Summer Paralympic venue for rowing.^[2] For the duration of the Olympics, the lake was officially referred to as Eton Dorney; confusingly, a separate venue in Stratford was called Eton Manor due to 19th-century associations with the school.

To provide for Olympic spectators, the existing facilities were enhanced to include 20,000 additional seats; most of these seats were temporary. Construction of enhancements to Dorney Lake began in October 2009, following investigations by Oxford Archaeology, including a new cut-through between the competition lake and the return lane, a new bridge and an upgraded access road, funded by the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA).^[3] During the Olympic events, Dorney Lake was staffed by around 3,500 personnel including volunteers; it could accommodate up to 30,000 spectators per day.^[4] A temporary bridge over the River Thames linked the Dorney Lake site to Windsor Racecourse, where a pick-up and drop-off point for Olympic spectators was established.^[5][6] Other access options existed for walkers and cyclists.^[7]

Lytham Windmill KAP (kite aerial photography) 5th September 2022

How Do All,

Last September whilst attending the St Annes International Kite Festival, I took the opportunity to do some Kite Aerial Photography (KAP) at the Lytham Windmill here are some of my better shots.

A panorama of five images stitched together, taken at low altitude, looking east north east.

Note the kite line at the right of the image.

Lytham Windmill from directly above from my KAP rig.

My handmade 6 foot Rokkaku kite with my BB logo applique and fuzzy tail, used for lifting my KAP rig.

My KAP rig, with 360 degree autorotation servo and an FPV (first person view) camera attached on the left to give me an idea of what the camera is pointing at whilst taking photos.

My Kap rig is based on a design by Wolfgang Bieck

A panorama of five images stitched together, taken at low altitude, looking west south west.

Note the kite line at the left of the image.

Lytham Windmill.

Lytham Windmill from the ground.

Here is some info on the Windmill.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Lytham Windmill

Lytham Windmill is situated on Lytham Green in the coastal town of Lytham St Annes, Lancashire, England. It is of the type known as a tower mill and was designed for grinding wheat and oats to make flour or bran. Since commercial milling on the site ceased in 1921 the mill has belonged to the town and is operated by Fylde Borough Council, who open it to the public during the summer. The mill also contains a museum run by the Lytham Heritage Trust which explains the history and practice of flour milling.^[1][2]

The mill was built on Lytham marshes around 1805 on land leased by the local landowner and squire to miller Richard Cookson. Some of the mill's machinery, including a 150-year-old mainshaft of Baltic oak, was salvaged from other local mills. The plinth which now surrounds the mill was added later for safety reasons. The original smoky drying kiln, once adjacent to the mill, was moved to Kiln Street after pressure from well-to-do local residents in the growing town. The surrounding land was later levelled and grassed to form a ribbon green between the houses and the sea, in the middle of which stands the mill.

In 1919 a high wind overcame the mill's braking mechanism and the sails spun out of control, causing the mill to be burnt out. Two years later the squire, John T. Clifton, donated the gutted building to the town. The shell was restored, given a new cap, a set of mock sails and used variously as a cafe, as headquarters of Lytham Cruising Club, Motorboat Club and Sea Cadets and even as an Electricity Board sub-station.

In 1951 the mill was designated a grade II listed building.^[3] In 1989 it was totally restored by Fylde Borough Council and opened to the public.

Jubilee River KAP (kite aerial photography)

  How Do All,

Looking Eastwards along the Jubilee River towards Slough (left), Windsor (right) and Datchet (middle'ish)

After a few weeks of not being able to get out due to my back hurting after work, and the lack of wind when I did actually try to go out, today I finally got out and flew a kite, Yay! though with hindsight of the impending doom I should have stayed in my little warm shed! 

I rode to and along the Jubilee River just outside of Windsor, to try and take some pictures of the river. It was nice when I left, sunshine and nice wind but by the time I got there it was grey, cold and blustery.

You can read about the jubilee river here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jubilee_River

My friend Adrian joined me and I'm not sure he expected so much fun in such a short time.

Me on the bridge, but not quite the angle of the bridge I had in my mind.

I had a bit of trouble launching my kite from a bridge I wanted to get in the photos, and due to the wind direction my intended idea of the bridge being in the shots was out of the window.

I made several mistakes today and learned some valuable lessons, I'm really good at that, but I find this the best way to learn, if a little costly sometimes!

Firstly in my haste to fly I fixed a lighter line than I usually use, and with the wind I should have known better, but at supposedly 110dan I thought I was covered. 

Next I managed to nick the line in the gate hook of my carabiner somehow but decided this was superficial fluff and carried on sending the camera up. 

The track on the right runs for 6 miles from Maidenhead to Datchet or vice versa if you like.

After a few minutes there was a little jolt and my kite  separated from the main line and flew off across a farmers field, camera still attached  just and headed towards a tree, the camera slid off the line and went down like it was floating, and the kite stopped in the top of a tree, sigh, I thought I had lost them both, I suppose I should be thankful they didn't fly off over the trees and out of sight across the Thames

Just after the line broke, the kite and camera are drifting across this nice muddy field.

Luckily the kite was facing the right way and the line attached was plenty and trailed across the field, I was able to fly the kite right out of the tree and saved it with no damage, Yay!

My friend Adrian helped look for the camera and luckily I eventually spotted it nowhere near where we thought it might have landed. 

The last picture the camera took before getting some  shuteye in the crops!

Sadly I have no pictures of the kite rescue as taking more photos was the last thing on my mind.

We decided to call it a day as it was so cold and windy and headed off to Windsor for a tea.

Out of 200 photos the last 123 exposures were of the ground from ground level in any case!

My friend Adrian on the bridge

Random passers by just as I launched the camera

Take care,

Barry (The Knotty Bear)

Simple KAP (Kite Aerial Photography) First attempt!

 How Do All,

At the moment I am not able to ride much due to back and shoulder issues, so I decided; to help keep the frustration of not riding everyday at bay I would get some of my kites out which I made many years ago and give KAP a try.

KAP stands for Kite Aerial Photography, and though kites and KAP have more or less been thrown by the wayside due to drones, I actually think the act of flying kite which I have hand made, and taking some haphazard photos with a camera dangling 90 meters off the ground much more satisfying.

I have never tried a drone and I probably never will, one of the reasons being my close proximity to Heathrow airport and Northolt air base, making flying a drone a non starter, and a short flight time due to batteries etc... Flying a kite on the other had can be undertaken pretty much anywhere without too much trouble, and the kite will stay up as long as there is enough of a breeze to give it lift. There are however height restrictions in the UK that I try to stick to.

I had an old Canon PowerShot SX200 IS which I have not used in quite sometime, so I built a suspension rig using an old bicycle gear cable, a sheet of battered aluminium which my dad found in the road, a mudguard stay and various bits of tat from my junk boxes.

I found on a KAP Facebook group a post about CHDK which stands for Canon Hack Development Kit, a program which you load into the camera via an SD card which changes the firmware, allowing you to program the camera to do all manner of things not possible with the basic camera.

https://chdk.fandom.com/wiki/CHDK

I also added a KAP-UAE script which allows for fully automatic start up of the camera, taking as many exposures as needed at whatever intervals, and will also shut the camera down when the cycle is finished.

You can also interleave video between pictures and control loads of exposure settings of which I have no clue.

https://chdk.fandom.com/wiki/KAP_UAV_Exposure_Control_Script

It was very windy and gusty when I took my rig out to test, and I decided to use my 1.5 meter Rokkaku kite, which immediately tried to fly up and vertically above me causing the camera to spin in circles around the kite line. I decide to add a fuzzy tail to the kite to lessen the line angle.

I took around 200 exposures and some videos, most of the pictures did not have a level horizon as the camera is constantly swinging, the use of a self levelling suspension rig called a Picavet might have helped a little but would also have made the set up more complex which I wanted to avoid.

Looking towards Heathrow Airport which fills the horizon, terminal 5 on the far right, and the control tower towards the left of the picture.

The trees that are just starting to come into leaf and look almost ghostly or powdery.

Walking the line down with a pulley to retrieve the camera and change the setting and angles of the camera. the end of the kite line is fixed to a screw in dog stake, this method makes for quick retrieval without having to reel 100 meters of line back in. it is also good for bringing down a strong pulling kite in high winds.

Using the pulley to bring the camera down from my perspective.

One end of the park.

Probably the most in focus exposure.

A view looking towards the city of London, Wembley Stadium is on the left of the horizon, and you may not be able to make it out but Canary Wharf and the Shard are also just visible, if a little blurry! the position of my house is marked also.

Playing ball.

A view looking towards Uxbridge, Hillingdon Hospital is quite visible on the right of the horizon.

One of the few exposures that had a fairly level horizon.

I love the shadows of the trees, a sight not seen on the ground.

Thank you for looking.

Take care, Barry - The Knotty Bear