.
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My favorite pole can put the camera 25 feet (8 meters) above the ground.
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I wanted to see the sun on the circular wall and statues.
To get it all into one picture, I chose a spot at the eastern shore of steep concrete.
The little compact camera has only a wide-angle lens. Normally, I don't mind distortions from wide angles. But afterwards, I noticed all the flagpoles and light poles lean outwards from the center of the picture. Partly from perspective, partly from the wide angle.
I could practice with my photo program to straighten them. I haven't learned that yet. I'm just happy so far to get the centers vertical. A never-ending problem with pole and kite pictures . . . .
. . . . . . . . . .
Left is the view from the water's edge, and the right
is from the camera on the pole.
If I would have stayed on the sidewalk, the camera wouldn't see all of the circular wall. I think this is an important part of this memorial.
A good place for a wide angle lens is
when you can't back-up no more . . . .
unless you wade in the water.
Left is a view down from the pole camera.
On the water's edge.
And standing on a 40 degree concrete slope.
One slip and it's Ker-Plunk
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After the attempt with rising sunshine and long shadows,
I moved inland.
No Trees were harmed in this photo expedition.
The camera, green bubble level, and fish line (yes this is a mechanical shutter tripper) are up there somewhere between the trees.
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Notes about my kite aerial photography from the previous weekend:
Wind 9mph, gusting to 16 at 2pm, smoother later as high clouds came in, easy ground launch, walked all the way around west side of lake (east side has some water pump blocking trail), SSW wind, high too- thick clouds by the time I got good pix. Some stunt-kite flyers were in the park to the west. I wish they would have stayed longer so I could have practiced taking pictures of other kites from the air. |
A handy pendulum for camera makes easy attachment to the kite line.
Lots of grass and brush affords very little room to work here.
Worried about some launches, the wind wasn't always powerful enough to send camera up fast. Hovering 10 feet over water with a camera requires an eagle-eye on kite in the wind and a firm hand on the reel.
When the kite turns slightly to my left, I know a gust is occurring up there, and then it's time to let out some line and camera rises up to a safe height above the water.
No room to walk-down the line.
Too much brush to run it back to pull up slack.
Kite is a full hundred yards of string higher than camera. Wind not steady and powerful below that.
I could have attached the camera up on the trail where there is more room and further from the water, and then walked it to this shore.
Or maybe just stayed up on the trail, but the altitude would have needed to be higher to get good aim.
I walked it away from this shore and half way around the lake to get back to my bicycle. Easily guided the line above and around a dozen trees.
The isle could be a 'piece of cake' with a northerly wind. But I took the scenic route the long way around. With a figure 8 thrown in for good measure. The story of my life . . . .
And for Phil, who has an interest in aerial imaging, the lakes location is
Longitude 44.44862 Latitude -89.52103
Southeast of Plover, Wisconsin, USA.
Enter that into your favorite internet satellite photo service. But Terraserver maps and photos for this lake are from the last century, when the isle is a genuine island yet. And the second lake was built since then.
A scene from walking my kite home. I just left the camera up there on the line and walked a half mile, just to see what I would 'catch'.
This is a man-made lake with a sand bottom.
It gives a green tint to the picture.
This area was a glacial river outwash plain, the sand is over 60 feet thick in this area. And the ground surface is almost level flat for many miles to the south and west of here.
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Park is a kite flying dream. Modern utility construction, no overhead wires for a mile. Two ponds, a ball park, and two soccer fields. And a new Hampton Inn Motel next to the water. (I would have taken a clearer picture of this, but I'm just walking my kite and not waiting for camera to hang steady.) |
(I am not affiliated with the Memorial. I just live two miles away and never seriously visited it until this year.)
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Wrote April 9, 15; 2006