Let’s go fly a kite. . .

Well, I’ve been bitten by a completely new “bug” – KAPing or “Kite Aerial Photography.” This was something completely unexpected but has turned out to be an incredibly fun and stress-relieving hobby. As noted below, I took my boy to San Diego on New Year’s Day for their annual Kite Festival and we had an incredibly fun time. In chatting with the guy who first told us about the event, I learned that there are some folks who send cameras up with their kites and take photos from above. That sounded incredibly fun (I can remember thinking about what the ground must look like from the air when I would fly kites on our front lawn) and thought I’d give it a try. Little did I know that it would be so addicting!

I’ve now had several KAP excusions and after an intial disaster – my son’s line crossed my kite’s line which not only sent it soaring (more than likely, across the Pacific) by was also fatal for my new KAP camera. For once in my life, I actually did something right though and had purchased insurance – I had a replacement camera the next day. Since then, I’ve gone flying several times in the past week and have even created a new blog.

In addition, I’ve joined several KAP discussion groups and am acquiring a great deal of good information from more experienced folk. Furthermore, I’m also learning about the surprisingly fascinating history of kite flying (and KAPing). Fortunately, this has been a good month for me as I’ve been able to spend more time, during the day, than I normally would flying kites. At the moment, I’m developing my “technique” and acquiring the appropriate gear (much of which I’m making) in support of this great hobby.

I’ve been rather amazed at how much one needs to know in order to KAP properly. For example, one doesn’t just launch a kite and tie a camera to it – it’s necessary to make a special rig in order to send it up. I’m also learning quite a few knots (heck, for the first time ever, I’ve remembered how to tie a bowline!), walk the kite down, and other such important things.

Perhaps the most fun element of all of this is that I’ve been meeting some interesting people who all seem to enjoy sending things up in the air. 🙂