KITE AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY
ideas & images & kits & equipment
by Brooks Leffler
 |
 |
 |
   |
 |
WELCOME!
This site is designed to get you up to speed fast with the necessary equipment for Kite Aerial Photography. Here you can buy a camera cradle in kit form, kites, and other components for a complete KAP system, or browse ideas for making one for yourself with a minimum of reinvention.
A BIT OF HISTORY
Although it's been around since the 1880s, I didn’t discover KAP until 1989, when I wanted to advertise a kite that looked as nice from above as below. It happened that the same manufacturer sold a simple frame for carrying a camera aloft, so I put the two together and backed into kite aerial photography.
In 1994, I started building camera rigs for others. Then the Fort Worden Kitemakers' Conference in Washington State tapped me to lead a workshop in KAP rigbuilding in 1999, and my first do-it-yourself kit was born.
After making over 100 custom rigs and another 100 kits by hand, I have had parts professionally-fabricated since 2003. More than 2,700 KAPers worldwide have built and used my kits.
BUILDING A RIG is easiest with one of my KAP KITS , especially with Brooxes Electric AutoKAP Kits, which let you take aerial pictures at least cost, without radio control.
If you'd rather have more control over your camera, with the bare-bones Basic Kit or the fully-accessorized Deluxe Kit, you can finish a ready-to-fly radio-controlled rig in four to six hours, using basic hand tools and an electric drill. You will need to supply the r/c radio equipment and camera.
If you'd prefer to design a camera cradle for yourself, many of the necessary components are available in our PARTS DEPARTMENT for you to incorporate in your plans. Or you may find inspiration and ideas on the EQUIPMENT pages, where you’ll see pictures of cradles that I have built for myself and others.
If you're reluctant to do it yourself, I can assemble a kit for you or connect you with a qualified KAPer to build you a custom rig. See the bottom of this page for contact info.
To lift your rig, we sell several kites, along with tails, line, and winders, including the Fled and Levitation Delta, a couple of excellent low-wind lifters, on the KITESTUFF page.
I have also prepared printed instructions and diagrams on a variety of KAP subjects, published in Adobe Acrobat format. On the KAPSITE DOWNLOADS page, you may download them for yourself. Preview isn’t possible, but they’re not big files, so they won’t take long in transit.
You will need the Adobe Reader, which you can get free from Adobe if you don’t have it already.
Some of my favorite KAP IMAGES, new & old, may be seen on FLICKR, where you can browse through my work and that of other KAPers and post your comments.
On my PANORAMAS pages, you'll find a selection of Virtual Reality scenes that put you in the middle and allow you to see 360° by controlling the view with the mouse. The aerial bubbles are made from two super-wide “fisheye” images, one from the kite looking straight down [left], and one from the ground, looking straight up. I've also included a selection of ground-based panoramas because I enjoy them, kite or no kite.
I edited the aerial eye, a quarterly journal on KAP published by the American Kitefliers Association from 1994 until 1999, when I and all the contributors ran out of steam. Some of the journal's content is dated, but taken as a whole, it's still the most comprehensive textbook on KAP currently available.
Cris Benton has done the best synopsis of all 18 issues.
Now you can have the aerial eye free with a $40 membership in AKA, along with the current quarterly magazine KITING and many other benefits of membership. Visit the American Kitefliers Association, and when you join, tell ’em Brooks sent you.
Or you can order ae on CD for $30.00, postpaid anywhere in the world, by clicking here to pay with a credit card through PayPal.,
If you have a question, comment, or suggestion, EMAIL ME or drop me a note at POST OFFICE BOX 34, PACIFIC GROVE, CA 93950-0034. Enjoy the site!