We do our best to bring you information related to the photography equipment and techniques you need to know when you take your camera on the road. And then we run across something like this which gives a whole new meaning to “camera on the road”. Actually, it’s “camera on a kite”.
Engadet’s how to on “Take digital photos from a kite” is part of an ongoing series of pushing the limits of what is possible with a point-and-shoot digital camera, and other camera equipment. In part one, Phillip Torrone disects an old digital camera “to one that takes a picture automatically every second until the memory card is full.” In part two, the digital camera is put on the kite and flown high above, taking a full memory card worth of pictures on high.
As I scrolled down part two of the series, somehow, I wasn’t at all surprised to find that the sky views were of Lake Union and downtown Seattle, taken from Gas Works Park, one of my absolute favorite kite flying spots. What a treat to see a bit of home on a website that just caught my eye for innovative use of camera equipment!!! Thanks!
The technique is not for the timid as it involves taking apart the digital camera and rewiring the innards, but I think it would be great to try with a wireless or infrared shutter release, testing the distance and range of such releases to the max. Though, a camera with such a feature might be too heavy to get up into the air on the kite.
The fun and gadgetry doesn’t stop with a kite. In other articles in their weekly “how to” series, “BlackBoxing” their car by tagging photos with GPS coordinates and time stamps, hacked an old digital camera to take a photo automatically as fast as it can until the memory card fills up or the battery dies using a $1.49 LM555 Timer Chip from RadioShack, and future articles are coming on how to hook your digital camera up to your pet to photograph their daily adventures – well, at least until the memory card filles up.
See, there is hope and life after obsolescence even with old digital cameras!