One of the cool things about kite aerial photography is that it has a long history, going back to 1882 or so. Kites are a cheap way to get something up in the air.
Effective, too. The image above is one of the famous "San Francisco in Ruins" series that George Lawrence took in 1906. The technology is amazing. 17 kites on a steel cable, a custom 49 pound panoramic camera with a 20x48 inch plate, and a 2000 foot steel line with a conducting wire in it for the shutter. I love the idea of the difficulty and expense of hauling the camera up in the air, only to take a single photo that might or might not come out. There's lots more info if you want.
tech
  2004-07-04 14:58 Z