Point Arena Lighthouse - aerial pictures

[Chaz]

Hi everyone.

I'm Dave. I live in Southern California.

I got these shots last July using a kite to fly the camera. ( I'm in both photos )





I thought it would be fitting for my first post on here to be of the first lighthouse I visited. I got these shots on my third visit to Point Arena.

I have more aerial pictures of other West Coast lighthouses, all of them taken by the kite-lofted camera. I'll be breaking them out periodically.

[CStomp1]

Outstanding shots, Dave. I don't know how you fly a camera with a kite and control it, but I love it.

[Grover]

...
Wow! Spectacular ... thanks!

[CHUCKX53]

Now this....Is COOL.....

[Weasel58]

Nice pictures, thank you for sharing them with us.

I must say the lantern looks so empty now that the lens has been removed. I am so happy that I got to see the lens in the tower when I visited in 03 and 07.

[Chaz]

Last week, I returned to Point Arena.

The lighthouse is sporting a brand new paint job.





I'm in the next two shots, standing in front of the door at the base of the lighthouse, talking to one of the Docents. "I remember you", she said. That could be good or bad! This time, it wasn't bad.







I was a bit disappointed, as a "photographer", when I saw the overcast conditions, but then I realised that's the kind of weather lighthouses are for.

[Grover]

...
Chaz ...

Once again, and especially the shots from behind looking out, you've
created the extraordinary ... thanks! (and the light is looking great
since your last visit)

[tinypiney]

Wow! Beautiful!

[Kevin vk2ce]

Lighthouses just don't look right without their fresnel lens, do they?

Great photos though. How do you get up there to press the shutter button?

[Chaz]

Kevin,

My particular rig, I use a servo - the same one the model airplane guys run - to hit the shutter with a lever. A mechanical finger.

I can turn and tilt the camera by remote control, and when everything looks lined up - or more accurately, when everything looks like it's about to line up ( digital cameras have a bit of a delay between the time the shutter is triggered and the time the shot is taken ) I hit the shutter lever.

Some kite photo guys dispense with the remote control alltogether. They set their cameras to take a picture every few seconds, and fly their camera in a fixed position. That way, all they have to concern themselves with is keeping the kite in the air.

I like being able to point the camera at subjects that may come up by surprise, and to be able to compensate for changes in wind direction and speed. And I like waiting until the camera is somewhat still before taking pictures. It makes the job of weeding out the rotten shots just that much easier.

[Kevin vk2ce]

OK on all that. Can you actually see what the camera is looking at so you know when to hit the shutter?

[CHUCKX53]

Interesting. I would venture that he has to guessimate.

[Chaz]

Chuckx nailed it.

I can roughly tell which way the camera's pointing. Then, I take shots up, down, and all around where I think it needs to be, in case my estimations were off.

Then, I weed out the rotten pics, and usually end up with a few keepers.

Sometimes I can't miss. That's almost as bad as too few shots, because then I have to choose the keeper from a hundred or more seemingly identical pictures!

[CHUCKX53]

Heh....Both those methods work in my world as well, even though I stay on the ground or on the boat....