From kites to drones: a 365 photo-a-day, aerial photo challenge
Photo credit: Kevin Lajoie
Kevin Lajoie‘s has been using a kite and 30-foot carbon fiber fishing pole to do aerial photography since 2008.
But his latest tool has no strings attached. Lajoie changed up his aerial photography technique after he received a quadcopter in March.
Lajoie is now in the midst of a year-long, photo-a-day challenge, which Lajoie is in the midst of right now. (Check out the photos lining this post, which have all been taken by Lajoie).
So far, he captured photos via a kite throughout the winter in Guernsey, documenting their second coolest on recording, including two separate snowfalls, a blizzard, and the airport getting shut down for three days.
When the snow ended, so his drone piloting began. Lajoie received a DJI Phantom drone in March, allowing him to get to places he would have to wait for specific winds with kites.
Here are some of Lajoie’s tips for flying and aerial photography:
- Coastal locations are my usual preference simply because they are the most interesting.
- Don’t fly near airports.
- Be careful flying around areas with more human traffic around.
- Avoid flying near people by using the summer months to get out early and use the longer days to your advantage.
Lajoie is currently in the Channel Islands, where he has photographed in Jersey, Alderney and Herm. He said he hopes to photograph the last main Channel Island of Sark before the year ends.
Lajoie’s aeiral photography by the numbers (so far):
- Logged 104 KAP (Kite Aerial Photography) sessions
- Logged 25 PAP (Pole Aerial Photography) sessions
- Photographed at 314 with the Phantom
- Flown approximately 400 times
- 18,000 shutter actuations logged this year on his Nikon D5000
- Took 11,000 pictures in 8 hours during one trip to Alderney in May and 7 flights with the Phantom, yielding 3000 images
- Also uses GoPros and a Canon S100 Powershot
What’s next for Lajoie? He’ll be taking a ferry to France for an international Kite Aerial Photography Conference, where the CVCF (cerf-volant club de france) will be hosting a meet up to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the first recognized kite aerial photograph taken by Artur Batut.
Find Lajoie’s photos on Flickr here.
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