Went kite flying today which was oddly relaxing with a little bit of exercise on the side. I was a bit crap at first but Fi is something of an expert and showed me how to do the pull-down thing to get it high in the air. And once it’s up there you just watch it floating. It’s a stunt kite, so it has a tendency to flip around, but I liked trying to keep it as still as possible.
I was also thinking about how best to attach a video camera to it, of course. I’ve had this 808 keychain camera on my, um, keychain for a month now without finding a use for it, after all. The problem with the stunt kite is it’s like a hyperactive puppy, never staying still, but it also points in completely the wrong directions.
So tonight I ordered a box kite. Apparently they’re rather boring, as kites go. If the wind is strong enough you can just peg them to the ground and they stay up. Sounds perfect.
Now I need to find places in the centre of Birmingham without any overhead cables. Curzon St?
Most of that area has been boarded up in preparation for building HS2
I am not sure I would advise flying a kite camera in any UK city. I was stopped from taking photographs on New Street Station last year. I assume this was because I looked like a terrorist to the manager who sent a station employee to tell me to desist. Remember, the UK has more CCTVs than the KGB could afford in communist USSR.
Better to try your kite camera out in the countryside where they preparing to build HS2.
We had a talk on aerial kite photography at the last Liverpool Ignite. The main restriction I remember him talking about was a maximum height that you can fly them (something like 200ft IIRC). He’s been doing it in Liverpool for years, so I don’t think it’s necessarily a problem – and I guess it’s also “a thing” which should mean there’s an online community to tap into to get details if you’d rather be forewarned :-)
The sound is a bit quiet, but you can watch the talk over on YouTube.