Friday, March 19, 2010

Kite's Eye View of Fort Pierce Inlet

In my last video post I mentioned my intent to do some kite-mounted camera work using the less wide-angle resolution setting on my GoPro HD camera. Thursday I did just that, filming a powered-up west wind session in Fort Pierce Inlet. The resolution and field of view were definitely improved over the way I was doing it before, but I still had some issues with camera shakiness, fogging up, and a piece of string flapping in front of the lense. Oh well, I'm learning.

The video shows one nice, long jump and one zoomed-in jump where I turn the board upside down in mid air, but mostly it shows puny jumps, mediocre transitions, and crash landings. I'm wearing both a life vest and a helmet, which should please my parents. I set the video to a techno anthem; "Watch Out" by Ferry Corsten. I know not everyone likes techno, but I think it's a cool song with a lot of energy. Also, it's pretty cool that the artist is named after a boat. I think he's European.

Kite Mounted Camera, Take 2 from James Douglass on Vimeo.

10 comments:

Ian Berger said...

James,

I used some posts you made a while ago as the basic for a post of mine. Hope you don't mind.

http://realworldwindsurfing.blogspot.com/2010/03/great-beginner-links.html

-Ia

Ian Berger said...

Jeez, It's as if I can't spell at all on that last post. Back to middle school with me!

-Ian

rdm said...

hey man,
i always dig the song selections. the kite stuff is very informative too. i wake board in the lake. is kite boarding like wake boarding but you drive the boat at the same time? (apart from angle of the lift).

Johnny Douglass said...

Good! Keep wearing that helmet and life vest. Maybe some of that chain mail for sharks too.

James Douglass said...

Ian- Yeah, totally cool! :)

Ralph- Glad you dig the songs. The board riding part of kiteboarding is a lot like wakeboarding, but less harsh because you're going slower, the kite is somewhat yielding, and the higher angle of pull makes you lighter on your feet.

Dad- I'll see what I can do about the chain mail.

rdm said...

Yeah. wake boarding is a blast but rough on the joints. i think i see the appeal of kites in light air- it would be tough not to leave the water with tug at that angle. do most kiters have a quiver of boards or just kites?

James Douglass said...

Ralph- Some kiters have just one board, but I reckon most have two; usually including a bigger one to help in lighter winds. The tug from the kite doesn't make you leave the water, usually, but it makes you sideslip downwind a lot until you learn how to "edge" your board properly.

Kiley said...

This is really cool. Except I can't see any sharks. When are you going to get some good shark shots? :)

James Douglass said...

Kiley- I'm working on it. Maybe I should tow a chum bag next time.

Ben said...

Excellent vidio perspective from the kite. Can't wait to see some aerial wildlife footage! Thanks again for the recomendation to fly the 8 today!