That being said, it was a bit blustery, in fact it was "quite" turbulent. But it was gloriously sunny, which led to a good turn out from KKF members for a club day. A few old faces came out and flew and it was really good to see them all.
So I thought I'd start the day with a Nashville Star - a Jilly Pelham creation. THis is an old kite and the fabric is faded and jaded, but it still flies nicely. But in the turbulent conditions, it was bouncing around the sky. I was just thinking I would bring it down when there was a creak, crack and that was that. The front spreader and one of the cell spreaders broke in two. Testament to the kite, it carried on flying, but it was no definitely a case of get it to the ground before any serious damage was done. So a repair is now necessary :-(
Next out I decided to fly a pair of deltas from G-Kites. A ghost and a shadow delta. Both are framed in glass fibre, so much more able to handle the conditions. THey bounced around the sky, but stayed aloft.
Later, I decided to try a home made Conyne. Again this was skipping all over the sky, but then these aren't reknowned for their stability. However, while I was sitting down having a drink, the kite stabilised and behaved nicely for about half an hour. Encouraged by this, I was determined to get out the camera rig. But by the time I'd got to the anchor point, the kite was once again bouncing all over the place.
But I wasn't to be beaten, and as the sun settled over the woods, the wind dropped a bit and I decided to try a premier rok. Not the focus this time, I was going with the tongue. It hasn't been out of the bag for some time so it was due a stint. Correctly trimmed, it flew straight up in the sky and stayed put, so this was the time to attache the camera. I desperately wanted to get some close up photos of the BT tower, but with the wind still bucking the camera and kite, I decided not to head too close to the tree line, and get some shots form the distance. Next time, when the winds are calmer, I'll get up closer
But all in all it was a good productive day. THis was the first successful use of the Canon S60, after a couple of false starts. The infra-red release worked well. I've currently got it set with flash on, but looking at the exif data, this seems to be causing the shutter speed to slow down. also, it changes the recharge time, which means that you can't fire off shots quickly. So I think I'll turn that feature off. I like having the flash as a positive indication of shutter release, but I don't like it if it impacts on the ability to capture images.
This was, I think, the first time the rig has been airborne since it got bent, and it performed fine, so big tick in the box there. There is always next time to capture the perfect image!
