I know it’s an illusion. There is no such thing as control.
This actually started out as an attempt at Kite Aerial Photography (KAP). I had purchased a really cheap digital camera from Walmart. I had planned to follow instructions I found on Engadget, which described a method for creating an interval timer for the shutter release using an LM555 IC timer from Radio Shack. I got the timer, but wasn’t able to find the correct solder point on the shutter release switch. The little VistaQuest LQ5000 camera actually has a video mode, so my back-up plan was to start recording video and send it on up.
I didn’t bring one of my good kites with me down to Florida. I did find an inexpensive one at Big Lots down here, and figured it would work.
Our first outing was a trip out to one of the spoil islands in the Indian River. The best wind was on a little sand spit, with the kite sailing out over a little lagoon. I decided to see how the kite flew before attaching the camera.
The kite dipped and soared eratically, so I just decided to have fun flying it rather than try to take pictures with it. Good thing. At one point the kite nose-dived straight into the water and sunk. I tugged, and it came back up, crested a wave, then took to the air again. It reminded me of the diving birds a few hundred yards on out from our island.