A kite's eye view of Madison in 2008. One hundred years ago in 1908 George Lawrence made some kite aerials here in Madison and this is my re-make of that view. In 1906 Lawrence left Chicago with his gear and travelled to San Francisco to make an aerial view of the post earthquake ruins. That great image of the damage to SF made him quite famous and he went on to photograph many other cities. His images were not only very valuable as a tools for planning and mapping but they were also images that gave those cities prestige and status. Lawrence used a massive swing lens panoramic camera that exposed a glass plate negative measuring 20 x 48 inches weighing over 50 pounds. He used a team of 10 big kites to lift it so it was quite a spectacle.
My image is an attempt to duplicate the view but stepping back to include the part of the Madison skyline that was not there 100 years ago. This image was made by stitching together about 14 images or parts of images shot with my Pentax K10D digital SLR and is printed out the same 20x48 inches that the Lawrence contact print measures. Please click the "All sizes" button above this image and take a look at a larger size.
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A kite's view of the dock.
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Light winds and a well behaving kite allowed me to shoot this series and quickly stitch together this 8 shot panorama with PTGui. This view from over Lake Mendota looks at the University of Wisconsin campus and the Madison Isthmus. You should see this large so click on the "all sizes" button above the image and select "original" size.
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Memorial day weekend tribute to those who have served.
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One of my favorite musical events of the year is the Opera in the Park at Garner park on the west side of Madison. This was the 10th one and I think I have flown my kite and camera at 7.
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