OIOflEAPHY 



KITE PHOTOGRAPHY. 



A branch of photography, which is both 

 useful and entertaining, and yet practised by 

 hardly anybody in this country at present, is 

 kite photography. W. A. Eddy, of New Jer- 

 sey, is noted for the work he has accom- 

 plished along this line, and the appliances he 

 now uses are somewhat more intricate than 

 the average amateur would care to tackle. 

 The following described apparatus is very 

 simple, will entail little outlay and will serve 

 for pictures two and a quarter inches square, 

 made at a height of 1,000 feet. One kite, 

 measuring seven feet by five, is needed, or 

 two kites, each four feet by three and a half, 

 arranged tandem fashion. The single kite is 

 better, perhaps, for the novice. Each kite is 

 made on a cross-shaped framework of light 

 deal, an eighth of an inch thick and two 

 inches wide. In the case of the single aero- 

 plane, the longer piece is seven feet, and the 

 shorter five, the latter screwed and firmly 

 bound with strong cord across the longer lath, 

 about two feet from the top. Throughout the 

 construction, the greatest care must be taken 

 that the sides balance evenly. Several long, 

 very thin bamboo canes are made to form the 

 outline of the kite by being screwed and 

 bound with cord to the four extremities of 

 the kite. The covering may be of tough pa- 

 per, but light fabric is better. 



The cable is made of a strong double cord 

 3,000 feet long. Six thousand feet will thus 

 be necessary. A large reel should be used 

 for winding, with an axis long enough to be 

 grasped in both hands. 



A piece of whipcord three and a half feet 

 long forms the connection between cable and 

 kite. It is fastened to the longer lath at 

 points one foot and four feet from the top. 

 It is best to attach the cable to the middle of 

 this loop. The tail of the kite is made in the 

 usual manner. About 24 yards from the kite, 

 about two feet of the cable is left unwound 

 and in the middle of this is fastened the plat- 

 form from which the camera suspends. The 

 platform is of two pieces of deal nine inches 

 long, three inches wide and an eighth inch 

 thick. These are screwed together from the 

 top with the cords held between them and 

 spread as far apart as possible. The revolv- 

 ing table, which goes on the under side of the 

 platform and holds the camera, is a piece of 

 deal, five inches by three and three-quarters, 



and three-eighths thick. In the middle the 

 bush of an ordinary tripod screw is fitted. 

 The camera hangs from this table by two 

 laths, each four and a half inches long, an 

 inch wide and an eighth thick. These are 

 fastened by screws at the middle of each long 

 side of the table, so as to hang down at right 

 angles to it. The fastened ends must, of 

 course, not project above the table. 



The camera may be of the Brownie type, 

 this being the lightest camera on the market. 

 The trials may be made with the camera as 

 bought, but the work proper should be un- 

 dertaken with a good rectilinear lens and a 

 shutter of the Bausch & Lomb type. The 

 lens must be of such a wide angle in propor- 

 tion to its short focal length that the kite 

 need not be flown too high to include a wide 

 view. With the lens that would ordinarily be 

 used with such a small film or plate the angle 

 of view would be too narrow. 



The camera is used inverted. Over the 

 middle of the two sides, a piece of quarter- 

 inch wood, two inches square, is fastened 

 firmly with fish glue. The exact centre of the 

 camera side is marked on each of these 

 squares. Half an inch from the free end of 

 each lath projecting from the revolving table 

 a hole is bored, which allows the smooth 

 shank of a half-inch screw to move within it. 

 These screws pass through the wooden 

 squares at the sides of the camera at their 

 centre points, and if they project into the in- 

 side of the camera, must be filed off. The in- 

 ner box, containing the film, should be taken 

 out while this is being done. The camera 

 thus attached should hang level and permit of 

 bedng turned over. A thin leather strap, 

 seven inches long, with holes pierced every 

 quarter inch, hangs from each corner of the 

 table, to hold the camera firmly at any angle. 

 Four small round-headed screws' are required 

 to button these straps to the camera. They 

 are carefully driven into the sides of the cam- 

 era, as near the ends as possible. In the cen- 

 tre of the platform, which is attached to the 

 cable, a hole is made for the tripod screw, 

 which fits into the bushing in the revolving 

 table. Thus fitted, any necessary position of 

 the camera can be attained. 



The working of the shutter is an easy mat- 

 ter. A coiled spring or a stout rubber band 

 is fitted to the shutter release, so as to exert 

 a force necessary to make the exposure. The 



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