Thoughts on KAP and Viewfinders

I still haven’t flown a video downlink system on my KAP rig. The 900MHz system I have built has about a 100′ range to it, so it really would work for low altitude KAP. It’s a matter of opportunity rather than capability. And even once it arrives I won’t be able to use the 5.8GHz system I have on order. In that case it’s a matter of licensing. Each of these will resolve themselves in time.

But having a working video system hanging around the house has got me to thinking about KAP and photography in general, and viewfinders in particular. Because that’s essentially what a video downlink is: it’s a viewfinder for KAP.

I’ve done KAP since 2007 without a viewfinder. Every KAP image I’ve made to date has been aimed by look and feel. I’ve had some real stinkers, but I’ve had some real winners, too. So I can say first-hand that the blind KAP approach works. It works quite well. And the serendipity factor of coming home and eagerly opening up the images to see what you got has a lot of appeal.

But it’s also where the disappointment really kicks in, too. I’ll give you two examples of this:

The first has to do with the Keahole Point Lighthouse. I photographed the lighthouse on three occasions, two during World Wide KAP Week 2009. The second of these was a tricky session from the standpoint of weather. There was a storm rolling in off the coast, and conditions were changing as the face of the storm approached. But the light was fantastic! It was hands-down the best session I’d had at the lighthouse, and one of my best KAP sessions to date. I got a number of really good photographs from that set. But upon review there were a couple of near-misses. I promised myself I’d go back out and give it another go. When the light was good. And the weather was right. Of course that never happened. Less than a year later the lighthouse was torn down because erosion of the coastline made it a safety hazard. Now I can never go back and get those images I almost had. The opportunity is gone.

More recently I had a session near Ookala on the Hamakua Coast. For most of the flight I couldn’t actually see my subject. So I aimed as best I could and shot eight gigs worth of photos. Fewer than 10% were keepers. The rest simply missed the mark.

This got me thinking about how I used to do photography when all there was was film. For a two week trip I’d bring fourteen rolls of Fuji Velvia and fifty sheets of Kodak TMax 100. Keep in mind that at the time this was considered to be a lot: 72 35mm color slides per day, and a little over four sheets of 4×5 B&W per day. The idea was simple: You already spent all this time and money to get there. Don’t skimp on your film. (Or your lenses, tripods, etc.) Why compromise your chances of coming home with good photographs?

This is where I am with KAP. I spend time and money building KAP rigs and learning to fly the kites. I spend time and money driving to a good location in order to do photography. I sometimes hike for hours to reach the subject I intend to photograph. And then I leave things to chance?

I still haven’t used the downlink in the field. I’m certain there are aspects to this I’m not thinking through. But one thing is clear to me: I want my viewfinder back.

– Tom