cape byron – Rob's Photo Blog

Tallow Beach near Byron Bay, New South Wales, Australia.

A recent four week trip to Australia provided several opportunities for kite aerial photography. Byron Bay is one place we stayed for a few days. It is a community that seems to attract hippie wannabees, both young and old. It’s a nice place to visit but for us the weather was, shall we say, mixed.

My fourth Australian KAP session was at Tallow Beach, not far from Byron Bay but on the opposite side of Cape Byron and the Byron Lighthouse. Cape Byron, by the way, is the easternmost point in Australia. I went to Tallow Beach with the hope of getting beach landscapes as well as views of the cape and lighthouse. With weather continuing to be “iffy” I spent a fair amount of time with the kite on the ground. The rain stayed away but I was sensing that I might be allergic to lightning so I was being cautious. I didn’t see any lightning but there were some pretty dark clouds and you are only allowed one chance of getting it wrong. The worst clouds were nearest the cape so I didn’t venture close for very long and I didn’t fly too high. Consequently I didn’t get the type of lighthouse shots I had been planning for. Distant shots of the cape suffered from the poor lighting under the grey conditions. I spent much time trying to capture beach aerials of people walking and jogging by. It was easier to judge the lighting conditions in the area immediate around me and I was keeping the gear low.

These photographs were taken using a remote-controlled camera suspended below a kite line (Kite Aerial Photography – KAP).