YMCA

I set myself up with Pole Aerial Photography equipment about 2 years ago but prefer to do kite aerial photography so rarely to I bring out the pole. This week it came in handy as I did my first PAP session of 2011.

I’ve been a member at the Carlingwood YMCA-YWCA on Lockhart Avenue for over 20 years, primarily in the Masters Swimming Program. I have also had the pleasure of working at the membership desk for about 18 months. Regrettably the property has been sold and at the end of next summer (2012) the doors will close with the expectation that the building will be flattened and a retirement residence will be built in its place.

I’ve been thinking for some time that I would like to do aerial shots of the building before it is gone using Kite Aerial Photography. However, the criteria I was seeking to do this have been a bit restrictive due to circumstances. I’ve been planning for the fall when the trees concealing the front of the building have lost their leaves but there is still some colour around. At this time of year morning light between 10:00 and 11:00 am is required to illuminate the front so that the sun clears the apartments across the road but has not slipped too far westward to leave the front in shadow. A SW wind would be required to fly my kite from the neighbouring schoolyard towards the front of the building. This would have to be on a weekend so that I could avoid children in the schoolyard.

So over a 4 week period there would be 8 days when I need 15 to 20 KM winds from the SW between 10:00-11:00 am on a sunny day. This was just not happening. So one weekday this week I just went with a 20′ pole and did Pole Aerial Photography instead.

I was spotted by former work colleagues during the course of shooting and was commandeered into trying a group shot of a small portion of staff and children.

Here’s the results. A number of the building shots have been stitched to produce a panoramic view.

The images in this gallery were taken with a remote controlled camera atop a 20 foot pole. (Pole Aerial Photography – PAP)

Aerial photograph of the Carlingwood YMCA-YWCA on Lockhart Avenue in Ottawa, Ontario. Several images have been stitched to provide a larger, panorama-style view.