Sunday, August 19, 2012

8-18-12 Chicago Lakeshore Shot w/GoPro

We've lived in the Midwest for over two years now and we've never been to Chicago. So we decided it was time for a daytrip. On the agenda was the Science and Industry Museum and then whatever kite locations we could find.

The museum was terrific. Lots to see and lots of walking. The kite locations not so much. There are tons of fabulous locations to fly kites along the Chicago lake shore. But you need to make sure there isn't some sort of special event (or several of them) going on the day you're there. If not, finding parking for less than $50 is impossible as is finding more than 3 square feet of real estate which doesn't have at least a dozen people in it.

This left us with limited options. So we started heading North along the lake until it seemed like the people were starting to thin out a bit. And that brought us to a place known as Waveland Park. Its a little patch of softball fields right next to a small golf course. Perfect.

Winds were light but steady. We flew the delta and used the GoPro to shoot about 15 minutes of HD video. These pics are captures from that video which explains why they're a little on the rough side as far as resolution goes. Because despite its name, HD video works out to only about 2 megapixels when it comes to still photos. Next flight, we'll likely experiment with having the GoPro shoot stills every 2 seconds or so which should yield better resolution photos.

8-18-12 Chicago Lakeshore 1

8-18-12 Chicago Lakeshore 14

8-18-12 Chicago Lakeshore 11

8-18-12 Chicago Lakeshore 26

8-18-12 Chicago Lakeshore 28

After we brought the camera down, we decided to test our newest kite. A Rokkaku we bought in North Carolina last year. We've never flown one and they're a bit tricky. But they do extremely well in light wind conditions once you figure out how to rig them properly. We didn't feel confident enough to fly the camera with it this time out but it did really well otherwise. I think it will be a useful addition to our collection. This pic was shot with my droid phone.


Rokkaku first flight

1 comment:

  1. Gorgeous pics, Joe! Chicago is a gorgeous place. Except in the winter :-)
    Your sister in law Pitsy xx

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