March - 2018

THE WORLD, VIEWED FROM A KITE

Welcome to the website of aerial photography enthusiasts, taking photos from the air in a natural, organic and gluten-free way: with a kite.

Island at the End of Summer

The Power of Bora

Kite Science: Assessing Water Pollution from the Sky

Above st. Volbenk church, Zelše

Beyond the northwestern end of famous and beautiful Cerknica intermittent lake lies the village of Zelše. And on the top of the hill just beyond the village there is a small church, dedicated to saint Volbenk - as bishop Wolfgang of Regensburg is known in Slovenia. (Church of St. Volbenk, Zelše, Slovenia - from a kite.) The church is nice and small, a truly picturesque sight. It was built around 1680 on a triconch plan, with three symmetrical apses on the northeastern, southe

New look at the old channel

This is Ljubljanica river's first (partly) artificial channel, called Stržen: The Romans dug it in the 1st century AD al the way through the Ljubljana Marshes in order to shorten the travel between Nauportus (today Vrhnika) and Emona (Ljubljana). It silted up hundreds of years ago, and the water flows here only after intense rains. Photos taken with Nikon 1 J1 - it was Millie's first true KAP flight! Learn more about Roman water engineering - click on our previous post!

A strange bird above Iški Morost Nature Reserve

March 22nd is World Water Day, so KAP Jasa went to Ljubljana Marshes in search of the last remaining wet meadows: Iški Morost or Iška moor. (A north-south view of eastern part of Iška moor. Wet grasslands transitions to shrubland to flood forest.) Within the Iški morost nature reserve, some of the finest examples of damp marshy grasslands in the Ljubljana Marshes are preserved, as well as the largest connected area of the highly endangered grassland habitat type – the humid

Giant squid in the air!

Not all kites are workhorses. Some are pure fun: This is our Giant squid called Liggie, a showkite. Sewn by Janez, plan by master kitebuilder Ivo Van Olmen. As a showkite, Liggie the Squid can't fly by itself; it is attached to the line of a lifter and let to wiggle in the wind. Here the Royal 69 Sled carries it in ~25 km/h wind: Kites like this are so funny, fascinating, and spectacular. Make one yourself! ;-)

Millie flies!

First flight of our new KAP kite; 2x2 m French military design; 3,3 square meters of fabric, 738 grams including spars. It is extremely stable and has an enormous pull, so a lot of hopes are riding on this kite aerial platform. Alas, the wind was just barely enough to lift it (<5 km/h), so no kite aerial photos this time ...

Have we just discovered something?

We always say kite is a great scientific tool and that kite aerial photography can lead to actual discoveries (great masters at West Lothian Aerial Archaeology proved that so many times) - and now this! (TL;DR: did we discover something in the river? Probably not.) As we checked our kite aerial photos of river Unica in Planina karst field, Slovenia, we noticed this submerged structure. Hearts and minds raced - is it man made? Could it be - a boat? There was a special type of

A new kite!

KAP Jasa proudly presents - Millie! Millie is our latest - and so far the largest - KAP kite, of French military design. 2 meters high, 2 meters wide, 3,3 square meters of fabric, 738 grams including spars. Measured, cut and sewn by master seamster and chief kite pilot Janez ("Ja" in KAP Jasa 😊).

KAP JASA TEAM

KAP Jasa stands for Kite Aerial Photography - Janez and Saša. An ingenious name, isn't it?

Janez is the chief pilot, kite designer and maker, photographer and DTP wizard.

Saša is a co-pilot, know-it-all wannabe, pulisher, writer and editor.

We started KAP Jasa in July 2017, some months after the first try of taking pictures with a mobile phone taped to a stunt kite went rather awry. Our first true KAP kite was a 200 cm blue Rokkaku Dako, drawn ands sewn by Janez, and so delicately made it can lift a compact camera in a 5 km/h breeze. A 160 cm Royal 69 Sled followed, suitable for stronger winds, and a 333 cm Great White Delta is the latest addition. All kites are made by Janez on his venerable Ruža sewing machine.

Those kites carry various photo and video equipment: a Braun Jumper II and a Denver 5020TWC action cameras for video, and a Canon A810 compact camera and a Nikon 1 J1 mirrorless camera for stills.