May - 2019

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

Eager Wannabe Aerial Archaeologists Visit Prlekija

Inspired by fantastic aerial archaeology work by dr. John Wells (who uses kites for flying the cameras!), with last summer's discoveries at Newgrange, and with our own chance find at castle Kalec, we went searching for more ancient remains that can be seen only from the air. The Ministry of Culture of Slovenia maintains a database of cultural heritage that is conveniently shown on this map, sorted by type of heritage and by age. As we were headed to Prlekija in the norheast,

Arcadia: Dornava Manor and the Grand Baroque Axis

Et in Arcadia ego ... Baroque style - fodder for the masses, as the poet wrote - was both flamboyant and organized; countering the austere and sombre Reformation and celebrating the power of humans over Nature. While sacral Baroque architecture and art went berserk soon - losing itself in excesses of the Rococco - houses, manors and especially gardens of the time retained some sense of Grand Order, with intricate geometric designs, leading lines, extending toward horizons. A

Zaplana: the Birthplace of Dragons

Vast, deep forests of Zaplana plateau, some 30 km southwest of Ljubljana, are a mysterious place. A place where dragons live - and are born. So where better to fly a kite - incidentally, the Slovene word for kite, zmaj means dragon (as it does in many other languages) - than here! Do dragons really fly above these forests? In the religion of Old Slavs, chthonic god Veles - seen sometimes as a serpent or a dragon - inhabits the underground; he is both an antagonist of light a

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.