Autumn Week-end of Kite Aerial photographs - Cerf-volant Club de France - Cepoy
Finish our trip with a weekend KAP (translation for novices Kite Aerial Photography) organized by the CVCF (Kite Club of France) ... What could be better. The meteo does not announce a great wind, but we still try to fly. At least it should not rain!
We meet at Cepoy, a small town in the Loiret (Center region), situated at 92 meters. The town is crossed by the river "Loing" and its canal. The meeting take place at the youth hostel. This building is the former home of the chief of Orleans and Loing Canal or the house of lords of canal, ordered before 1692 by Nicolas Cadot.
For our accommodation, we sleep in our road companion, Woki. We find some friends and get to know (physically) some of the Kapers with whom we exchanged on the forum (photocerfvolant). Good meeting kite flyers start with a drink ... it is well known, so we do not break the rule. And it's our friend Jean Daniel who brings the magic potion.
Despite a feeble wind, we take our kites, those for wind (very) low. Some go for very high wind, others not. Some rigs are already in the air, but still lack a little brightness.
Night falls quickly, tomorrow will be worse as we move to winter time. After lunch, we meet in our meeting room at the youth hostel for a debriefing of the day and also to vote (by secret ballot, like the pros!) and elect three aerial photographs by kites, competitions organized by the permanent CVCF. Hard to choose, as the photos are very good. We have the winners .... You will have to wait for the next issue of Lucane to know them! For those who are not CVCF. For information, the Lucane is the quarterly magazine of the club.
The next day we decide to move to another spot, to make other shots. Direction Chateau-Landon. Contrary to popular belief, there is no castle in Chateau-Landon, but a abbey which now a old people's home. It is the oldest building in the city, but not possible to take off in the parking. A little further down, we sit near a stadium. Idyllic place to get our flying machines and a picnic.
This is the first flight of the new orange and gray kite of Philippe, just clamped in the morning. Emmanuel C. (right) take some nice shots, thanks to its elastic rig... super light!
Emmanuel L. prepares a machine that will fly, even without wind. This is a drone Voyager X8, equipped with a platform for camera or camcorder. This gyro-stabilized platform is on the roll and tilt to enhance the comfort of shooting and mitigate the effects due to movements of the drone. Yes, it is technical, but to make it easier as a "lawn mower" that takes pictures in the air.
We return to our base camp at Cepoy. Lack of wind, Emmanuel L. invites us to a very nice demo of his radio-controlled helicopter: The Aericam VPX, which can lift 5kg load camera or camera. Here Emmanuel will use an EOS 600D. The framing is provided by an LCD video back. First flight to the lock and the canal and then to the leisure center. Below is a moment of poetry ....
Learn more about the drone and the helicopter on rcphotovideo
Video by Wokipi about' Aericam VPX (leisure center)
Video by Emmanuel from Aericam VPX (canal and leisure center) - Vimeo
The lock was built in 1680 on the old canal of Orleans. It was expanded in 1720 at the opening of the Canal du Loing and then extended in 1881 to allow passage of large barges. The canal was dug by order of Duke Philippe d' Orleans, regent of France, was built by Jean-Baptiste de Regemorte and employed 4000 men. Opened to navigation in 1720, with a length of 50km and a vertical drop of 35m, its 19 locks are used to connect the Loire to the Seine (Buges / Moret) via the canal of Briare which it is connected by the reach Montargis -Buges.
We did not have the kite suitable for small wind like this weekend, so no pictures of Wokipi. But we present above, two aerial photos made by kites by our friend Emmanuel C. The first made at Cepoy, the right above the abbey of Château-Landon. To see more, visit his site and his "gallery" aerial photos
Finally, a weekend pleasant and friendly, thank you to Christophe for organizing it, and a great way to close this page of our trip to Central Asia!
