Esteban Pastorino Diaz
Explanation of the Aerial Series:

“The name of the kite that I use is Rokkaku, it is a traditional Japanese design, very stable with no tail. Normally I use a big one (black). Its size is 6 by 7.5 feet and it can lift the camera easily and even in light wind. If the wind is stronger, I use a tandem of 2 small kites of the same design.

The camera is made of foam board and has a fixed focus (it has to be light weight). The lens is tilted and shifted down so the band of focus at infinite is always in the center (slightly up) of the image. The lens is 105mm f 4.5 taken from an old 2 1/4 x 3 1/2" camera. It doesn't cover all the 4x5 negative, so the corners of the negative are slightly distorted and darker (I like it, it keeps the eye focused on the center). Normally the photographs are shot at f 4.5 1/250sec. using a grey filter to compensate for the difference in exposure due to the tilt and swing.

The shutter is released by means of a Radio control. Normally I try to move the camera to the position that I consider the best point of view, it is difficult to calculate it from the ground so I never know what I am shooting. The shutter is released in the moment of less movement of the camera. Even when a suspension is uses to stabilize the camera, there is always a pendulum movement. The camera is tacked to the kite line around 50 yd below the kite, and the photographs are taken at an altitude between 30 and 70 yd. At this distance I realized that the scale model effect worked better.”




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