i recently picked up the hobby of kite aerial photography (KAP) and wondering if anyone else was into it? i seem to be the one of only a few aussie on the KAP forum.
the idea being to get a single line kite which flies smoothly, suspend an adjustable rig holding your camera from the kite line and take photos looking down from a hundred metres or more in the air. my camera is a Canon Powershot A550 which takes the excellent CHDK hack which allows me to write scripts (in ubasic) to control the camera. so i set the script to automatically take photos, zoom in, take more photos, zoom in further, take more photos, zoom out, etc. over and over all while the camera is up in the air, til the memory card is full.
i took the cheaper alternative but other methods of camera control include mechanical shutter button control with a servo and timer, or using remote control or wireless control via the camera's USB port - if it has one. you can also use a microprocessor to not only cotrols the camera but also, by activating servo's, to pan and tilt the rig to get different views and angles.
i'm kinda new at it so my photos are limited, but you do get a very interesting perspective of the world from up above. plus its fun to be outside, in the sun and the wind and enjoying the surroundings.
anyone with a canon powershot should definitely check out CHDK.
some URLs for the interested:
KAP Flickr Group:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/kiteaerialphotography/pool
KAP forum:
http://ostro.ced.berkeley.edu/~crisr/discuss/
CHDK:
http://chdk.wikia.com
ian
, these are great Ian 
