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George Lawrence Photography Revisited
danlor writes "We were all taken aback 4 years ago when someone linked us the history of George Lawrence and his photos of the aftermath of the 1906 San Fransisco earthquake. I personally thought to myself: man, I would love to make one of those cameras. The idea of flying 2,000-pound cameras with kites... Well, someone has actually recreated the feat. They even provide links to get large prints of the original and recreated scenes."
They forgot one thing: the earthquake...
They used a helicopter, not kites. Cheaters.
My other account has a 3-digit UID.
They apparently used a helicopter instead of a series of kites, which makes the "recreation" somewhat boring.
As a state gets corrupt, its laws multiply; the most corrupt states have the most numerous laws. (Tacitus, Annales 3:27)
According to TFA, the camera weighed only a rather less impressive 46 lbs.
The summary says the camera was 2,000 pounds, the link says it was 46 pounds.
Judging by Service Denied messages the server's been taken out by an earthquake too.
Talk about misleading. Recreated?
"Although flying kites should be the method of choice, more important is to obtain the correct image. Air space restrictions, and common sense required the use of a helicopter. The new image was shot from the exact location as Lawrence achieved in 1906."
That is according to the new photographers. I just love their usage of the word "exact". Uh huh. Not to mention a helicopter was used instead of a kite.
The original page states a 46 pound camera, but the article states 2000 pounds.
"I'm sure the Mr. Lawrence would have used a helicopter if it had been available. We had a wonderful side trip"
I don't doubt that. The article is misleading and contradictory, and I did not see what I thought I was going to see. What they accomplished is pretty neat, and certainly good photography, but not groundbreaking or particularly mind blowing.
I just feel like the ol' bait and switch gag has been played on us
The summary is wrong. It defies common sense that someone would be flying a 907kg (2,000lb, for SI-impaired ones) anything on a kite. Actually, the camera had around 21kg (46lb), as stated by TFA. But the kite was flying around 610m (2,000ft) high, and this is where I think the figure came from.
My neighbor's
Coral Cache link: http://www.ronkleinphotos.com.nyud.net/Lawrence.html
Links:
http://www.ronkleinphotos.com.nyud.net:8090/Lawrence.html
http://www.ronkleinphotos.com.nyud.net:8090/success.html
PS. Install the Slashdotter extension for Firefox, does the CC links automagically.
.: Max Romantschuk
That's nearly a tonne... the article states that the camera is approx 46 pounds. Submitters... please rtfa before submitting. And if you did, then pay attention to it.
You have to remember back then there was no FAA. Getting clearance to fly a helicopter in one spot is one thing, but try getting the FAA, the wind, and positioning to conspire just for this. For that matter, try getting past the FAA with a huge kite without being laughed out of the office.
Windows has detected an undetectable error.
They really got things done right in the early 1900's, i wonder what New Orleans will look like next august.
Next recreation: The Battle of Thermopylae, only we'll be using M1 Abrams Tanks instead of Spartans.
Only to idiots, are orders laws.
-- Henning von Tresckow
Not only were the cameras weighing 45+ pounds each, but the kite itself was made of lead!! (See illustration) http://activetectonics.asu.edu/kites/06eq.html
I know the the camera was was not 2000lbs
but here is a link to show a kite CAN lift more then you think
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHkAL1jTojY
...I'm sure the Mr. Lawrence would have used a helicopter if it had been available... He would have used an airship if he had had the money.On the other hand:
I'm sure he would have used a Leica Aviophot RC30 camera if it had been available.
I'm sure he would have used digital post processing and multi-spectral analysis if it had been available.
I'm sure he would have driven a Saleen S7 to the airport for the shoot - if either the Saleen or the airport had been available.
You never really know how close to the edge you can go until you fall off.
Especially with the advent of lightweight digital cameras (no more wasted film or being limited to 24/36 shots). Just google for kite aerial photography. It's got a Wikipedia entry and even a jargon wiki.
For all the whining about not using kites, etc., no one has acknowledged the recreation of the camera. They did recreate a century old piece of equipment and used it to take an extremely high quality photo. I went to school from junior high through college with Ron Klein, and I guarantee that he built a meticulous reproduction of the original camera. It wouldn't surprise me if he used 100 year old brass screws to put the thing together. Let's give some props to some extremely cool retro-tech work instead of bashing it.
Some mornings it's hardly worth chewing through the restraints to get out of bed.
Gigapan has the original Lawrence kite photo from after the earthquake. You can zoom in and explore. It was digitized at about 60 megapixels.
The idea of flying 2,000-pound cameras with kites.
I think they call those "spy satellites" nowadays.
The higher the technology, the sharper that two-edged sword.