The photo at right is of a bog in Estonia, taken with a digital camera dangling below a kite. It's been entered in a contest on visualization in science:
With its intricate patterns within patterns and striking colors, the winning photograph bears a distinct resemblance to a fractal. But scale back — to about 150 meters above the ground — and the sinuous landforms of Estonia's Männikjärve bog begin to reveal themselves.
In the peat bogs of east-central and southwestern Estonia, autumn works a change in the color scheme: Cotton grass turns gold, hardwoods in surrounding forests turn orange and red, and pine trees remain silvery green. The bog water, in sharp contrast, stays an acidic brown. Geologist James Aber of Emporia State University in Kansas recognized the potential beauty of the landscape when he was collaborating with Estonian colleagues to study the glacial geomorphology and geotectonics of the region. But to capture it, he knew he'd need to get off the ground--or at least, his camera would.
The contest entry is here, and more on do-it-yourself aerial photography from kites is here. I'd like to try this myself, though I'm a little worried about how well the camera would survive!
From Boing Boing.
No comments:
Post a Comment