Rob Ferrett and Veronica Rueckert look at a new initiative for Wisconsinites with disabilities, learn about kite aerial photography, and explore the viral nature of the internet.
Featured in this Show
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Wisconsin From Above: Capturing The State From A Kite's Perspective
Thirty-one years ago, Craig Wilson was bored and looking for something to do. So his wife gave him a kite.
The original kite lead Wilson to start making his own. He said the kites he made started getting bigger and better and before long, he had built a kite that was 20-feet tall. While flying it for the first time, Wilson brought along his camera, thinking he’d need to photograph the kite in case the line broke or the kite was lost. Then, the light bulb moment happened.
“I’m holding the kite with one hand, and my camera up to my eye with the other, and I go …’That’s got to be the next thing I do is actually lift the camera with this kite,’” he said.
The rest, as they say, is history.
Wilson now captures aerial photos all over Wisconsin — from Madeline Island to the Memorial Union on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus, and many places in between.
What makes these photos unique, according to Wilson, is the unusual heights the pictures are taken it. He said the shots that he takes are radically different from ones taken from a roof or from an airplane and therefore, stands out amongst other forms of aerial photography. The pictures are taken at altitudes anywhere from 50 feet to a couple hundred feet, depending on the situation.
But it’s one thing to just take pictures and another thing to have them mean something. Wilson said he was struck early on by the human activity the pictures captured.
“Most of your aerial photos that you would see … you can find a house and you might be able to see a car, but you’re not going to see people,” he said. “And you’re not going to understand how they’re interacting in the world.”
While kites don’t fall under the same FAA regulations as drones, Wilson said he’s careful to ask permission before flying his kite anywhere. He also said he’s seeing an increased interest in low-altitude photography because of the proliferation of personal drones.
For anyone interested in taking up kite photography, Wilson points out that there are plenty of resources on the Internet to get started, which is very different from when he took up the hobby a quarter of a century ago.
To see more of Wilson’s photos, visit his Flickr page.
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Scott Walker Announces Push For Job Training and Placement For Wisconsin's Disabled
In the last State of the State address of his first term as governor, Scott Walker announced a push for job training and placement for Wisconsinites with disabilities. Disability Rights Wisconsin weighs in on what that might address.
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Kite Aerial Photography
In Hidden Wisconsin we’ll talk with a kite aerial photographer about his passion for capturing dazzling images from a bird’s eye view.
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What It Means To 'Go Viral'
From cat videos to breaking news, viral information has become essential in today’s society. A researcher talks about what virality is, and how our world is being shaped by the flow of online information.
Episode Credits
- Rob Ferrett Host
- Veronica Rueckert Host
- Chris Malina Producer
- Galen Druke Producer
- Karl Christenson Producer
- Craig Wilson Guest
- Lisa Pugh Guest
- Karine Nahon Guest
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