Kitesurfers

The theme for this event, 'sustenance', provoked a lot of debate amongst WWP contributors about exactly what the word meant, and how far its interpretation could be stretched.

I'd originally planned a fairly traditional take on the word, with a panorama of one of Kent's famous apple orchards, but after having done the photography on a glorious late summer morning, we headed down to the coast to make the most of the sun. As we got close to Camber, the flock of power kites that filled the sky made a spectacular scene, and I just had to get down among the action and shoot another panorama.

Does it fit the theme? Well, the Chambers 21st Century Dictionary defines sustenance as "something... that nourishes the body or that keeps up energy or spirits", and also as "something that maintains, supports or provides a livelihood". This dynamic, wind-powered recreation is certainly keeping up the participants' spirits, and the wind is undoubtedly providing plenty of support to some of the kiters. That's good enough for me - and I think it makes a great panorama.

Of course, not all of the kitesurfers and power kiters were in the positions shown at exactly the same time, but none of them have been moved from the positions where they were photographed. With the fast-moving clouds, it took about 8 hours to blend the sky into something vaguely acceptable...

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Europe / UK-England

Lat: 50° 55' 46.64" N
Long: 0° 48' 59.46" E

Elevation: 0m

→ maps.google.com [EXT]

Precision is: High. Pinpoints the exact spot.

Canon EOS 350D, Sigma 8mm fisheye F4. Manfrotto tripod with levelling attachment and 360Precision panoramic head. Images cleaned with NeatImage and stitched in PTGui.