• My last post of the year on the main website is a bumper issue on the highlights from this past year in Southeast Asian Archaeology. Link in the bio or here:https://www.southeastasianarchaeology.com/2020/12/29/southeast-asian-archaeology-2020-year-in-review/
#southeastasianarchaeology #yearinreview
  • Non-archaeology post, BLACK FRIDAY SALE: A couple of special deals for @adobe products and @expressvpn until 28 November. These are software that I actually use in my day-to-day work, so they might be useful to you too. 24% off for Adobe Creative Cloud (more if you’re a student or teacher!) and 3 months free for a 12-month subscription to Express VPN. Link below and in bio:
https://www.southeastasianarchaeology.com/blackfriday2020/
  • 1) Bangles from Burial 49, Ban Chiang early-middle period. 2) Bent spear tip from Burial 76. 3) The latest volumes from White and Hamilton on the archaeology of Ban Chiang, a significant Unesco World Heritage Site in Thailand. I’m looking for reviewers for the SPAFA Journal @seameospafa (ideally a Thai and/or a professional archaeologist) if you’re interested, send me a PM. #banchiang #thailand #bronzeage #udonthani #book #upenn #booksforeview #thaiarchaeology #southeastasianarchaeology #prehistory #neolithic #thaihistory #บ้านเชียง #unescoworldheritage
  • Entry to Wat Chedi Luang is not much, 40 baht for adults or $US1.30 - but when we entered there was nobody at the booth and the groundskeeper told us to go right in - the lack of tourists meant the inability to pay for ticketing staff. Heritage sites dependent on tourism are taking a beating, like the rest of the industry. We left a small donation to the temple, and at every temple we visited, to help for its upkeep. #covid19 #heritagetourism #archaeotourism #chiangmai #thailand #watchediluang
#วัดเจดีย์หลวง #thaiarchaeology #thaiarchitecture #lanna #lannaculture #southeastasianarchaeology #archaeology #archaeologytravel #oldchiangmai #southeastasia #northernthailand #ancientruins
  • Check out my story for the Night at the Museum event at the Bangkok National Museum - in conjunction with Thai Museums Day on September 19. The museum hosted a tea party with musical and dance performances, followed by guided tours at the galleries. It was a good opportunity to catch the new exhibition ‘San Somdet’ - an exploration of Thai history, archaeology and culture through the correspondence of two princes. #bangkok #thailand #nationalmuseum #nationalmuseumbangkok #nightatthemuseum #sansomdet #thaimuseumday #thaihistory #thaiarchaeology #southeastasianarchaeology
  • In Chiangmai yesterday and today and most of my trip was concentrated in the old city of Chiangmai. Wat Chedi Luang, located close to the centre of the city, is easily the largest stupa in the area despite it incomplete state. Built at the end of the 14th century and damaged by earthquake in the 15th century, the chedi once housed the Emerald Buddha that had previously resided in Luang Prabang and is now in Bangkok. H/T to @pathsunwritten for his guides to Chiangmai. The history and archaeology of northern Thailand is unfamiliar to me, what else should I visit, during my next trip to Chiangmai?
#chiangmai #thailand #watchediluang
#วัดเจดีย์หลวง #thaiarchaeology #thaiarchitecture #lanna #lannaculture #southeastasianarchaeology #archaeology #archaeologytravel #oldchiangmai #southeastasia #northernthailand #ancientruins #emeraldbuddha
  • Chedi Chiang Lom, the oldest building in Wat Chiang Man วัดเชียงมั่น, itself the oldest temple in the old city of Chiangmai. The temple was built in 1297, while King Mengrai was building his new city of Chiangmai. The Chedi is similar to Wat Chang Lom in Sukhothai. #วัดเชียงมั่น #chiangmai #chedi #stupa #elephant #thailand #thaiarchaeology #southeastasianarchaeology #lanna #buddhism #oldcity #ancientarchitecture
  • The Big Bad Wolf book sale might sound familiar if you live in Southeast Asia (especially Malaysia and Thailand), and this year due to the pandemic they
  • Gold leaf relic from the 11-12th century, found inside one of the Khmer temples in Northeast Thailand (I
  • Wat Phra Si Sanphet was one of the most significant temples of Ayutthaya, being located in the grounds of the royal palace. The three chedis here house the remains of three 15th-century kings, Trailok, Ramathibodi II and Borommarachathirat III. The Ayutthaya Historical Park is now reopen to the public, with safe distancing measures in place! #watphrasisanphet #วัดพระศรีสรรเพชญ์ #ayutthaya #royalpalace #ayutthayahistoricalpark #thailand #ruins #chedi #unescoworldheritage #tourismthailand #travelthailand #thaiarchaeology #southeastasianarchaeology
Monday, January 18, 2021
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Home » Featured » Pole photography for archaeology – Part 1: The Problem

Pole photography for archaeology – Part 1: The Problem

Tags: aerial archaeologygeneral archaeologymaps and mappingphotography
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Pole photography for archaeology – Part 1: The Problem

In this series of posts I’ll be blogging about how I put together a pole camera to help me conduct some archaeological work, and how to put together one yourself, if you’re so inclined. 10 months ago, I conducted an archaeological investigation of a rock art site which involved very little excavation, but relied heavily on photography as the primary means of recording. The bulk of the rock art was located on a cliff face 15-35’ above the surface. To access the art up close, I hired a contractor to erect a scaffold in front of the cliff face, which allowed me close access to most of the paintings. On the other hand, the scaffold had a limited time offer (two weeks) and it cost me nearly half the research grant. And it also didn’t cover all the rock art that I needed to record. To cover the other parts of the rock art that wasn’t accessible by the scaffold, I had to rely greatly on zoom photography, but because some of the areas I needed to photograph were so high, quite a few of the images were skewed.


For the first half of the year, I experimented with outfitting a radio-controlled helicopter with a small camera. I started with a simulator, learnt how to hover, and even got as far as a helicopter (an Esky Big Lama, the largest contra-rotating helicopter of its class). It turned out that even the most “stable” helicopters were stable provided there was no wind. So it was useless outdoors, and besides, it could only carry a 50g (yes, gram) load with hampered mobility. Also, hovering radio-controlled helicopters is *extremely* hard to do, requiring months of practice (not to mention extra money, since crashes are expensive). To carry something like a DSLR camera would take far more money than the original scaffold, plus a considerable investment in time to master flying one of these things – neither of which I had.

To sum up the problem and the operating constraints, what I needed was the ability to take high-quality photographs from a stable, elevated platform that could reach heights of 35 feet. This system had to be portable, operable by one person, and cost much less than what I spent on the scaffold. Since I was going to use my personal funds for this project, my budget was around SGD2,500 (about MYR6,000 or USD1800).

Earlier this year, someone posted a comment on kite aerial photography, and through the link I stumbled upon Pole Aerial Photography, which as the name implies, is a camera set atop a pole for low-altitude aerial photography. I haven’t seen anyone do it in this part of the world, and it looked like something that was quite easy to put together. So after months of research and a little poorer, this is what I got:

So what did I put together and how did it work? Read on in the next instalment of the series, Part 2: The Field Test.

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Comments 6

  1. Ann says:
    11 years ago

    Looks nice already! And you definitely have more control over this than using KAP. I assume the rigs/stearing system for both are more or less the same?

  2. noelbynature says:
    11 years ago

    I’m not too sure about the rigs on a KAP setup, but steering isn’t too much of a problem. You’ll see more of the parts list in a couple of days. =D

  3. Ann says:
    11 years ago

    One of my friends made a KAP rig (fortunatily my two cameras were to heavy for the kite *grins*) and it contained 3 motors to rotate the camera to get exactly the part you want. (But he did not get the ‘stream image down’ working, so there was still a bit of a problem getting exactly what you want, that and a kite does not stay as still as a pole. :d

    So yes, please, more episodes about the gear you build! =)

  4. flight school says:
    11 years ago

    I love the pole photography..It looks nice! radio-controlled helicopters is extremely hard to do, requiring months of practice its also costly.

  5. Robert S. Brown says:
    10 years ago

    This aerial photography study is of special interest to me, as I was constructing similar contraptions from as early as 1978 for use at various archaeological sites in southern California. I am presently researching some rock alignment features in the Mojave Desert. I would like to cite your study in the written report, and I don’t know your name. It is good to know that there is another person out there as crazy as I have been accused of being.

  6. michael belt says:
    10 years ago

    I live in the San Diego area and own a business that specializes in elevated imaging – or pole assisted images. I had always wanted to work in this area adnd look forward to hearing for any all contact concerning the application of this photography with this field of science.

    mike
    619.647.9922

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