One of the most recognizable photos in American history, George Lawrence's "San Francisco in Ruins," taken after the devastating 1906 earthquake, was taken by camera suspended below a train of kites. (You can read more about this famous photo in this 2006 Invention and Technology magazine article.)

In theory, Kite Aerial Photography is simple: suspend a camera from a kite line and use some method to remotely trigger the shutter. There are many ways to do that and Kite Aerial Photographers (KAPers) keep coming up with new ones. In practice KAP can be quite challenging. Besides the obvious questions of what kite, what camera, how much wind, how to trigger the shutter, there is the simple fact that (except with some very elaborate video transmission rigs) the photographer can't actually see what he/she is photographing. KAPers often paraphrase Forest Gump's mother: "It's like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're going to get."

On these pages you see examples of the best of our KAP, taken mostly here on the beautiful northwest coast of Puerto Rico.