Aerial panorama of San Francisco and the Bay Bridge

Captive Airship

Aerial photography of the San Francisco Bay Area and California coast — from kites to drones.

Featured

Wind turbines across golden California hills

Wind farm, Altamont Pass — drone panorama

Gallery

From kite string to flight controller

Mission Creek houseboats and San Francisco skyline

Mission Creek, San Francisco

San Francisco waterfront from kite, black and white

Pier 7, San Francisco — kite aerial

Hunters Point Shipyard — kite aerial

Bay panorama with dramatic clouds and industrial waterfront

Bayview waterfront, San Francisco

San Francisco Bay at dusk with city lights

Dogpatch at dusk, San Francisco

Noyo Harbor and Mendocino coast from above

Noyo Harbor, Fort Bragg

San Francisco from the south with freeway and skyline

Bayshore Freeway, San Francisco

About

A long line in the sky

In 1906, George R. Lawrence sent a camera aloft on a train of kites to photograph San Francisco one month after the earthquake. He called the resulting panorama the work of a "Captive Airship."

More than a century later, I picked up that thread — first sending cameras up on kite lines over the same city, then graduating to drones as the technology evolved. The perspective changed. The fascination with seeing the world from above didn't.

Read the full story

Contact

Get in touch

For inquiries about prints, licensing, or commissions —
hello@captiveairship.com