By GEORGE FJELD
BRANDON — Sunday evening at the historic Brandon Town Hall, Brandon native Caleb Kenna presented a slide show of his extraordinary drone images from around Vermont. His slide show and talk was personal and interspersed with quotes from many who influenced him, including, he said, Buddha, Ansel Adams and Abraham Lincoln.
Kenna entertained his audience with vivid descriptions of his process, using flying camera photographing from ground level to 400 feet in the air. His drone contains a camera which he controls remotely. Not being a video gamer, Caleb admitted that learning to fly the drone with a joystick was difficult. Describing the learning curve of running a drone while paddling a canoe, he admitted the learning curve had its challenges and didn’t always go as planned: one drone ended up in Otter Creek while another crashed into a tree.
Kenna’s favorite time to fly his drone is at dawn, when the air is still and the light is soft. During the middle of the day, he prefers to photograph straight down on his subjects. His second favorite time is dusk when the light again becomes softer and the winds calmer.
Kenna discussed the development of his art from picking up his father’s Nikon in high school to dreaming of being an international traveler taking pictures in the four corners of the world. Well attended by an enthusiastic group about 50 people, many stayed to have Kenna inscribe their newly purchased books. He was welcomed by Barbara Ebling of The Bookstore and warmly introduced by Stephanie Jerome, local state representative.
