Beach Kites

A Carefully Selected Photo Gallery

Here's a select bunch of images from the snap-happy crowd at Flikr.com, featuring beach kites, clouds, and general kite-surfing action! Most of these photos feature Leading Edge Inflatable kites (LEIs), favored by kite surfers for their heavy pulling power and their ability to easily relaunch from water.

As far as kites go, I'm more of a single-liner man, so I'll stick to commenting on the photography here!

A bit further down, the emphasis shifts to finely detailed closeup shots of these large and spectacular kites.

Finally, I picked a shot which manages to cram into frame a surprising number of these surfing kites in action! It's a real eye-catcher.

But first, here are eight action shots of this popular water sport.

(Update: Apologies for the somewhat small size of the images; this page is well over a decade old!)

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This is an amazing study in shades of blue, with hardly any trace of other colors. There are interesting textures in the water, too. The photo was taken with an iPhone, apparently.

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The 300-pixel width doesn't really do this photo justice, due to the texture effect which is more apparent at larger sizes. However, the hand-painted stormy feel does come across well. What a marvelous image!

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Down at the beach, this kite's high up where it's a bit more manageable. It's an interesting photo, with the sun below the backlit bird-like purple kite. Everything's happening down the right-hand third of the image! An unusual composition maybe, but it works for me.

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Down at the beach, kites are in the air and a lone figure strolls in the foreground. You can just about feel the breeze and the warmth of the sun emanating from this great pic!

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Here's a very confident kite surfer, restraining a large kite with one arm while dragging the other in the water.

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How's this fine action shot of the kite straining against a stiff breeze, with the surfer almost obscured by spray. Some still shots manage to convey a sense of movement (without any speed blur), don't they.

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I love the camera angle on this photo. The traction kite is firmly in the foreground, in an idyllic setting.

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There's a slightly lazier feel in this photo of two kite surfers in action at Haifa beach. Kites for surfing are also popular in Israel.

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At the Beach, Kites in Closeup

This is a great shot, taken near sundown. You can even see the bridle fittings!

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Here's another superb shot, with the battens and bridle detail along the leading edge easily apparent.

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Talk about a high-visibility color combination against the blue sky! There's a jolt of yellow with some jet-black areas and searing-red spars. There are some rather cool artistic motifs as well.

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This is a very crisp image in larger sizes, showing every detail of the lettering, bridle, and general structure of the kite.

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Another fine closeup is seen here, showing many small details of the kite.

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Isn't this an awesome photo, no doubt helped by the kite being in the right spot at the right time! The sun shining through the translucent sail layers shows up the art work on both sides. It's another study in shades of blue like the very first image on this page. That is, if you count black as being a very dark shade of blue, I suppose!

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Racing—Beach Kites and Hills

Check out this remarkable photo, particularly with the positions of the kites almost matching the profile of the hills in the background. I don't think I've ever seen so many kites over the water and in the same frame like this, so I just had to include it here.

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