hoym

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Posts posted by hoym

  3. Wow! I really like the Iwanpop1 shot.

    Is there any way that you can take some pictures of and post to show the rest of us how you have the 550EX mounted?

    I've already bought the extention cord [for my 420EX grumble, grumble, grumble (it's for sale by the way)].

    I'm planning to build the mount for my new (yet to be purchased) 550EX over the winter time. And start working with flash this upcoming spring.

    later days,
    -mike.

  4. Oops. I guess I didn't understand the question correctly the first way I read it. I was going for best quality of shot/picture.

    There are pros and cons to both types of set ups. I like the weight distribution of having a side mount pc camera. The closer I can get the weight of the camera to my shoulders, the less whiplash I feel with a too hard opening.

    I think the camera helmet pictured in this post looks very cool. I've never seen one in person nor talked to anyone who has personal experience with it. Anyone who does, I'd like to hear about it. http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=648180;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;;page=unread#unread

    I think one of the best things a camera flyer can do to be safe (not hurt themselves) is to have a canopy that consistently opens very slow and soft.

  5. I think that you will find that there is not necessarily a best helmet configuration that will help you get better video/pics for any of the disciplines that you mention.

    A small list of some things that will give you better video/pics include…
    1. Getting your body in position to get the best shot. There are three dimensions that you have to work with here. Up, down, left, right, and distance. As you progress, you will become more aware of and take into consideration... angle and position of the sun. What is in the back ground, airplane, a nice cloud, lake, landscape, town, other jumpers, dead spider, etc. You are not going to work with the zoom feature of your lenses/camera during a freefall. Your position controls the zoom. The right jumpsuit will help with getting into position quicker but I would say it is as much or more about flying skill than which suit you wear. Along with wearing the right attire is knowing if/when/and how much weight you might need to put in your weight vest in order to match the fall rate of the tandem customer or other subject.
    2. Having your camera(s) and eye piece all in alignment so that the image that you are looking at is centered where you want it to be on all the cameras. (Read the articles on paralax(sp?) issues.)
    3. Timing of knowing when to click the shutter release.
    4. Higher quality film / cameras will give better results.

    I started with a TRV on top. Later added a still on front. Moved to a PC on the side with the still camera still on the front. I’ve most recently switched to both still camera and PC style on top.

    Where the camera is mounted doesn’t do diddly for getting a good shot. Flying skills will be the primary contributor to good camera work. But even that won’t do any good if the still camera points one way, the video points another, the zoom is different on both cameras, and the eyepiece points another direction and your head points another.

    There was a recent thread about jump suits. I started with an old baggy flight suit with swoop cords about 12 years ago. Moved to a small wing tony suit 7 years ago. Moved to a large wing tony suit 3 years ago. I'm finally feeling good about the range that this suit has to offer but it has been a learning process all along the way.

    Your question didn’t include camera helmet system safety issues when putting together a camera helmet but as an added note, as many posts have pointed out, be wary of snag points and practice the additional emergency procedures for entanglements.

  6. The camera is the new Canon 10D that came out this spring with the Canon 20mm lens. (I agree with everything Deuce has said about it in this forum since he got his. It's GREAT!)

    Shooting CReW is a blast but I find it easier to do with a non-crew canopy. I used my Diablo 135 in this case. It is the canopy I use most often.

    I've got a Triathlon 160 that makes it HARD to stay down with a canopy formation especially 3 stack or greater. Even these bulky slow prodigies. Flying the 135 is kind of like a hummingbird buzzing around a lumbering albatross. It seems to be easier to get where I want to be much more quickly.

    -mh.

  7. Hey All,

    I just got back yesterday from 5 days at the Des Moines Skydivers Dollar Daze Couch Freaks Boogie in Ft. Dodge, Iowa.

    Thanks for the kind words. Lotta luck here.

    Some had asked to see the pic. Here is most of the series. For some reason even though I uploaded them in order, they don't seem to be listed in order. The numbers will help with that.

    The downplane had to be cropped a bit and there is some motion artifact in there also. When they went to the downplane I went into a spiral after them but they got too far away too fast.

    Doc John has the video of the side by side / downplane on his web site. He tacked it onto the very end of the 4-way RW video.

    www.manifestmaster.com/video

    Regards,
    -mh.

  8. Thanks for the GREAT link to Flash information.
    This is an excerpt from the site...

    "Flash units with rapid-fire capabilities:
    Speedlites 160E, 300EZ, 420EZ, 430EZ, 540EZ, 550EX, 480EG.

    Flash units with no rapid-fire capabilities:
    Speedlites 200E, 220EX, 380EX, 420EX, ML-3, MR-14EX, MT-24EX, 300TL. "

    If this is true then it explains why the 420EX won't rapid fire and that I made an expensive mistake when buying that flash.

    Anyone want to buy a 6 month old practically un-used 420EX that works great but does not have rapid-fire capability? :(

  9. I've got the 420EX and I can't get it to flash and recharge rapidly enough to keep up with the continuous shooting mode of the 10D.
    I even took it to the camera shop and plugged a LARGE battery pack to it and it still won't rapid fire with continuous shooting of the camera.
    Anybody know how I can get a flash to rapid fire with the camera?
    Can the 520 keep up with the continuous mode of the camera?

  11. I submitted a picture to Parachutist for the first time a couple months ago.
    And, it got published in the September issue that came in the mail yesterday.
    Anyway, it is the first time one of my pictures ever got published and it made the centerfold.
    :)

  12. This was an accident really.

    At the end of a down plane, my friends shoe came off. We watched it tumble down and land smack in the middle of a farm pond. We landed and then hiked over. It was still out in the middle of the pond, floating sole down, laces up.

    We did a rock/paper/scissors thing to see who had to go get it.

  13. Somebody earlier in this thread was asking about the differences between a jump operation and a student pilot operation.

    It’s been a while since I worked in that arena so I don’t know if this has changed or not. One difference that I remember is that a student pilot will normally rent the airplane that he receives his flight instruction in. Any airplane that is rented must be within 100 operating hours of its ‘100 hour inspection’. A 100 hour inspection is (correct me if I’m wrong) close to but not quite as thorough as an annual inspection.

    Because a jump plane is (normally) not being rented by an owner to an operator, it is not required to receive a 100 hour inspection after every 100 hours of operation. This is an additional cost that many DZOs would probably not like to incur. However, it wouldn’t be too bad of an idea as worn parts may be discovered and replaced before they actually break.

  14. Well, I didn't say everyone did it.

    He just discovered this at a boogie one year (when everyone was sitting around logging jumps and asking for signatures). He found that this took place in more than one skydiver logbook without looking too hard or through too many logbooks.

    It was kind of a funny story when he handed this logbook back to the guy and said, "Wow, jump 575 was sure interesting." And the guy couldn't find the jump in his own logbook.
    Of course no one would do that on purpose.
    It's probably just a trick the brain played when doing both clock/time math for freefall time and adding up jump numbers.

  15. Skydivers do a lot of math adding up and calculating freefall time and logging it in their log books.

    A friend of mine has discovered and told me about a phenomena he has seen in a number of skydiver logbooks. After jump number 559, many skydivers will write the next jump as jump number 600.

    Have any of you ever done this? Missed logging jump numbers 560 through 599?

  17. I have a little over 600 tandems. I've had two premature container openings during drouge fall. Both were caught on video. With the first one, I noticed it right away and I pulled the drouge release handle and had an uneventful, albeit high, good main canopy deployment.

    The second one, either I didn't notice it quite as soon or the d-bag lifted off my back more quickly. As the d-bag lifted off my back and while the lines started extracting, the d-bag started barber poling around and around the still attached drouge bridle. So I released the drouge and the main mal'd and we had an uneventful reserve ride.

    Even in this situation, I wouldn't mind a heads up cameraman (who is familiar with tandem equipment operation) assisting in an early drouge release in order to avoid a main malfunction and reserve ride.

    In response to the original scenario, I agree with most replies that if I was knocked out, I would appreciate assistance from the cameraman with main canopy deployment if the drouge is out or reserve deployment if the drouge is not out.

    -mh.

  18. I haven't cleaned mine yet. Here is a link that I found.

    http://www.pbase.com/copperhill/ccd_cleaning


    At www.dpreview.com, I did a search in the Canon SLR forum and found a some information. There is a lot of information there if you are inclined to take time to search and look around.

    http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1019&message=5026485

    After you've cleaned it, Let us know how you did it and how were the results.

    Regards,

    -mh.

  19. The camera is a lot like any other electronic technology (computers, pda, cell phone). The longer you wait, the more you will be able to buy with less money. At some point, you just need to jump in. Canon released the D30 in Oct 2000 at a street price of about $2,800. The D60 in March '02 for about $1,900 and the 10D in March '03 for about $1,500. Each version improves on the previous. When will the next better/cheaper model come out? Probably 12 to 24 months from the previous one. It can be anyone's guess. If you have a need for a still camera and would like digital, this will work.

    I think the camera is great. I like it much better than shooting film.


    Good luck with your decision.
    -mike.

  21. I've been lucky to have the opportunity to jump in the following places.
    Bali/Lombok Indonesia (Boogie in Bali '91)
    Guam
    Rock Islands of Palau (three different islands)
    Tinian Island (What is Tinian famous for?)
    Turku, Finland
    Spa, Belgium
    Someplace in Southern Germany

    I made it to a dz in the following countries but weather or work didn't allow us to jump and I haven't had the opportunity to go back yet.
    Japan
    France
    Holland

    Made jumps in the following US states...
    Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Wisconsin.

  23. I found the following to be an interesting article on photography copyright and ownership.



    Not As Easy As Point and Shoot; Copyright In Photography
    by Holly A. Parrish

    ABC Company hires a photographer to take a picture of one of its employees in a spiffy uniform to be used on the cover of a new brochure. ABC chooses the uniform, picks the setting, poses the employee and does everything else to set the content of the photograph. The photographer does little more than snap the shutter on the camera. ABC also pays for all the film and other materials the photographer uses and pays the photographer a day rate, and when the shoot is done the photographer delivers all negatives to ABC. ABC uses one of the photographs on the cover of its new brochure and the photograph is a big hit. ABC now wants to launch an entire advertising campaign around the photographs, including ads in magazines, billboards, direct mail pieces and more.

    ABC can do this, right? WRONG! Why not? Because under the federal Copyright Act the photographer owns the copyrights in the photographs and thus controls how they may be used. Copyright law is slanted in favor of the "creator" of the work and vests him or her with the copyright. Once the photographer takes the picture, a copyright vests in him/her for the rest of his/her life plus 50 years. 17 USC 201(a). Copyright ownership stays with the creator of the work unless the creator assigns the copyright in writing to someone else. According to the Copyright Act, any original creative work is protected from the moment it assumes tangible form. The photographer does not have to register his copyright, nor does the work have to display that little circular "c." Copyright protection is automatic and exists from the moment of inception in a tangible medium. Registering the copyright with the U.S. Copyright office and displaying the little "c" only serves public notice of the copyright.

    If ABC has nothing in writing and has only told the photographer that the photographs were to be used on the cover of the new brochure, then ABC probably only has an oral or implied license to use the photographs for that purpose. If ABC wants to use the photographs in its advertising campaign, it must obtain from the photographer a written assignment of ownership of the copyrights in the photographs or a license to use the photographs in the advertising campaign. If ABC uses the photographs in the advertising campaign, without obtaining either an assignment or a license, then it has infringed the photographer’s copyrights and may be liable for substantial damages. Leigh v Warner Bros. 10 F.Supp. 2d 1371, 1998.The prudent course to take is to have a written agreement outlining the various uses for the photograph that the parties have agreed to. Without it, there are bound to be misunderstandings and unnecessary litigation.

    Publishers, business owners, web site designers and others often see photographs they like and the issue then arises as to whether or not those photographs may be used for either a book cover, internal art within a book or on a web site or for any other purpose. When you see a photograph in a magazine or book, it is unlikely that that magazine or book owns the copyright in the photo. It is more likely that the magazine is merely a licensee for some limited use and that all other rights remain with the photographer. Thus, the interested user should not be dealing with the publication in which the photograph appeared since they most often will not have the rights to grant. You may only obtain clearances by negotiating with the photographer. The nature and extent of the license granted by the photographer should be extremely important to a publisher of a photograph. One can "buy" the copyright from the photographer. In copyright language, the purchase of a copyright is done through an "assignment of copyright." Therefore, if the publisher wants the unfettered use of the photograph, she should obtain an assignment from the photographer of any and all rights in the work.

    Another area of caution arises if individuals are contained in the photograph. In the event that there are people who are identifiable in the picture, releases must be obtained from those individuals. It is generally the responsibility of the photographer to get the releases. However, as the person who will be using and disseminating the image, the publisher will also be held liable if a proper release was not obtained by the photographer. Therefore, it is imperative that the user of the image obtain a copy of all releases secured by the photographer. If an assignment is acquired, obtain the original releases from the photographer as part of the transaction. This is true in both fine arts photography as well as in photographs used for purposes of advertising. One interesting case dealing with model releases involved super-model Christie Brinkley who posed for the pictures, approved the pictures, knew that they were going to be distributed, but did not provide a written release. After the posters of her image came out, she successfully sued the photographer and publisher because, under New York law, releases must be in writing.

    There are only two exceptions to the rule that the creator of a photograph owns the copyright in it. First, if an employee (as opposed to an independent contractor) creates a work within the scope of his or her employment, then the employer, not the employee, owns the copyright in the work. This is known as a "work for hire." A key factor to remember is that creating the work must fall within the employee’s normal job responsibilities. For example, if George, the Janitor at ABC is an amateur photographer and ABC asks him to take the photographs, Jack will still own the copyrights in the photographs because taking photographs is not part of his normal job at ABC. The second exception to the rule that the creator owns the copyright applies when an independent contractor agrees, in writing, before the work is created, that the work will be a "work for hire" owned by the hiring party. However, this prior designation of an independent contractor’s work as a work for hire can only be done when the work falls into one of the following nine categories: (1) contributions to a collective work; (2) parts of a motion picture or other audio visual work; (3) translations; (4) supplementary works; (5) compilations; (6) instructional texts; (7) tests; (8) answer material for a test; or (9) atlases.

    So what’s a business to do? Before hiring a photographer, a business should consider carefully all future uses it may want to make of the work and negotiate with the photographer for either an assignment of the entire copyright or at least a license to make such future uses. Failure to do so could be very costly later. It is always the best approach to obtain written permission to use any photograph, both from the photographer and, if the subject is a person, from the subject or that person’s estate -- if the subject is now deceased. Each situation must be analyzed independently to determine what rights, if any, exist, who may own such rights, and the steps required to protect the usage of the photographs.

  24. Buzz,

    Can you tell me what model of Stroboframe quick release bracket you used to mount your PC8?
    Was it a 300QRC?
    Would it work with my PC1 the same as your PC8?
    How high does it lift the camera above the platform?

    By the way, thanks for posting the pics. Your setup looks great and is almost exactly what I would like to get set up for myself.

    Thanks,