lewmonst

I had a great time. Thanks for the kudos. peace lew http://www.exitshot.com

For x-braced, I've found the Xaos-21 to be the best. Non-x-braced it's hard to beat a Crossfire2. peace lew http://www.exitshot.com

Bring it on... http://www.exitshot.com

Anyone from SoCal who wants a ride to WFFC, come fly the Jet: http://skydiveperris.com/events/rantoul.aspx peace lew http://www.exitshot.com

Oh NO, not this Sara! NO! I don't know what to say that hasn't been said already. I met Sara at Nationals last year when she was trying to pick up a team to video. She was so outgoing and happy all the time. Such a sweetheart! She was determined to shoot perfect leading exits at nationals even though she didn't have that much 4way video experience or wings. What a beautiful soul. She will surely be missed. Fly free Sara and Ron This has been a horrible weekend. peace lew http://www.exitshot.com

I just wanted to add... Sean also took my mom on her 1st tandem, and one of my best friends. I chose him because he was who I trusted their lives with the most. My mom was so proud of standing up that landing

Sean was one of my very first jumpmasters. I am so sad right now that we've lost him. I don't know where to begin. I just know that I wouldn't be where I am today if it wasn't for Sean. He went out of his way to help me all the time. He continued teaching me and envouraging me well beyond being a student. He had endless enthusiasm for the sport and spread the love to everyone at the dropzone. I can't imagine Richmond without him. Sean, thank you for all that you've done. You will be sincerely missed. To all his friends and family in Indiana and Ohio, from the bottom of my heart, my thoughts are with you. Fly free Sean, fly free peace lew http://www.exitshot.com

Please keep Jason in your thoughts and prayers, he's in the hospital after this incident Saturday, 7/2/05. They will know more on the extent of his injuries tomorrow. Anyone with first hand info, please post updates. Jason, Maggie, and everyone from Richmond, my heart goes out to you right now. I wish I could be there to support you all. I love you all and I miss you all. Please give everyone at SWC a hug from me for Sean and Jason. Sincerely, lew (karen) http://www.exitshot.com

Alana, I'm so sorry. I feel your pain, literally. I had a really nice laptop stolen 3 weeks ago, along with some other stuff. It's not the missing stuff that bothers me so much as it is the fact that someone thinks it's okay to take things that aren't theirs. I'm going to end up paying $2000+ to replace my laptop and other stuff, somehow. Humans will always fail us. But I still believe I have to continue to live by what's right, and know that karma will come around and somehow the theives will learn their lesson... peace lew http://www.exitshot.com

The jump happened in Perris. He pulled the cutawaypad just a second before the JM threw him out. I can't speak for the mainside AFFI but I believe he was unaware of what happened and was getting him a canopy over his head. The mainside knew what happened and dumped the main expecting it to activate the reserve with the RSL. The RSL shackle somehow got pull open and released, putting the student back in freefall with just a reserve still in the container. That is why all student gear here has rapid links on the rsl now instead. peace lew http://www.exitshot.com

Jake, Lewmonst is not only a featured photographer, she's a featured jumper too, along with her mother, Cajones, and a few others....

i disagree.......granted there are places in videos where a transition looks better then a cut.....but look at most of your newer shows and movies.......between seenes there mostly are just flat cuts. agree. That is... avoid transitions. A few are ok, but in general, more than a couple is overkill. And don't use every special effect your camera can do either, in fact, don't use any of them. imo peace lew http://www.exitshot.com

That's awesome. So can the camera flyer back fly also underneath, could make it look like belly flying? except for the sky . Now that would be fun, except that I couldn't do shadow puppets... peace lew http://www.exitshot.com

Aw, rock on Alana! Hi sgc! I miss you guys. peace lew http://www.exitshot.com

I knew you'd get to this point eventualy..... Oh, that's funny! Is this the moment? Is this the Monster's "Read The F*cking Book!!!" moment? that's a little harsh... you JP's are conspiring... peace lew http://www.exitshot.com

admitting it is half the battle. peace lew http://www.exitshot.com

are you serious? try reading most of this forum then come back and ask... peace lew http://www.exitshot.com

I don't think it is, especially an inkjet print. No one should sell inkjet prints. period. I sell dye-sub prints. But, I do think $30 is reasonable for a skydiving photo... (probably 11x14) Not a ground shot, but an aerial photo. A lot more effort goes into getting a good skydiving photo. I do sell ground or tunnel shots for $10 (dye-sub 8x10) peace lew http://www.exitshot.com

why not try a sabre2 120 for a while then the katana, so you're only changing one factor at a time? peace lew http://www.exitshot.com

In flying in the air, I don't even worry about the burst rate. The rate that I click is fast enough for jazz. Now, on the ground...the burst rate is quintessential. Not necessarily for tandems, but for swoopers and other sports. Things happen way too fast for a hang-up like a small burst rate number. ltdiver Lori, I disagree sort of. I think 14 is plenty for burst rate for swooping... What else do you think 14 is not enough for? I do think the significant difference lies in the 3 fps vs 5 fps. And you can use to burst rate in freefall if yuo want to. I did for that thing I showed you. 45 shots in a row just cause I could and it was neat. Since I still shoot film often, I do find that I get stuck in 36 shots mode and I don't use my 20D to it's full potential sometimes. If you're clicking as slow as jazz, maybe you should listen to techno. peace lew btw, that 23 burst rate for the 20D is for raw+jpg. I shot 45+ burst in large fine, jpg only. it's like firecrackers. http://www.exitshot.com

A good photo can be worth $30. However, asking for $10 for the photo plus slot after his choice of jumping is a poor decision in my opinion. I often fun jump and take photos. My price per photo is standard. If I sell one photo, I brake even on the jump, two or more puts some $ towards my cameragear. But I never ask someone after my fun jump to cover my slot. If someone asks me to jump with them for photos, that's different of course. But I also don't think you should complain about an asking price either. If the photo is worth that $ to you, then pay for it. If not, don't. The photographer still has the right to charge whatever they want. And you have the right to not buy it. peace lew http://www.exitshot.com

If you approached them with this attitude, no wonder you're having trouble. I just got an email back from Kim within a day about a demo request. She had some questions for me which were completely fair to ask. She's obviously doing the right thing by not just sending out any demo request to anyone. Demos are a privelage, not a right. PD is awesome. Kim, Kolla, Justin, and everyone else there, thank you for doing a great job. peace lew http://www.exitshot.com

An important point Robin made in his article was risk vs. benefit... on a canopy that recovers quickly from a dive and is lightly loaded, you add a lot more risk and don't gain much benefit from doing a 270 over a 90. And all of those turns, to get the effectiveness, will have to start closer to the ground than the same turn on a higher loaded and longer diving canopy, so being off by 50 feet on the shallow diving canopy could be 50% off whereas being off by 50 feet on a long diving canopy may be less than 10% off. Such that you have more lead time to realize this and abort, adjust the turn rate or stab out of the dive. It's sort of a catch-22. You certainly shouldn't progress to a higher wingloading and more aggressive canopy until you've mastered the one you're on. But what does "mastering your current canopy entail" really? That's a question for the experts. Some people don't think you have to be able to do a 270 front riser into a swoop on canopies that recover quickly and are lightly loaded for every step in the progression to a smaller or more aggressive canopy. Some do. Whatever you do, just don't die. peace lew ps, i'm not an expert. if you take anything from this post, it should be that you should go to a canopy school and talk to the pros. http://www.exitshot.com

Nice Tony.

What Lori said... What settings are you trying to use? If you are on any of the Auto functions on the rebel, the camera will automatically drop the shutter speed down to the fastest possible sync with the flash. I'm not sure why you need a faster shutter speed than 200 anyway. How far away are you from the subjects? With a 15mm and a flash, you're going to have to be close, really close. Like, laying in the grass and having people land right in front of you or on top of you. Check your settings and what range the flash has at that setting. Also, are you using AF or M? I seriously don't bother taking my camera into the landing area when the light is bad, like if the wind is from the north, ever. Have you read the manual for your 420? peace lew http://www.exitshot.com