lewmonst

Magic Mike, Wow, i didn't know you'd gone to Canon, I though you were Nikon... I have a 20D but haven't had that error yet. I've only put a couple jumps on mine so far though. What settings/conditions did you get that error with? Do you have newer automatic lenses or manual lenses, canon or other brand? Wendy was shooting the 20D here in Perris, she'd be a good one to ask. keep us updated please. Sorry I can't help, good luck. peace lew http://www.exitshot.com

read, and bump up this thread instead: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=1291107#1291107 peace lew http://www.exitshot.com

and the tall skinny boys... peace lew http://www.exitshot.com

You know, everyone I know (including me, usually) wears tinted goggles (Wiley-X's, Gatorz or the like), and this has never occurred to me before. Seeing someone's eyes would certainly help you "communicate" better. How come I've never thought/heard of this before? Kelly Yeah, that's a thing here for us with AFF as well, instructors must wear an open face helmet with clear goggles. peace lew http://www.exitshot.com

what WMD's? peace lew http://www.exitshot.com

How does leaving right after you help avoid that? By "right after" he means allowing a second of seperation on exit. Even a split second after the tandem should be enough seperation because the tandem drops out fast on exit. But for safety, I tell lurkers to leave 1 second after the tandem exit. peace lew http://www.exitshot.com

maybe you should take up bowling. peace lew http://www.exitshot.com

I care the most about morals, but my morals are different than Bush's. That doesn't mean I put $$$ over morals, it just means my morals are not in the majority. I agree most of America agrees with Bush's morals. I think he took the popular stand on all three counts intentionally, and won the election because of it. It doesn't make his morals right. I'm not arguing that my morals are right either. I'm simply pointing out that it is an opinion, and the beauty of this country is that we all have a right to our opinion. Just because my morals are different than Jason's doesn't mean I'll stop going to Bridge Day. peace lew http://www.exitshot.com

This, as with all other prejudices in this country, will eventually be overcome. All humans deserve the same rights as all other humans. What saddens me most, as Phree stated, is the loss of rights and benefits allowed by domestic partner laws. This is truly unfair and discriminatory. Define marriage however you want. If you're so insecure with your own relationships and family that you have to define it by a "man and a woman" then so be it. But don't take away the rights of others. Like weegegirl said, why can't we have equal rights for a monogomous relationship between two people, no matter what their gender. Who cares if we call it "marriage", but it should be recognized and given the same benefits that are given to any other married couple. The domestic partner law was a step in the right direction. It's tragic that we are now stepping backwards. For those of you that voted against gay marriage, shame on you for taking away equal rights to another human being, rights that have nothing to do with your family. It is selfish, insecure and closeminded. I still don't understand why you "traditionalists" feel so threatened. Allowing gay marriage would not effect your family. I would wish that you would know such prejudices first hand, but I am not as evil as you, and I sincerely don't wish that upon anyone. This country still has a lot of evolving to do. peace lew ps - I can't believe I agree with JPF on something. See, why can't we all just get along... http://www.exitshot.com

Keep in mind that the gear manufacturers have specific requirements for rw with tandems (lurking is considered rw). Relative Workshop (Vector and Sigma tandem systems) requires 500 jumps with 100 rw jumps within the last year. It's in the maual here on page 97 of 121. I was allowed to lurk a tandem when I had very very very few jumps (

HEY! You two! Stop Hijacking my thread. This is my glory! I still haven't received my Parachutist. peace lew http://www.exitshot.com

Fly free, Chris, fly free. peace lew http://www.exitshot.com

Here we go again... do a search. Talk to more experienced cameraflyers. Read up on the fatalities related to camera jumps. Agreed. Yeah he does still suck sometimes. Um, no. Bring it on. Agreed. Well, you take on many new risks, to yourself and to others. You also risk loosing the respect of those around you. As with all skydiving, you should not take on a new risk without the approval, support and guidance of the more experienced jumpers around you. Would the majority of highly experienced jumpers (especially instructors and dz staff) condone your choice to add this risk? If so, maybe you are a 100-jump-wonder who will get lucky and get through the next 200 jumps with a camera unscathed. If not, you will likely lose the respect of those jumpers who do not think you're ready, who will then in turn likely not offer you the guidance that you need. If you asked me for guidance, I would gladly teach you everything I know. If you're not safe, I won't want to jump with you. *** I suppose if you could prove to me that you are in fact within what I'd expect of a jumper with twice the jump experience . . . I'd think it would be OK, but I also think it would be a -very- exceptional individual. I fully agree with the USPA guidelines on experience before jumping camera, but I'd also allow some leeway. I'm pretty sure it wouldn't be 50% though in 99% of the cases. Agreed. Basically these forums aren't the place for your personal debate. You should sit down and talk with other cameraflyers at your dropzone. You should talk to all the instructors, managers, S&TA and DZO. Seriously. If you ever come to Perris, you could get a lot of guidance. I bet Quade would join me and take you under our wing (get it?) and teach you everything we know. Hell I bet LTdiver, crazylarry, the cameraflyers for the school and O'B would too. We are not afraid of competition here, we support and learn from eachother. peace lew http://www.exitshot.com

Will it be this elections "florida"? There is already crap goin down, republican lawyers challenging thousands and thousands of voter registrations, democrats putting a hold on that in every county, lawyers and police planning on stationing themselves at the polls... Noticeably minorities who've voter there their entire lives are questioned because of one piece of returned mail... Ok, Ohio, just GO VOTE! Everyone, VOTE. There is no excuse for not making it to the polls. My vote is already in via absentee ballot. counting down til tuesday... peace lew http://www.exitshot.com

I want one of these: http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?sku=5061YR&c=us&l=en&cs=04&category_id=2999&page=external *note the integrated compact flash reader and 802.11

Yeah! You must get your Parachutist early! I'm still loading more edited photos on my shutterfly from Rantoul... peace lew jump with me, I'll make you famous http://www.exitshot.com

Bend them to fit your face very well... I can wear mine without a croakie strap on video jumps. The couple rare times they slide off they are stopped by my eyepiece. I wear a croakie strap with them on any other jump with any other helmet. peace lew http://www.exitshot.com

So far I find it works best to put the lens on the camera and look and the field of view. The numbers aren't comprable because there is no standard in the industry. Each manufacturer determines their own standards, focal lengths, etc... In general, smaller numbers are wider, we all know that, but only compared to lenses of the same manufacturer. Sony's are way wider than Kenko. A sony .6 is close to a kenko .42. http://www.exitshot.com

do you think CA is far enough? Good point. I know those two like road trips... Opie, meet me in Hawaii. peace lew http://www.exitshot.com

PEMDAS. That is the only rule. Follow it. P - do everything inside parenthesis first (still following EMDAS in the ()...) E - Exponents. Do exponents before multiplying, dividing, adding or subtracting. MD - Multiply and divide from left to right. AS - Add and Subtract from left to right. Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally. peace lew http://www.exitshot.com

Oh dear god, Opie, move to Cali and I'll save you. peace lew http://www.exitshot.com

Not bad for beginning. A few tips... 1 - Like you said, get the TM to face the sun. The only exception to this is if he is struggling with the student's body position or something like that. There are a couple ways to do this. Mentioning it to him before the jump is an easy reminder. But seriously, any TM with moderate experience should know to face the sun for the video. If the TM is new or rarely ever has video, they might need the reminder. In freefall, there are also a couple things you can do. Instead of chasing them, just camp out with the sun to your back until the TM turns and faces you. If they are completely oblivious, move into their peripheral vision. Just seeing you there should get them to turn towards you, in which case, keep the TM turning until the light is right. If that still doesn't work, get in front of the TM and point or wave in the direction you want them to turn while you start sliding that way. And if that doesn't work, then your TM is clueless. But seriously, when you have enough experience and if the TM is safely flying stable, you can turn them just by docking on the students hand and gently turning them into the sun. 2 - Get rid of the vignetting (black in the corners) and helmet (lower right corner of every framegrab) in the frame. To get rid of the vignetting you can either tick the zoom in a little bit or get a better lens. I use a Sony .6 which is just as wide as a kenko .43. Or you can effectively video tandems with a .5 and just fly about 4 or 5 feet away instead of 2 or 3. If you switch to a .5, attempting to dock with a tandem and keep them in frame will be difficult and it will look really close. But as you're not ready to dock with a tandem, a .5 may work better for you as your learning. Now, the helmet that is in view in the lower right corner... this might be solved by ticking the zoom in or jumping a different lense, but it juts into the frame much more than just the vignetting... You either have to zoom in a little more (not the ideal answer as zooming enhancing camera shake and loses quality). Getting a different lense might solve it. But you might also have to move the mount for your camera just slightly forward on your helmet if changing the lens doesn't get rid of the helmet in frame. 3 - Get lower. lower. Ok, a little lower. Now, get even lower. Filming a tandem is not like filming a solo jumper on level. For good tandem videos, you really need to sink well below the level of the tandem and look up. I think Deuce's rule of thumb is that you should be able to see the students chest strap. I try to see their pelvis. It's not easy. Wings help. If you're not jumping wings, you can fly with your arms out in front of you and try to arch and look up (don't sink out). With wings, you can learn to hang on your wings to help look up. I arch like a mofo on most tandem videos. It's really an awkward position to fly on your belly to get that good shot with the looking up angle. I'm light and I almost always wear weight with my wings. My guideline for weight is: Take the total tandem weight (without gear), divide by two, subtract my weight without gear, divide that by two and that's how much weight I'll wear, give or take a little for the passenger's build (tall & lenky vs. short and stocky). So if the TM is 200 and the passenger is 180, a total of 380, and I weigh about 160, (380/2 - 160 = 30) I'll wear 15 lbs. Sounds like a lot, but I'm tall and have a lot of surface area. But, that's just what works for me, with wings. If that number goes above my weight belt, 18 lbs, then I'll jump without wings, and no more than 10 lbs. This rule doesn't work for everyone, it's just what I've found that works for me. I don't arch that well to begin with, so the weight makes it easier for me. Most of the other videographers here rarely wear weight. Having a real camera suit (slick suit, booties and big wings) helps also. I jump a freefly camera jacket, that, even with my wings collapsed, is very slow. You will figure out what works for you, just try to get lower and look up. This also helps with lighting. Especially midday when the sun is straight up, the more you get under the tandem and fill the entire frame with their body and face, the camera will adjust it's light balance and you will have less shadows. 4 - I never look at my alti when filming a tandem. First of all, the TM should be opening around 5000ft, there's your first clue. TM's should initiate emergency procedures by 3500ft, which if you see that happening, you should be tracking away, at which point, your job of filming the tandem is done, clear your airspace and check your alti. And even easier, use an audible (or two). 5 - Drogue shots are a nice variety to throw in the video after you've gotten a good 10 seconds of the money shot, the close face shot. I shoot the drogue by popping up (again, easier with wings) and staying in close proximity to the tandem, still only 3 or 4 feet away from the drogue. As I pop up, I change the center of my sighting to rise half way up the drogue as I go all the way up and a few feet higher than the drogue. Done correctly, this keeps the tandem in the bottom of the frame and brings the drogue into the top of the frame. Then when I drop back down, I use my momentum to get very very low on the tandem, looking way up, and popping the wings out so i'm almost vertical and get the entire drogue behind them from underneath. It takes practice also. You're drogue shot is not bad, as you drift away from the tandem, adjust your sighting so the center of the drogue bridle becomes the center of your framing, and as you get back closer, go back to focusing on their face. If you don't pop up for the drogue-shot, a nice orbit shot slightly above the TM while the TM spins in the opposite direction, that shows the scenery, and most customers like that. Bottom line, you gotta see their face clearly. Everything after that is icing. A tandem video is easy. A good tandem video is challenging. And you asked about editing, seriously, a linear editing board is the easiest and fastest way to get the video to the customer shortly after their jump. A good one has a few effects you can through in for a nice touch as well. Non-linear (ie, on a computer) editing for tandem videos is overkill if you ask me. have fun! lew http://www.exitshot.com

My 120 (w/l 1.6) was opening funky so I sent it to PD. They test jumped it and are replacing it at a fair prorated cost. For the last month since it's been gone, I've put about 60 jumps on a 107 (w/l btwn 1.8 and 1.95) and it's been sweet. I'm not sure whether it was the 120 or the wingloading, but the 107 seems to perform much better. And I know others who say the sweet spot for the Katana is a w/l around 2:1. And when I have all my weights on, it's fun. But it is fast, so if you downsize or increase w/l, be careful. I would definitely suggest you contact PD. Their customer service is excellent and they will help you. peace lew http://www.exitshot.com

Orange & Green. Rosa, thanks. What were they like? Well, skinny little boys. The one that looks like Brad Pitt really really looks like him. So there was some eye candy. The tall blond guy was the only guy close to a "Man" in their "Manhunt". The rest of them just seemed way too young or effeminate. And the one guy shaking like crazy on the plane, that was funny. peace lew http://www.exitshot.com

eloy. duh. eloy. eloy. eloy. http://www.exitshot.com