Skydiving Midwest

My mom jumped out of a plane once.

I've never even been in a plane, except for the time I got to tour the cockpit once when I was in Boy Scouts.

That changed today.  I got to ride up in one, but I never got to land in it.  Don't get me wrong, it didn't crash.  I just had to jump out of a perfectly good airplane.

About a month ago, my mom and I were talking about skydiving.  She went a few years ago and I, being an Ironworker, have never been above 300', give or take a few feet.  I agreed to jump with her because she wanted to go again.

Like I said, I've never been in an airplane.  I've gone up mountain regions, over mountain passes, and seen big mountains, but I've never been really that high.  Mostly in a car, except for the few times we hiked up the 7292' Black Elk Peak in Western South Dakota.  That's it.

So, we arranged a jump about a month ago.  Sunday on Labor Day Weekend.  At 12:00 noon.  High noon, as they used to call it.  That's when blood was going to be shed (at least in the old west days).  I spent a few weeks looking up statistics, watching videos, and mentally preparing myself (and my wife) for the jump day.

The day finally arrived.  I looked at the weather forecast and it was supposed to be around 80 degrees with 10 - 15 mph winds, but gusts could push between 20 - 30 mph for a few hours in the afternoon.  We were scheduled for a noon start time.

We arrived just before noon, check in and headed to the classroom for a video and some training.  We learned all the basics.  How to fall off the plane with our tandem jumper, how to fall, how to steer the chute, and how to land.  As excited as we were, we still had to wait.

And we waited...

And we waited...

And we waited...

If I had any anxiety about the flight or the fall, I had a lot of time to think about it.  I didn't want to eat so there wouldn't be any food in my system to throw up, but I drank plenty of water.  My wife and kids came.  So did the neighbor and a few of the neighborhood kids.  They had some fun watching some of the earlier jumpers come down and then played volleyball while my mom and I waited.

After I finally got called to suit up, I calmly waked to the hanger to get my harness on.  My mom was about 20 minutes behind me for some reason.  We were supposed to be on the same plane.  After getting suited up and waiting about 30 minutes, the harness came off because there were too strong of wind gusts to jump.  They can jump in 16mph winds, but not when the wind gusts are getting upwards of 25 - 30 mph.  We'd just have to wait it out.

After about 5 hrs., all of which the neighbor left and my family did as well, we finally got the call to suit back up.  I texted my wife and kids and they came back with my camera to shoot me.

We boarded the plane and lifted off.

We went over the instructions that I was supposed to remember:

Lean my head to his shoulder, grab my harness with both hands, shove my hips forward., and kick him in the butt with my feet as soon as we're out of the plane.

We lifted higher and higher.  I kept high fiving everyone on the plane, most of all, my mom.  The first time on a plane wasn't bad, except I had to clearing my ears to keep them from popping.  We rose above the clouds.  I read that we couldn't jump out in the clouds because you never know what you'd hit, a bird, someone else, or the plane (which made perfect sense).  So we waited for a clearing between clouds.

He did most of the work walking from the seating area to the jump door.  That reminded me of a garage door on an airplane ( I thought it was going to be fancier or more high tech at least).  I felt like I was walking very lazily, as he was doing most of the work, I was trying to help support my weight in the 4 foot ceilings of the plane, but was underwhelmed with how much my foot placement meant nothing as we staggered towards the door like a drunk man looking for another free beer at the bar.

After the Blue light came on (which meant 2 minutes until the jump) we staged ourselves at the door, which meant we were going to be the first tandem out of the plane at 14,000 feet.

Then we rocked back and forth 3 times and fell out!

We free fell for about 30 seconds going around 125mph.

After a signaled count of 1, 2, 3, my expert diver pulled the chute. The free fall took about 30 seconds.  The time it took for the chute to stop our full decent was probably around 3 seconds.

After that, we did a few banked turns, which upset my stomach (I can handle roller coasters, but get queasy on the Tilt-a-whirl).  We do this to slowly reduce altitude.  I never actually got sick at any point, but this point was the closest I got.

After that, we were ready to land.  They teach you to put your feet straight out in front of you, but I've put on a little weight since high school, so I need my hands to hike up my legs...

You skid to a stop on you butt.  Less of a skid if you have a good tandem partner like I did.  Then you stand there collecting your dignity while he collects the chute and you walk back the the hanger together, like you're the hero of the day, while he sits there in the wings packing back up his chute for the next victim.

It was an exhilarating experience that I'll never forget and hopefully, One day, I'll get my wife and kids to jump from a perfectly good airplane.

 On a side note:

After the jump, you may experience an adrenaline high that will last you all night, rendering you from sleep, like I'm experiencing right now!

You were warned!!!

Now, here's my full video of the jump:

https://youtu.be/AAK6zw8PVUk

Christmas in Spearfish Canyon, South Dakota

We decided that since Christmas wasn't going to be white in Wisconsin, maybe it would be worthwhile to be in Spearfish South Dakota for Christmas.  Since I booked in September, they told me that it would be a 100% chance of waking up to a white Christmas on Christmas day.   I immediately booked it!

We departed Christmas Eve, since there was a blizzard warning for Eastern South Dakota and Western Minnesota for the evening of the 23rd.  We left around 3am with a Subaru fully packed with a hitch and a loaded back rack.    The weather was windy with 40 MPH winds and the roads were icy.  We white knuckled it most of the ride until Chamberlain SD when the roads were finally clear.

The rest of the ride went well.  We arrived in Spearfish Canyon around 5 pm CDT.

We woke up on Christmas Day.  After we got dressed, we went for a hike on the Roughlock Falls trail which is approximately a 2 miles round trip round trip.

This is just after the start of the hike.  I had a walking stick with a 1/4 x 20 screw on top of it acting as a monopod.  I decided not to bring my trusted tripod for this hike.

This is a bald eagle that we saw on the side of the trail.  Ironically, our Grandfather passed away on the 24th, and we took this as a sign that he would always be watching over us.

Roughlock Falls at the end of the trail.

Coming back, we saw this sky over the South of the Canyon

Later on, we traveled to Bridal Veil Falls.  We had only seen these falls in the summer.  Now, they were entirely frozen over.  Evelyn is in this shot to show how tall the falls actually are.

We hiked the Community Caves trail, which was our first time hiking up to here.  It was a bit confusing to get the the trailhead and the up to the trail, bus when we made it to the beaten down footpath, we took it.  It was quite the climb up a lightly flowing waterfall, but when we finally got to the top, we were greeted by a series of caves in an overpass that was quite tall.  O\ne of the caves was large enough to comfortably sleep in.

This is the view down the hill.  There's a house just right of center of this picture that's just got to be one of the best views around this area!

After our hike to the Community Caves, and just before Christmas dinner, we decided to head on down tho Spearfish Falls.  One of 3 trips ntat we took down here.  This shot is upstream from the falls.  The bridge in privately owned and decorated in white lights.

This is just under that bridge.  I love photographing falls of any size!

The next day, on the 26th, we decided to go out Hwy 85 into Wyoming, so the girls could put their feet in another state.  The views were very rewarding!

Afterwards, we drove into Custer State Park to hike up to Poet's Table, our 4th trip up there.  It's a very secret and secluded spot that's very quiet and hidden from the rest of the world.

This is on the way up.

This is a view looking at the Needles Tunnel from Poet's Table

Afterwards, we hiked around Sylvan Lake.  At the end of these rocks, there's a dam that Amanda and I got married on in June 30th of 2001

This shot was taken on the 26th after a snowfall.

This is Spearfish Creek after the snowfall.

My shot of Spearfish Falls.  I love this shot, it's probably my best shot of the trip!

Spearfish Canyon in the snow

A hidden spot along Hwy 85

Another Shot of those multiple falls!!!

I loved having my Subaru in this weather and driving on these roads!

Along Hwy 85

.

The towering pines in the snow along the creek.

A ski trail that we will get out on next winter!

Hanna Road, a detour of ours that did not disappoint!

When we finally left on the morning of the 28th, this was one of the views that we left to.

We definitely plan on going back in the winter sometime soon.  There is snowmobiling across the street from the Lodge that we stayed at, skiing around every corner, hiking everywhere you step, an inside fireplace to cozy up to everytime you come back, and a nice hot hot tub to crawl into to to ease your weary limbs after you come back every night!

This may just be a Christmas tradition that will continue every year...

A visit with an old friend

It's 6:00 am.  I'm not ashamed to say that I haven't slept a wink all night.  Last night, I talked to an old friend that recently lost his wife of 23 years. He hasn't been doing much sleeping also.  I felt compelled to stay as he talked, fueled by the beer that he was drinking.  I drank water as I observed his remorse of not spending more time with her and staying by her side more.

I once worked with this man, many years ago.  He felt the need to talk about that as well, between his stories of his happier days when his wife accused me of killing her pet pig (which I did not have anything to do with).  He remembers the time when we went to the comedy club and was almost asked to leave because of the heated argument we got into about Oprah Winfrey.

She had cancer.  She lasted about 2 years and passed away the day after Christmas.  The cancer had spread throughout her body and infected nearly every part of her until hospice was the only option left.  My friend stayed by her side for that entire month, until she passed.

I have been married for 19 years and can't imagine what he is going through.  Every room in his house has a memory of her.  I'm not sure how he copes with his loss, I'm sure I would be devastated.

I listened all night.

All night, without a wink of sleep.

I'm still wide awake.

I'm not sure what is scarier.  Waking up without my wife someday, or watching her go forever.

This has opened my eyes quite a bit and made me appreciate what I've got here and now.

And I'm thankful for every day I get to spend with the love of my life...

Too Much of Me - Combining Exposures

Like everything else, It all starts with an idea.

Some hair-brained thought that maybe I can make this work.

Besides, I have edited photos in the past and had them turn out pretty good.

I once took one picture of myself, a friend, and my wife and I swapped all of our heads.

On another, I made a gif where I turned my brother's picture into some kind of ugly elf.

I went to take a picture of my cousin once and he mooned me.  I fixed his wagon, that goofy monkey!

I added the tail by copying the color of the hair on the back of his head and kept duplicating it using a clone tool in Adobe Photoshop.  This is where I started, way back before I really got into photography, back when I just started learning about the fun you can have editing photos.

I once worked as a Graphic Coordinator for  a company when I was about 21 years old.  I had no college training, but I seemed to have a gift for editing.  I did it my way and I was a fast learner.  My siblings are great artists with a pen or pencil in their hands, but not me.  I can barely color inside of the lines.  But, I could create masterpieces for companies like Braun's R&D, Snap-on, Test Products International, and The Wisconsin Department of Transportation, to name just a few.  Well, that only lasted a few years and then I went back to a career in welding.

It was only a few years ago in 2016 that I got back into photography with the help of a great friend.  That winter, I started experimenting with some settings on my camera and started using a tripod.  I found that if you set up a shot and set the timer (and later a remote) you can have the same shot placement and edit in or out whatever you wanted or didn't want.

This was my first try.  I thought it turned out pretty fun, but I wanted to have a little more fun with this.

This was the second shot.  But I could do better..

There.  Now this picture was a lot of fun.  Some of the fun is the editing, but most of it is in the planning and shooting.

This one was my favorite.  There was quite a bit of planning that went into this picture.  You have to strategically place your tripod and get the right height on the camera.  Lighting has to be right, so does the white balance.  I don't often shoot auto white balance.  Sometimes, I go full manual with it based upon the conditions in the environment I'm shooting.

Next, select manual focus and go big with your f stop.  Most times I shoot these around f/22 so I get all the details in the room and it's easier to overlay shots without having that paper doll effect.  It's all got to be seamless, like 3-D, not cut and paste in 1-D.

So, let's go through my shooting process.  Set up the camera and tripod and get a few test shots to make sure the frame, focus, and white balance it right.  Also, check on the exposure.  You may have to darken the room or lighten it, use fill flash, or adjust your ISO.  You also may have to increase or decrease your exposure levels, which most digital cameras have on them.

This is my test shot and also my base photo.  I'll use this for the background since it's not cluttered or has too many shadows in it.

Now, start strategically placing yourself in the shot.  I did a wardrobe chance every time, but just my shirt and hat.  Remember the small details.  Think of the big picture and how you want it to turn out.

Where does everyone fit in the picture?  What do you want everyone doing?  Make it fun and add some goofy elements.  Hide things that you normally won't see in the first glance.  Make it a picture that you'll want to study like you're looking for Waldo (I'll have to remember this for a later shoot...)

You can use your shots to cover areas of the room that you don't like or use them to accent features that you want to show off.

After you've got all the shots that you think you want, carefully remove the memory card and download them onto your editing computer.  I keep my camera in the same place in case I want to re-shoot a character, or add something.

I use Adobe Photoshop and On1 to edit my photos.  I've worked with Photoshop since the late 90's.  On1 has some great features, and since I usually shoot these scenes in RAW for best quality, I edit first with that program.  You'll have to work in layers, each photo as 1 layer.  Use the masking took on the top picture to remove the areas where you want the picture underneath to show through.  I like working with 2 layers at a time while I hide the rest of the layers. You can also change the other layer's opacity and "ghost" them so you have reference to where the rest of your characters are.  Most programs will let you unmask if you happen to mess up a little bit.  You'll have to play with this for a while until you really get it.  It may take quite a bit of time to get it just right at first, but it'll get easier after you've done it a few times.  That's why I started small and only had 3 elements in the first few pictures.

After editing, this is what the finished picture looks like.  If you render or "flatten" the image and combine all layers, it's easier to finish editing the colors, shadows, exposure, or remove bothersome spots on the walls, if you have any.

I did the same thing with my daughters, using them as my characters.  I can play director with them and tell them where to sit, pose their arms and legs, have them change wardrobes... that sort of thing so I can make it easier to edit.  I can easily review photos and tell them exactly where I want them to be for the best final picture.

I call this one Baker's Helpers.  Looking back, I should've had the tripod centered a little more to the right.  I might do another like this, but shrink her body and make it look like she's a bunch of miniatures of herself.  That would consist of  editing more in Photoshop, since it's easier to cut her out and scale her down.  We'll wait for another rainy day in the future for that.

This is my other daughter.  There's 11 shots here, all combined into 1.  I'm not really happy about the lighting on this one, but that's just me being picky.  I was also using a wide angle lens adapter that screws onto my 18mm kit lens.

Start small and when you've got the hang of it, GO BIG!  This is such a fun way to make memories.  Even if it's only with yourself.  You may even develop your own way to do this.  Might be easier than mine.  Either way, I'm still having fun shooting, learning, and displaying my finished works around the house and online.