dragon2 2 #1 April 24, 2007 Any way to calculate how close this was? Besides "too close for my comfort"... At 2:30 in the video you see my canopy opening after an FS3 jump, fortunately it opened harder (if a lot wackier) than usual. I opened slightly lower than usual because I wanted to slow down a bit first. The girl came out of nowhere. Apparently she had been warned a few times the day before about tracking further but I didn't know that (this was not "my" team) otherwise I'd have kept her in view. She has a good track but likes to pull high/is nervous to pull lower. Hopefully she is now more nervous of doing this again! http://www.paracentrumteuge.nl/component/option,com_weblinks/task,view/catid,2/id,59/ For some reason I took a picture too. Original image, taken with 20mm lens on a Nikon so 30mm when compared to 35mm. Too bad it doesn't have my shadow on it... http://www.12000ft.com/images/_DSC3522.JPG Canopy: I'm guessing a 170. Video: .45 lens, slightly zoomed in to match with stills. ciel bleu, Saskia Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Laszloimage 0 #2 April 24, 2007 Rule #1 is never trust in anyone. You should always keep everybody in your view. (at least if you film 3-way) The other thing is normally the camera guy pulls in place right at the break off, so you should have had at least some vertical separation (unless if you have to cutaway…). Shooting the jumpers “turn and track” is lot easier if you plan it with them, and the separation happens a bit higher than normal allowing you to get away from them safely. With lower experienced jumpers (like the video shows) the planning is lot harder, they have a good tendency to get lower or forget about the plan. You always have to be prepared for that to and abort your plan to take a cool shot and start to save your own butt. It’s always better to be disappointed and not having “THE SHOT” than get hurt. -Laszlo- ps. I wish you had that canopy played in slow motion. Yes I agree that was close. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LouDiamond 1 #3 April 24, 2007 That whole video was scarry IMO. As for how close the other jumper was, with that lens, I'd guess in the neighborhood of 15-20 feet maybe."It's just skydiving..additional drama is not required" Some people dream about flying, I live my dream SKYMONKEY PUBLISHING Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AFFI 0 #4 April 25, 2007 QuoteThe girl came out of nowhere. There is no such thing as "coming out of nowhere" unless we are talking about time travel or wormholes. Everything comes out of somewhere, unless we are talking bout undiscovered laws of physics, that likely do not exist on this planet. Warned to track further? I wouldn’t place blame on anyone, not even yourself even though you did not deploy when and where camera flyers on RW jumps are normally expected to. Close calls happen, and that one could have been much closer before becoming overly concerned given the circumstances. Whoever said, “Never trust anyone” a few posts up - Perhaps the wisest remark ever made concerning filming RW… Fun eh? _Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat… Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
quade 4 #5 April 25, 2007 You're REALLY ot going to like my answer to this, but the girl didn't screw up; YOU did. Seriously. First rule of camera flying, "Every single one of them point turners is trying to kill you." It doesn't matter if they track like shit or don't track at all. YOU are responsible for YOUR own safety. You are flying above things that left to their own devices -will- kill you. Watch them like a hawk. Don't let them get away with murder. Don't let them get away with anything. You have ZERO things better to do than keep an eye on them. If you see something on their rig that is flapping, if you see a hand reach toward their pilot chute, if you see anything wierd, get the hell out of there. They pay you for the camera work from exit until the planned break off. That's it. If they decide to go any lower it just doesn't matter. Deploy and wave bye-bye in frame. Deploy at break off, don't wait for separation because it may never come.quade - The World's Most Boring Skydiver Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AFFI 0 #6 April 25, 2007 Quote If you see something on their rig that is flapping AKA - dont fly above (unravelin) Javelins... Hell ya, great post quade, thats what I'm talkin bout! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dragon2 2 #7 April 25, 2007 Yeah I realised I screwed up too, should've slowed down sooner so I could deploy at 4.5k instead of 2 secs later. And kept her in sight. Since for me she did come out of nowhere (and she was in my group) of course I screwed up. Just have no clue about how exactly this happened... Was a wake-up call for me too The whole point of this competition was for people to learn a lot, that also goes for the coaches and the camera people ciel bleu, Saskia Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gthomas101 0 #8 April 25, 2007 I have video of me passing by a guy close enough you can see the stiching on the canopy, at first i wanted to blame the other guy, even though he was not where he was supposed to be according to the dive plan, then after a couple hundred camera jumps later I come to relize I have a big red x and everybody is out to kill me if they are given a chance, I also have video of somebody dumping after a 8 way and they swore to me and the other 7 people they track long and hard then I showed the video on the big screen and the story changed. I sometimes get a hard time because I go over the plan ever single jump many times over and over and over and I always get the same thing" dont worry dude" and my response is I have a ten year old to go home to and yoour not going to be the reason Im not going to see her. I dont care if I have a rep for being anal about plans but if they want to see there faces on print then its my rules if not Ill sit on my ass and drink a soda. So its up to me to save my life everysingle time if somebody kills me I have come to relize its my fault for letting them do it to me. Im glad everything came out ok, way to @#$$ close.gthomasphoto.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AFFI 0 #9 April 25, 2007 Quote Just have no clue about how exactly this happened... Here is a hint - something about "slowing down". Hard opening or collision? Ummmm, you decide... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dragon2 2 #10 April 25, 2007 QuoteQuote Just have no clue about how exactly this happened... Here is a hint - something about "slowing down". Hard opening or collision? Ummmm, you decide... I almost broke my back last summer after a hard opening, ended up with "just" a couple of bruised ribs. So I'm pretty nervous about hard openings. So I need to adjust how I fly and open, pronto. ciel bleu, Saskia Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dragon2 2 #11 April 25, 2007 But, my original question was, is it possible to determine distance, given focal length and size of object? ciel bleu, Saskia Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sirob 0 #12 April 25, 2007 Make estimation on the ground. Find similar size canopy and look through the lens. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
freefallcrab 0 #13 April 25, 2007 That sent a shiver down my spine. A few years ago I had a canopy collision after filming a 4-way which resulted in me having 3 broken ribs and a punctured lung. I did not deploy immediately when the 4 way broke off (I always do now unless there is someone right under me) and one of the 4 way did a curved track and had an off heading opening which put him on a 180 with me. He was on a high performance canopy and it happened SO quickly. Glad the outcome of your incident was not worse. Use your wings Johnny.... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
quade 4 #14 April 25, 2007 QuoteBut, my original question was, is it possible to determine distance, given focal length and size of object? Actually, yes. There are two methods; one involves a bit of math and the other is just brute force. The brute force method is, however, the easiest. Assuming the photo hasn't been cropped and you have access to the same camera set up in the same way. Find the wing span of the canopy in question. Mark that length off on a wall. Look through the camera and match as closely as you can the size of the marks to the size of the canopy in the photo. Measure the distance between the camera and the marks on the wall.quade - The World's Most Boring Skydiver Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
