Today was one of those days when being a photographer absolutely ROCKED!
indigosilver volunteered to photograph Hopping4Hospice, a charity fundraiser to benefit the Lower Cape Fear Hospice and Life Care Center. Brooks Schomp and Baxter Alexander were set to make 50 skydive jumps each over the course of a day!
In order to complete all 50 jumps, the guys had to take off in the plane, ascend to 3,000 feet, jump out of the plane, parachute down, land, take off their first parachute rig, slip on a second parachute rig, get back in the plane again, and take off… in 7 minutes. There was a whole crew on the ground in charge of repacking the parachutes for the repeat jumps.
When I arrived, the guys were on jump #27. After photographing a few jumps from the ground, they asked if I wanted to go up in the plane to photograph! The plane is so small, that the only place I could sit was on the floor two inches from the door. I had to suit up in my own parachute rig, and then get strapped to the floor of the plane. Brooks and Baxter had to literally climb over me to jump out!
My “seat”:
Wilmington from 3,000 feet:
The platform the guys have to stand on, while holding onto the wing, before letting go:
Baxter’s jump:
Brooks’s jump frame-by-frame:
After Brooks jumped, the pilot banked the plane so that I had a better view to the ground:
More from the ground:
Tags: Wilmington NC Event Photography, Hopping4Hospice, Skydive Coastal Carolinas, Lower Cape Fear Hospice & Life Care Center, skydiving, aerial photography
