Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Review of Skydiving at Skydive Orange! with pictures


A video of my, and 4 of my friends', tandem skydiving adventure! I remixed our individual tapes into one video.

So we decided to go skydiving/parachuting! The closest (or rather, best known) drop zone to Washington, D.C. is Skydive Orange, located in Orange County, Virginia. From Fairfax / Northern Virginia, it's about a 1.75 hour drive. We reserved noon as our time to arrive so I expected to take the class and that we'd jump by 2 PM, tops. We arrived at noon, signed our lives away on their legal waivers, took a short 10 MINUTE class on how we would jump tandem, and then waited until 7:30 PM to jump!

/RANT

That was not a typo. We did not jump for seven and a half hours after our arrival. And this place is out in the sticks so there was nothing to do there. Literally. There were some wheeled carts laying around, so we rolled around the pavement like idiots for seven-odd hours, while the other people waiting sat and laughed at our antics.

It was especially aggravating because several people who came with, or after us, went and jumped before us. They were also tandem jumpers, so I didn't understand why we were put so far back in the schedule. We repeatedly asked the front desk when we might jump, or if we could just get an idea of our jump window so we could drive around and maybe get some food, but we were just told curtly each time that we would know when to jump when we saw our names on the whiteboard. Keep in mind that the jump was a healthy $255 - I'm not expecting the world, but just a little consideration of our situation would have been appreciated.

In any case, we ended up jumping just around sunset. It was gorgeous and nearly made me forget the wait of the previous seven hours. However, my pictures, which cost $125, all came out black. If we had gone earlier, when there was sunlight, my pictures would have come out much better. Actually, my friends got great pictures - it was just that my photographer messed up some settings on his camera so they just all came out bad. So the pictures I have posted here are either taken from my friends, who had decent photographers, or heavily edited versions of my severely-underexposed pictures. My skydving video, however, came out pretty nice.

To be fair, I wrote an email to Skydive Orange with a complaint about the wait and the uselessness of my photo package, and a request of at least a partial refund on the pictures, and they wrote back apologizing for the long wait, and offered a refund on my photos.

/The Jump

But the jump was so fantastic! Here are my observations on how it felt to go skydiving, and some pictures of us skydiving.

We went up in a twin-engine plane, and halfway up, the instructor strapped me into his harness, as he was the one wearing the parachute. In the plane we were squeezed in with 21 other people like sardines. There were some solo jumpers who sat up front and they jumped at around 8,000 feet - watching them jump and perform flips in the air made all of us even more excited about our own upcoming jumps.

ready

We went up to 13,500 feet (about 2.5 miles in the air) when one of the instructors opened the bay door. I was the first one on the bench so my instructor stood up and started inching me toward the open door, and when I reached it, he began a count:

1. leaned me out slightly
2. leaned back in
3. vaulted out

go!

IMG_5986

IMG_5989

It's was not a slow three-second count; all three counts occured within a single second!

I've been told, and have read on other websites about skydiving experiences, when asked "how does it feel to go skydiving?", that it would feel like a cushion of air when I first left the plane. Not quite! The sensation was that of falling at full speed, like a rock, and it was just the craziest feeling because the idea of jumping out of a speeding plane is so counter-intuitive. When you jump, you're falling fast, and you know it! The sensation was like nothing I could have imagined.

IMG_6024

They also told us that in the first few seconds out of the plane we would need to take deep breaths, but it was really hard to breathe. The air was cold and was just rushing by, and in those first few seconds, I honestly felt as though I had forgotten how to breathe, and that my heart had stopped beating. The feeling was so exhilarating, of being completely disconnected from the world, of having nothing to hold on to, and nothing to hold on to me.

I wanted to scream at first, but I couldn't at first - nobody did! At least not until 15 seconds or so into the jump when I finally started taking "normal" breaths, and finally realized what was happening! Then I just let it all out and started screaming at the top of my lungs, only I couldn't even hear myself over the rushing wind around me.

IMG_6075

IMG_6076

Just under a minute went by when the chute opened up. I've read that you don't actually move up when this happens, but in any case, I felt like I was being pulled up by like god or something, or maybe the feeling of a rock that has just fallen from the sky and has smashed into a pool of water.

We then floated for about 4 minutes. The instructor pulled on his parachute a few times, making us speed from side to side. Again, being suspended in the air just gliding down, experiencing the sunset from a mile in the sky was just indescribable. It was serene and I felt so at peace with everything.

IMG_6080

The landing was surprisingly soft. We were still moving very fast as we approached the ground, and we started moving much more horizontally than before. The grass continued zipping past us, and finally the instructor landed - tandem skydivers stick their feet out forward at this point, so I ended up landing by sitting on the grass. It was all very gentle and not at all what I had imagined.

Although I'm a little bit leery about going to Skydive Orange again, I would definitely go skydiving again. If the price weren't so high, I'd proabably go do it every weekend. It was just so liberating to be disconnected from the world, even if only for 5 minutes.

Total Cost: $255 (tandem jump) + $125 (picture/video package) = $380.00 for 5 minutes of total liberation

Friday, July 25, 2008

Pictures of Great Falls, McLean

Great Falls is just a few minutes drive from Falls Church, VA and offers some pretty sweet sights.

IMG_4206

IMG_4174

IMG_4147

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nonovyas/ for the full set of pictures.

Saturday, July 05, 2008

Shenandoah River Panorama

Shenandoah river panorama
Click to see the full-size pan of the river.

A set of pictures stitched together. From a public launch point along the Shenandoah River in Charles Town, West Virginia.

Sunday, June 29, 2008

DC's Folklife Festival 2008

metro railI went to DC this weekend to check out Amnesty International's Guantanamo exhibit. I didn't know that the Smithsonian folklife festival was going on as well, but it ended up being the more interesting of the two activities of the day.

Anyways, the AI exhibit had very few visitors and a lot of AI staffers. I hesitated because I'm always apprehensive about such situations (where the organizers of an event significantly outnumber visitors), but I decided to take a look at the cell since I had made the trip. I don't really know what I was expecting, but it was underwhelming. The exhibit was just a re-created jail cell with a staffer explaining the plight of those held at Guantanamo.

This year's folk life festival centered on Texas, NASA, and Bhutan. An eclectic mix to be sure; Bhutan ended up being the only part of interest to me. The NASA exhibit seemed to be more geared toward kids, and the Texas exhibit was boring.

Bhutan: Land of the Thunder Dragon

I started of by listening to a lecture on traditional Bhutanese archery. A few members of the royal family were on hand to demonstrate:

archery competition

The lecturer waxed poetic about the finer points of archery, and how he believed bow-making to be one of the more skilled arts in the world. I listened for a while before moving on to the cuisine exhibit. There a crowd was listening to a mother/son pair discuss the food culture of Bhutan.

your chili and cheese, sir

Chili and cheese, the national dish of Bhutan. Apparently, a New York food critic, Ruth Reichl, had declared that Bhutanese cuisine was the worst in the entire world. The son, a former monk, explained that Bhutan had many regions, and thus, many different regional cuisines, so it wasn't fair to lump all the regions together. But they wanted to show this one dish in particular because it was the one universal dish that was eaten across the country. Note that those are actually red hot chili peppers - the dish doesn't contain meat, as one might think based on the name. When asked if eating chili peppers would be very spicy, the mother replied that the cheese and spinach made the extreme spiciness bearable!

So the son began to speak again, and explained that meat was eaten very sparingly in Bhutan. It's a predominantly Buddhist country, and if meat is eaten at all, it would only come from an animal that died of natural causes - animals are not generally raised as food and slaughtered in Bhutan.

congressman Brian Baird sampling bhutanese cuisine

Congressman Brian Baird (flanked by the Bhutanese ambassador to the US and a member of the Bhutanese cabinet) was on hand to sample the dish -"it's like a red bell pepper, but with a thicker skin", and declared that Ruth Reichl was wrong in her assessment of Bhutanese cuisine. He even seemed to be right at home eating the rice (red rice is a prestige food) and chili with his hands - the preferred way of eating in Bhutan. I'd have tried it myself but the price tag of $9 for four chili peppers and a lump of simulation Bhutanese cheese (made from brie and cream cheese) seemed a bit exorbitant :p.

Friday, June 20, 2008

Water Drops Redux

Another attempt to capture a water drop with my camera. I think the results are much better than my previous attempt: http://bobbypd.blogspot.com/2008/06/project-365-day-5-water.html.

water drops
Canon Digital Rebel XTi. 100mm Macro, 1/2500 second at f/2.8 . ISO 1600.

Thursday, June 19, 2008

$4.03 Gas

So I've hit a milestone. Today was the first time I've ever paid for gas over $4.00. A dubious honor, to be sure! Apparently $4.03 gas was so cheap that there was a long line of cars waiting for it. 1970s much?

$4 gas station

Monday, June 16, 2008

Forest Fire



I ran into a small fire yesterday. It started as a burning pile of leaves, but soon spread to the trees above and the brush around the leaves. It looked like some girls were doing something in the parking lot, and then suddenly ran - maybe they were smoking and their cigarette butts ignited the leaves.
forest fire




Sunday, June 08, 2008

Project 365 - Day 5: Water

It's a bit clichéd, but I wanted to try it anyways. It was surprisingly difficult to freeze the motion of the falling water; I had to snap over a hundred shots just to get a handful of pictures where the drops were even still in the frame. I'll try this shot again next week to see if I can improve.

water drops
Canon Digital Rebel XTi. ISO 1600, 1/500 second at f/5.6. EF 70-300mm lens at 300mm.


Saturday, June 07, 2008

Project 365 - Day 4: Underground

I went into DC today. I probably shouldn't have because the temperature was 95 degrees with 100% humidity, but oh well; what's art without suffering, eh? I went around to the the various memorials that I've never visited before: Lincoln, World War 2, and the Vietnam Wall, among others - and I was plastered with sweat after the walk.

washington metro: smithsonian station
1/25 second at f/4.0. 17-85mm lens at 17mm. ISO 1600.

This is a picture of an underground metro station - the Smithsonian stop. People always remark on the beauty of the vaulted ceilings, and I agree. Though the subway system in DC is no match for the one in New York City, it's much better looking. I was actually surprised at how many other people were also out fighting the heat. Click on any of the pictures to go to my complete flickr album for today's foray.

lincoln memorial world war 2 memorial

Friday, June 06, 2008

Project 365 - Day 3: Macro Flowers

I tried using my macro lens again today. I even used my tripod, but this was the best shot I could get - the tripod I have is pretty crappy and really isn't meant for use with a SLR. I probably should have stopped down the lens a bit more because the upper edge of the flower is still a bit out of focus.

yellow flower, macro
Picture taken with a Canon Digital Rebel XTi. ISO 200; 1/400 second at f/9.0. Canon EF 100mm Macro lens.

Also, 48 hours after the tornado, we've finally got power again. Dominion Power took their sweet time...

Thursday, June 05, 2008

Project 365: Day 2 - Trees

So this was the other house in my neighborhood to have a tree fall due to the tornado. Unfortunately, this neighbor was not as lucky as the one in the previous post.

Naturally, I was not the only one on the scene with a camera.

tree on house
Taken with a Powershot SD500. ISO unknown; 1/636 seconds at f/2.8.

Project 365: Day 1 - The Aftermath

I was going to start my "Project 365" yesterday, the thing where you post a new picture every single day for a year, but the tornado and subsequent power outage put that on hiatus.

Idea from: http://photojojo.com/content/tutorials/project-365-take-a-photo-a-day/

A tornado, in northern Virginia! It's been 24 hours and there is still no power on my street, probably because there are several trees lying on the road on top of the wires.

fallen tree
Taken with a digital Rebel XTi. ISO400; 1/160 seconds at F/7.1. Canon EF-S 17-85mm lens at 85mm.

There were two fallen trees that I found out about. One next door to us, which, thankfully, only took down the neighbor's fence (and power lines). Then there was another down the street, which was apparently sucked up out of the ground and then thrown onto this one dude's house...naturally, as is always the case when misfortune befalls another, there were plenty of curious neighbors armed with cameras swarming the scene.

In any case, the lack of power made for a boring (and hungry) night. My dad didn't want anyone leaving the house, and our stove was crippled by the lack of electricity, so we ate buns and sandwiches for dinner. Savage!

Monday, June 02, 2008

2008 Honda Accord Coupe LX-S, Pictures, part 2

2008 Honda Accord Copue, Belize Blue PearlA few pictures from the interior of the 2008 Honda Accord Coupe. A continuation from the first part of the Review, found at: http://bobbypd.blogspot.com/2008/05/review-of-2008-honda-accord-coupe-lx.html.

honda accord instruments

Unlike the Civic (which used mostly LEDS), the Accord uses actual dials on its instrumentation panel.

honda accord radio

You've heard it before probably, but the Accord has a lot of buttons on the center instrument panel. After a while it grows on you, but I still take a while before finding the exact button I'm looking for - not fun when I'm driving!

The space in front of the clock is a perfect place to stick a GPS unit on (you can see the cradle for my Garmin 360 in this picture). The CD player has room for 6-cds. The steering wheel has buttons for radio/CD station, volume control, and cruise control.

honda accord interior

The space in the back is quite limited in the Honda Accord Coupe. The rear windows are also small and really hard to see out of while driving. This is the Ivory-colored cloth interior.

Was this post helpful? Interesting? Not? Leave a comment, ask a question, or rate this post using the star control below!

Sunday, June 01, 2008

Things to Do in Las Vegas, A Guide with Pictures

Las Vegas VacationA series of posts about possible things to do - other than gambling or partaking in the nightlife - in Las Vegas. With pictures.


My brother accrued enough comp points to room and feed me at a hotel (Bally's, on the Strip, no less!) so I decided to fly out to Vegas to sightsee and to see the family. The comp didn't cover airfare, so I booked a ticket with JetBlue thru Expedia; I got the ticket less than a week in advance, so it was a little pricey, but the hotel room was only reservable for a particular week, so there wasn't much I could do. It was a direct flight and every seat had a TV so I guess I can't complain. Well, the flight attendants did talk pretty loudly while everyone tried to sleep, and they were red-eye flights, but eh.


The Fountains at Bellagio

Bally's was nice enough. My room had a queen size bed, a little wet-bar, a sitting area, and of course, a bathroom. The one thing it was missing was a wireless internet connection - there were plenty of wifi signals bouncing around, but all of them required payment. I asked about the business center, but I scoffed at the price of $5 for 5 minutes of internet usage. Since I needed directions to the various sights I had hoped to see, I gave up and paid $12.95 for the wired, in-room, internet connection for 24 hours.

Vegas in Three Days - Links
  1. Las Vegas - Day One: Lake Mead and Hoover Dam
  2. Las Vegas - Day Two: Glass Skywalk at Grand Canyon West
  3. Las Vegas - Day Three: Red Rock Canyon
Besides the above attractions, there were lots of things to do and see in the city itself. It was interesting enough to walk through the various themed casinos (to try my hand at the tables!), and along the streets to see the various casino frontages. I thought the hot, dry air was refreshing, but make sure to bring/buy lotion and eye drops!

fremont street experience
The Fremont Street Experience. As opposed to The Strip, Downtown is pretty kitschy, and the casinos kinda dark and depressing, but might as well go for the experience eh?

Was this post helpful? Interesting? Not? Leave a comment, ask a question, or rate this post using the star control below!

Las Vegas - Day Three: Red Rock Canyon Pictures

Las Vegas VacationRed Rock Canyon was an easy 20-minute drive out of Las Vegas. We just took Route 159 West straight down; it's got a lot of traffic lights while you're still in the city itself, but it's the most direct route. Getting in is $5 per car.

As always, click the image to see it full-size.

red rock canyon
Not surprisingly, the canyon is named for red rocks.

Red Rock has a bunch of hiking trails (list available here) dotted along the canyon range. To get to the various parking points, visitors drive along the one-way 14-mile scenic trail (shared by joggers and bikers) - maps are provided at the visitors center.

red rock canyon
Places for rock scrambling are plentiful along the various trails.

The first stop we came to, Calico 1, along the scenic loop seemed to have the most visitors looking for photo-ops. There was a rather steep hill leading to some rocks which about a quarter of the people scrambled up. Shoes with better traction would probably be a good idea here (as in any other canyon). After getting our pictures, we descended the rocks and walked back up to the parking area...to be honest, after that, my friend and I were already winded, so we probably shouldn't have run up that rock with such gusto!

warning sign red dragonfly

The entire scenic route was well-paved, but there were certain hiking trails accessible only through dirt roads. We decided to go on Keystone Thrust, which entailed a short 5-minute drive up a bumpy dirt road. After parking, we first took the .15 mile walk to see a spring, and, man, after walking back up to the parking area, we were just completely drained (yeah, I need to start going to the gym more often!). I really wanted to see the Keystone, described as the most significant geological formation of the park, but...

red rock canyon

We decided that soaking up the scenery from the car along the road was just as good. At particularly nice spots, we just parked the car and got out to take pictures. Traffic along the road is light and as it is a one-way road, there is plenty of room for faster cars to pass. Red Rock's Scenic Road is basically free and just a short drive out of Las Vegas proper, so it's definitely something to consider on a trip to Las Vegas.

see also:
Flickr Album - Las Vegas Shenanigans
Las Vegas - A Guide
Las Vegas - Day One: Lake Mead and Hoover Dam
Las Vegas - Day Two: Glass Skywalk at Grand Canyon West
Las Vegas - Day Three: Red Rock Canyon

Was this post helpful? Interesting? Not? Leave a comment, ask a question, or rate this post using the star control below!

bobbypd. Get yours at bighugelabs.com/flickr