WRITING PROMPT RESPONSE

The Sky is my Office

What it’s like to be flying through the skies

The sky has always had a unique drawing power to me. Finding the passion for photography at a young age I started to look up at the sky in awe almost daily. While at first, I wished to have a clear sky without clouds for the perfect sunset shot, I am now waiting for the clouds to roll in because I know those only make the twilight special.

I’ve experienced magical skies on three different continents in very diverse landscape features. From rainy clouds in the forest of Malaysia and picture-perfect sunsets on the islands of Thailand, over the clear skies in the Alps up to the special sunset lights in the desert and rain showers in the highlands.

I’ve seen it all. I’ve fallen in love with it. I’ve lost my words in an attempt to describe the beauty unfolding in front of my eyes. But I will never get enough of it. Because every moment out there is unique and will never be repeated. At least not in the very same version.

Above the clouds

In the last few years, I’ve built a different relationship with the skies. While starting my still very young skydiving career I’ve now got the chance to be up in the sky. To be in the middle of clouds, to fly into the sunset, and fall through a rainbow.

Even though skydivers wish blue skies when they say goodbye to each other, we still embrace clouds up there. When sitting in the plane and reaching the bottom layer of the clouds everything turns white all of a sudden. Just before you leave the clouds again appearing on top of the world. That is at least how it feels like.

The feeling of being on top of the clouds also amazes me each time. When the fog is lying low above the ocean at my home dropzone in Namibia and the dunes are covered in the mist only the locals know what beauty is hidden underneath that carpet.

A closed cloud layer or massive rain clouds are obviously a no-go for us but a few soft clouds in the sky are always fun to fly through and around.

Circling around the sun

While you could joke about being closer to the sun when getting to altitude it is a matter of fact how often I do look into and at the sun when at work. Depending on the job I do in the air I either keep the sun behind my back to get a great shot of the jumpers in front of me, or I face the sun for the photographer having it behind his back.

The sun usually shines through the exit shot when leaving the plane, sending rays of sunshine into the lens of my camera. Between overexposure and just the right amount of light is a very fine line.

But those moments when the sun is low above the horizon during the rare occasion of sunrise jumps or the more common moments of sunset jumps create of course the best and most amazing photographs.

Looking down onto earth

The sky is for me, not just a landscape feature I look up at. Sometimes I am in the sky. And then I look down onto the earth. I often welcome my passengers to the sky as “this is my office”. Which is true.

And I must say, the view from my office isn’t bad at all.

I love looking down onto earth seeing cars looking like toy cars and everything just being so small. It gives me an understanding of how small we are in this world.

Looking down to earth at different places in the world also lets me appreciate the landscapes in different places of the world from a new angle. Things you wouldn’t see from the ground do stick out when looking at it from above.

The power of the sky

Working in the sky also taught me a very different aspect of the sky. The power of it all. Together with winds, the sun, and clouds, the sky can be a huge danger for us humans. Not just for skydivers but for us all.

I learned to look at the sky and read the sky. I learned to separate different cloud formations and wind speeds. I know when to go hide from a heavy downpour and when to embrace a light drizzle of summer rain.

The sky is above us all. Like a shelter, protection from the outside world. But the sky can get angry as well causing flooding, fires, and other natural disasters.

Be in harmony with the sky and read the signs it is sending you.

“When we feel stuck, look at the sky. The clouds remind us that everything changes.” — Ricky Akol Diing

The sky is my office

All in all, I am friends with the sky. I love calling the sky my office and seeing it every day from different angles. I learned to fly in the sky and now take passengers on a lovely ride through the beauty of the blue up there.

While most just experience a rush of adrenaline when jumping out of the plane, I do feel the wind on my face, the sun on my skin, and see the beauty with my wide-open eyes.

I love going back to work and only those days when I can’t go up in the skies are when I don’t like being at work.

Final words

Photography has taught me a lot about the small things in life but also about the big ones. I’ve learned to look at the sky with different eyes and appreciate all kinds of weather because we need it all.

Only sun creates a desert and therefore rain is necessary for our survival. Together with winds and light thunderstorms now and then our weather is being created in the sky and all parts of it cause beauty somehow somewhere in the world. You just need to be willing to see it.

For me, the sky remains fascinating. Every day.

“Only from the heart can you touch the sky.” — Rumi

This was a writing prompt response to the WTB latest prompt on #fascinatingsky. Feel free to share your own experiences in and around the skies with us.

Sign up for our newsletter to stay informed with up-to-date curations from our editors.

We now offer exclusive writing services for our members. Discover how you can take advantage of our editing services and more.