PHOTO-A-DAY CHALLENGE

A Full Moon and More Out of My Life Above the Clouds

Week 106 of the photographic documentary of my daily life

Another hot week has passed. I know you might get tired of listening to it but it’s seriously hot in Germany. It’s dry, almost desert-dry. And hot. Today was again brutally hot. I don’t know why but I suffered more than the previous days. And weeks.

It’s been humid, and I really hope it is going to rain tonight or tomorrow. The country really needs the rain, and I need some cooler temperatures.

But meanwhile, I'm lying in front of my air cooler, finishing this photo essay. I have a feeling I didn’t take many pictures this week and need to go through the folders of images I took for work. Some more photographs from the skies for you then.

Whenever I’m filming the skydive for a passenger, I look out of the window to get the moment we fly above or next to the stunning lake. Ruppiner See is one of the largest in our area and always makes up for a good photo from the sky.

It looks like a river but is just a lake stretched around the corner.

It was Friday night. After a long day at work, we were sitting together with colleagues and all kinds of skydivers hanging out in the trailer park at the airfield.

It was getting late after the barbecue, and we all knew the weekend would be a hard one. As I was walking to our trailer, my husband was saying you have to see the moon.

And I did see the full moon already and was on my way to grab the camera. Despite my tiredness, I made the effort to capture the full moon shining behind a thin layer of moisture in the air.

Well, this is what we do for a living. My husband and I jump out of planes and often we do it at the same time. Together.

Like in the picture below. I was on duty to film his tandem jump and launched together with him from the plane. I’m currently trying a new exit position and here we were both heads down for a moment or two.

Turning the world upside down.

Thrilling, isn’t it?

Sunday was the last day of our working week and my energy levels were surely low but I managed to do another 9 jumps in the end.

This was one of my oldest passengers of the day. Stefan had so much fun in the sky, I let him steer the canopy and enjoy the ride.

Oh, and since I often get asked if I still enjoy this jumping out of airplanes since it’s kind of routine for me — just look into my face.

Does that look like a fake smile?

I’m enjoying making tandem passengers smile. There’s surely nothing more rewarding than a smiling customer.

Oh, and here’s another picture taken from my office chair.

This is my life above the clouds. And closer to the sun. It’s not bad, I’d say.

Monday, our off day. But somehow, I was busy the entire day. One big project I did, I had to do for a long time was clean the paddleboard and kayak. They had been sitting in the car since we got back from the trip, and it was surely not smelling good.

I washed them with freshwater despite the dryness our country is experiencing. We’re not watering the lawn anywhere in the trailer park. It’s, anyway, mostly dead.

After I cleaned the boards, I put them in the shade and knew they’d dry in no time. Clouds were building up in the sky, and indeed, we received two rain showers that afternoon. Not enough. The sun burned away all the moisture just minutes later.

Monday was also the day my husband was cooking for the team. We had invited some friends and colleagues and had gotten deer meat from a befriended hunter.

There is nothing like some good game meat. And my husband made a delicious stew out of it. He was out there all afternoon preparing and letting the stew boil.

And since he made so much food, it was enough to eat Tuesday evening again from it.

I was sitting out on the porch waiting for the last skydivers to land so I could open the first bottle of beer for the day. It had been a great day but a long one too. I was getting hungry and excited for another bowl of delicious stew.

I try to share information and details from my rather unconventional life and work duties and bring bits and pieces of it into these photo essays.

Here’s another bite for you.

Whenever I’m filming a tandem pair as an outside camera flyer, I do climb out of the aircraft and hold onto that bar you see in the image below. There’s a small step somewhere for my foot and then I turn around, look into the door and hold on until the tandem master launches out of the aircraft.

At this point, depending on the aircraft, we’re still moving at 80–100knots forward. Sometimes, I have to hold onto that bar rather long.

Don’t slip and slide or you’ll have a long solo jump and the customer no video…

I know I’ve shared again two pictures of today, but it was so beautiful when I filmed this tandem pair during the opening of the parachute with the setting sun in the background.

I had to share this with you.

This has been my week in photographs. 7 days. 7 photographs. Anyone can join. Once. Or weekly. It doesn’t matter. We welcome everyone! Dennett started this photography challenge in 2020 and many have participated ever since.

Erika / Eileen / K. Barrett / Juan / David / Mia / Susan / LensAfield / Kim / Barbara / Diana / Barb / Sandra / Shruthi / Ellie / Pene / Olive / Gustavo / Jane / Penny / Jillian

And these are the previous weekly photo essays:

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