"A new angle on life." By Nik Daniel of AXIS Flight School.
By Blue Skies Magazine  |  View on Facebook

by Nik Daniel <AXIS Flight School>

Z-hills Light Painting by Mohammad Al-Refaei

Mohammad Al-Refaei, B-36248, is a Skydive City jumper from Kuwait who took this awesome shot on Saturday after the FLCPA meet. Check out more of his stuff on flickr.

Danish skydiver Kenneth Gajda has graciously shared with us the view through his lens, as he explores the 3rd Dubai International Parachuting Championships (DIPC).
Visit the Skydive Dubai website for scores, standings and general updates from the event.

Caption Me! Photo by John Hawke

What the hell happened here? Post your best caption as a comment below. And, as an added treat this month, we might print the one with the most ‘likes’ in the next issue of the magazine, so be sure to include your name as you’d want it printed. Eternal glory, yours for the taking!

Some eye candy for you from the infamous Robert Justin Carmody of today’s POPS action here in Deland. We’ll be on site tomorrow and should have some more fun goodies for you. Good luck, POPS!

Photographer and general hot-shot Niklas Daniel has an eye for capturing photos and videos that make us laugh – and make us remember that at the end of the day we are all a bunch of big kids using the sky as a playground.

That said, its caption contest time!!
Knock yourselves out in the comments below

By: Brian Buckland

Every time I go to an event I’m always meeting new jumpers. Some have been in the sport a short time while others have been doing it longer than I have.  Inevitably someone will ask me a question about how I take my pictures.  They are curious about the angle I shoot the big ways or what settings I use for an average skydive. If you’ve ever asked me about any of these things then you’ll know that I love to geek out and chat cameras for as long as time permits.

With that said, I’ve been working with SkyVenture Colorado on several projects this past year and we decided that we would host a Camera Fliers Skills Camp.  Learning the techniques from the Tunnel to the Sky.  200 jump minimum required.  If you’re just starting out filming your friends, work shooting tandems all day long, or want to get better at shooting big ways and filming your team on the side, then you should pay attention!

This is a comprehensive camp including both video and stills, covering everything from setting up the equipment, exits, flying, framing the shot, to landing and post-production / promotion.  If you are just starting out or are looking to take your current product to the next level, then this camp is for you!

Sign up now with SkyVenture Colorado and soak up the knowledge from someone who has been there and gotten the shot!

This one comes to us from the Arizona Vertical Challenge and Niklas Daniel. Post your best captions in the comments!

your caption here | photo by Niklas Daniel

By: Brian Buckland

If a friend asked you if you wanted to travel to rural South Carolina for a long weekend in the near 100 degree heat, put on a black jumpsuit and run around in the sun, you might think they weren’t the best friends in the world.  But when that friend tells you that’s CarolinaFest 2011, you grab that jumpsuit and run out the door!  Which is exactly what I did.  I just got back a few days ago and it was a fun time for sure, oh yeah, and there were some great jumps in there too!  Let me tell you a little bit about it.  If you’d like to SEE MY FULL POST CLICK HERE.

The best story times are the ones with pictures.  For starters, I found out early on that Simon had his tube tied.  I didn’t know he could do that, but it’s better safe than sorry!  That guys naked half the time as it is so why not play safe!  And then there was Mel.  She must have been pissed off at something cause she was throwing out the “C” if you know what I mean.  Maybe I missed a shot or something, I guess I’ll just have to try harder next time.  Or maybe she was just trying to give Simon a “C” for the top of his tube?  Not sure…

Then there was the time that my helmet flew off on opening.  Yikes….talk about all sorts of badness.  Can you imagine what my face would look like if I lost all of that expensive camera gear?  Well, lucky for my quick reactions, because when my helmet DID fly off my head, I managed to grab it at just about full arms reach away from me.  So as soon as I realized I had it securely in my hands, I did what any good photographer would do, I spun it around to catch the astonishment on my face!  When I told Angela about it later, she had the same reaction!

I told Amy about a SkyHook I just saw in action and she was like, ‘What’s the big deal?’ and getting up an in my face and stuff.  Back off Chmelecki!  It’s just a SkyHook!  But man, to see it up close and personal, it was like an instant reserve canopy!  Giddyup!

Well, that’s about it for my wrap up on CarolinaFest 2011.  If you’d like to SEE THE ENTIRE GALLERY CLICK HERE.  I hope you enjoyed my story.  To leave you I will ask you a question.  What do you get when you throw a party, tell everyone to wear a pink costume, provide 3 Margarita machines full of booze, and tell the winners that they get either a free golden Cypres or 20 jumps with 20 pack jobs?  Not sure?  Well, let me show you what you get.   The 20th Anniversary Cypres Pink Party.   Hope you enjoy!