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June 04, 2004

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One of my favorite things is to watch the sun as it is shining through the clouds. To watch as it changes and the sunbeams sometimes shoots in all directions from behind the clouds. I feel very fortunate to be able to capture shots like this looking directly at the sun, and still be able to somewhat capture the spirit of the moment. 

  I recall a particular skydive that I had made several years ago in Virginia. They had grounded the big plane because of all the cloud coverage in the area. But there was still some small holes in the clouds. A jumpmaster wanted to take a student up in the small plane and asked if anybody else wanted to take up the extra slot. As nobody wanted to go up in the small plane I quickly jumped at the opportunity. 
  We got up to altitude, about 10,500 feet, and struggled to find any small holes in the cloud layer that we could drop through. Finally circling around a few of them we decided to go. I went out first and watched in the distance as the other two exited the plane. I pulled open my chute at a little more than 1,000 feet above the cloud layer so that I could drift comfortably down through the hole that I had picked out. I circled the inside of hole, playing along the edges of the clouds as I descended through it, and as I came out of the bottom I saw one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen. I watched in awe as the sun beams shot through the clouds and moved so very dramatically as I drifted through different angles and vantage points. It was an incredible experience that I will never forget.