This photo was taken from our boathouse in Chetek, Wisconsin on July 4, 2006. I was walking down to the boathouse with my camera and saw this guy on a kite tube. I took the photo, removed my camera from my eye to watch the action and the next thing I know he slammed into the water. We went out in our boat to talk with him. Although very stunned, the rider was uninjured and unwilling to try it again anytime soon for more photos. Once I opened the image on my computer I was completely surprised to see the rider in the air. The rider was not tossed this high above the tube, actually the tube was at his height about a tenth of a second earlier. When I took the picture I did not realize the rider had been thrown off the tube. To me it looked like the rider was on the tube having a great time. Suddenly, the tube dove into the water and the rider followed, this all happened much too quickly for me to react with my camera for another shot. I estimate that the rider is easily 30 feet above the water. The conditions were quite perfect for a flight to this height. The boat is heading west, into a brisk wind, at a good clip.
Best Regards,
Josh
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Update: The Associated Press requested a copy of my photo and distributed it worldwide. Not too bad for what I consider a lucky snapshot.
Update 2: A cropped version of this photo was on the front page of today's printed Minneapolis Star Tribune. This must be my fifteen minutes of fame All this coverage over what I consider a lucky shot.
There has been somebody on our lake with one of those. I had never seen one before this year. The guy here always has a helmet on. This is probably why!
Most of the retailers have stopped selling this item because of the recent injuries and deaths related to it. A google search produces many results to this effect.
Wow, I have been wanting to try one of these and I had no idea you could get that high! Cool pic none the less, and glad to hear he is ok. Maybe if I can get my hands on one (they are really expensive), I will think about the helmet and lower winds to start...
The wind speed has little to do with the inherent danger of these tubes. The injuries come from hitting the water at such a high speed after falling from the airborne tube.
When I was flying helicopters in the Army, we were trained in dropping special ops soldiers from a low altitude and very slow speed into the water, an operation that can and has killed some troops even during training. If the heicopter is moving over the water faster than a brisk walking pace, the jump is stopped until the speed is slow enough to perform safely.
The soldier dropping into the water has to be able to hit the surface feet first and NOT snap his neck and back by twisting caused by his feet being ripped out from under him by the water. This is done from an altitude of about eight to ten feet.
Contrast that with what we see in the picture above. The tube has to be traveling across the water fast enough to get airborne - probably 15 to 20 knots. Now the rider is at least 25 to 30 feet in the air and tumbling out of control towards the water. If he hits the water wrongly positioned, he can break his neck or worse. This guy was lucky.
I'm really surprised there aren't a lot more injuries on these things.
You could use a little contrast tweaking and the horizon isn't level. I'd also crop it to a vertical orientation and lose the distracting elements on the left side.
Thats an amazing shot that may be worth something to somebody. I have never seen these out on the water but when I saw it in a catalog I said to myself no-way is this thing safe. So I'm sure the lawsuits will fly but IMO your pretty stupid to even go get on one in the first place. I would not get on one or ever pull one with my boat. What a great capture though.
T.K. wrote:
Thats an amazing shot that may be worth something to somebody. I have never seen these out on the water but when I saw it in a catalog I said to myself no-way is this thing safe. So I'm sure the lawsuits will fly but IMO your pretty stupid to even go get on one in the first place. I would not get on one or ever pull one with my boat. What a great capture though.
First of all, it's a great photo, and I'm throughly happy for the photographer that the AP have picked up on it. A prime example of being in the right place at the right time, and having the ability to capture the moment.
But moving on to a bit of a rant... (Which is NOT directed at anyone on here!)
I hate this crappy litigious attitude that the world has these days - people should be made to sign a waiver on their 18th birthday, stating they are responsible for their own actions, and that they're not going to sue people when it's their fault that they've hurt themselves.
Looking at this thing - the company has created a totally awesome product - you get to fly through the air behind a boat. Admittedly, there is a serious level of danger involved, as has been discussed, but people are making their own decision to climb on this thing. Having watched the instructional video on the site, the manufacturers make it plainly clear that the kite is meant to be used safely, at around a foot off the water, with a spotter informing the driver on the condition of the rider. If people are ignoring the advice, then it's their own fault that they are getting hurt. It even has "Never Kite higher than you are willing to fall" printed in massive letters across the back of it.
Downhill mountain biking is dangerous, and you don't see riders who've hit a tree at 35mph suing the manufacturer because they fell off. I lost movement in my thumb because of a skiing accident - the extent of my thinking at the time was "shit, my thumb's pointing the wrong way," not "hmm, how can I figure this so the ski maker's going to give me a fat cheque."
As soon as someone makes a choice to engage in a dangerous activity, they need to accept the dangers involved, and not try and figure out how they can make the most money out of the situation.
I'm sorry if that's going a bit OT, but it needs to be said.
Thank you for the reply and your initial input. The AP asked me to submit the original photo and an adjusted version or two. I sent them the original, as well as, a horizontal and vertical crop. I like the horizontal crop as the motorized floating patio (pontoon) on the left seems to add perspective to the shot. Both you and the AP like the vertical, no biggie for me. The AP was willing to pay, if I were willing to go thorough my local office ($100-150). If I took them up on their handout offer (no money) the photo would get published immediately. I don’t mean to sound arrogant, but for free verses a possible $150.00 and immediate publication they can have the photo. The AP works on subscribing members, I have no idea how many of these members printed my photo. Regardless, had it not been for the AP I would not have been published and the individual publications would not have found the photograph. I only had to give the AP limited rights to the photo (i.e. no magazines, editorial use only & no sales of the photo). Essentially, only the publications that don’t pay for photos have access to it. Now, I may be wrong, very wrong, I could have possibly sold this photo for much more… However, this is my first foray into mass publication and I did not have time to ask questions. The photo was very timely, considering the recall and the public’s opinion of the product. The only thing I would do differently is to have mounted the 500/4 on a tripod with the 1D Mark II and shot away.
PDBreske wrote:
I'm really surprised there aren't a lot more injuries on these things.
There are. The product is now the subject of a voluntary recall..
A cropped version of this photo was on the front page of today's Minneapolis Star Tribune. This must be my fifteen minutes of fame All this coverage over what I consider a lucky shot. First the AP and now a major metro.
No, I did not receive compensation from the Star Tribune. The photo was obtained by them from the Associated Press. I granted the AP editorial rights only for the photo. Had I not given the photo to the AP it never would have shown up in the Star Trib or other publications. However, the publicity alone has been well worth the decision to give the photo to the AP. It is very difficult to sell this type of photo to a newspaper. In this case I would have needed to get in touch with the article's writer before they went to press, nearly an impossibility. The AP did offer money; however, it was not enough to get me excited versus guaranteed publication as a handout. Now, if a magazine or other source requests the photo from the AP, they would forward the request to me.
Josh,
I am a member of another forum for "Yamaha Jetboaters" and these kite tubes have been the topics of many discussions. Most of the Corps lakes across the country either already have, or are apparently about to make it illegal to ride these tubes in the air (you can still use them as regular towables if you like).
Quite a few of the topics are first hand experiences of people getting slammed into the water like this guy obviously did.
Thanks for sharing your picture. You may not have realized it at the time of permitting the AP to publish the shot, but my guess is you have saved some people from injury, possibly death, by showing them what could happen on one of these towables. I didn't realize it last summer when I borrowed a friend's and it flung me off at about 10 feet going 35mph. I was bruised a bit, but it quickly ended my kite tubing.
Dubyas_Dad wrote:
Thanks for sharing your picture. You may not have realized it at the time of permitting the AP to publish the shot, but my guess is you have saved some people from injury, possibly death, by showing them what could happen on one of these towables.
Thank you for the reply. I have been part of a few online discussions regarding this product. I hadn't even considered that my photo my have helped people. Thank you for this thought.
For those interested in further information regarding this kite tube, the following web site has a great compilation of info: http://www.steadywinds.com
Another side note… Out of all the forums this photo has been posted on, that I have seen, every forum but this one has questioned the authenticity of this photo. I have spent a considerable amount of time defending this picture. It is very pleasant to come here and have civilized discussion regarding the picture and I thank all of you.
All this coverage over what I consider a lucky shot.