Teetering. Almost Balanced.

Sgt. Salvador Rodriguez braces himself as a UH-60 Blackhawk prepares to land less than 20 yards away from him on Camp Liberty, Iraq on June 23, 2009. The leaflets will be dispersed over specific locations in Baghdad in order to capture a known insurgent. Rodriquez is the administrative non commissioned officer for the 315th Tactical Psychological Operations Company from Upland, Calif. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Felix R. Fimbres)

   So far this week, we had asymmetrical balance, symmetrical balance with tiny subjects, and balance with a twist. Today we're trying to balance two disparately sized objects.

   So the thing about helicopters is that when they land on a dirt and rock helipad, dirt and rocks fly everywhere.

Helicopter in a point of interest. check. soldier in two points of interest. 

check. Leading line? Maybe. Balanced? Pretty close.

   Obviously you want to turn away like the soldier in the photo and probably close your eyes. I didn't do either because I wanted to get this shot. Luckily I had a decent sized camera in front of my face, and eye protection so I didn't really get anything in my eyes.

   Next problem, when helicopters land all the force they're generating to stay aloft is pushing you away from it. So I had to brace myself. Part of the reason this angle is a little low is that I my feet were pretty far apart of each other trying to get as solid of a base as possible. Luckily I'm not a small guy, so I had 230 pounds anchoring me too.

   I aimed my camera at my subject knowing he probably wasn't going to move too much and just waited for the helicopter to get in a point of interest. Timing is huge in a situation like this, and knowing what is about to happen is key, but luck is always helpful.

   Between leaning forward and my mass I was able to avoid getting thrown backwards.

   If you're a lighter person, I would recommend getting as low as possible so your center of gravity is low. You could lay down or try to find something to lean back against.

   So, is this balance? It's pretty close. Our soldier is a little bigger than the helicopter, so the balance could have been better, but it's not quite asymmetrical balance either.