Skydiving - 2010 Long Range Experiment

Taking skydiving pictures is challenging and fun. I have a 26x super zoom.  There are 2 issues taking moving pictures at that range.  Keeping the camera steady and keeping moving objects in the frame.  My new camera has a viewfinder which helps making it easier to track skydivers as they fall or float to earth.

I wanted to experiment by taking longer range pictures. Tandems jump from the plane around 10,000 feet.  Here are a few pictures I took from the ground tracking tandems as they fall.  Tandems deploy their parachutes at around 6,000 feet.  It is easier to find and track falling skydivers if I can see them jump from the plane and follow them down.  It's also easier when I can stand in a shaded area.

As I explained in last years skydiving post, many tandems want a videographer to record their adventure which is what you see in a couple of these shots.

Carol is one of the videographers at the Dropzone in Pepperell, MA.  She is in the pictures you see here.  Videographers take video of you before the flight, during the flight, the jump out of the plane, the fall and landing.  Once the tandem deploys their parachute the videographer races to the ground to take videos of the tandem as they land.  Carol does a great swoop when landing.

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This is a tendem deploying their shoot with another tandem in the frame still falling.  I thought that was interesting.  This is Carol landing before one of the tandems so she can take video of their landing.

Search Blog Archive: September 2011, September 2010, August 2009, May 2009 & November 2008 - for more Skydiving.