Being a skydiving photographer is just as extreme as being a skydiver. So if you plan on becoming one, there are some considerations that you might want to deliberate on first before you go out and buy your camera. Here are some of them.
Being a skydiving photographer is just as extreme as being a skydiver. So if you plan on becoming one,
there are some considerations that you might want to deliberate on first before you go out and buy your camera. Here are some of them.
The Price Of Art
Getting to fly a camera is just as fun as skydiving gets. However, it could also make your fun into a frustrating and expensive affair in a great hurry, and can eat out your valuable jump money much faster. Why is it expensive? Well, first off, you still do pay for your jumps even if you have a camera. Well, you do, but maybe for about your first 50-100 jumps with the gadget on. Your proficiency on using the equipments and techniques would have to improve first so that time would come that somebody would see it’s worth it to pay for your slot. Take note that it’s your skill with the art that should improve and not your flying skills.
This is just one reason that you should make sure that your precious money spent on the camera equipments would not be wasted because of inexperience.
For What Purpose?
First off, just like with other major purchases, you should have an idea on what exactly you want to do with your equipment. One camcorder can be useful for AFF, tandems, freeflying and 4-way; however, if you don’t know which model and brand you should get, you'll probably end up with equipment that don’t exactly function the way you want it to.
Get A Master!
If you’re new to this stuff, it would be best that you find a mentor. Try your best to find an experienced camera flyer to ask input from them. Also try to ask how they started in the field, what equipment they got and why. You can also ask them about expensive and hard lessons that they’ve learned through experience, as for sure any camera flyer that has adequate experience has at least one eye-opening story in store for you.
Shopping Galore
Apparently, once you’re done with your homework, then it is time to go shopping. Nowadays, there are a lot of options and choices available for you that sometimes it’s overwhelming just to know who you should trust and know exactly where to go. Should you buy through mail or locally? Should you avail of the extended warranty they are selling you? Should you get extra batteries? How about getting a wide-angle lens?
There are more choices to make that you’re probably clueless with, which is just one of the many times that you’d really benefit from having a mentor.
Safety First
For newbies or want-to-be camera flyers, taking precaution in buying your equipment is the right way to do it. You should always make sure that what you buy would really provide you what you need.
For example, if you are planning to shoot a freefly revolution and have some awesome head-down footages, then getting a large 3-chip camcorder would probably not be the right choice. However, if you’re planning on challenging one of the top-of-the-line freefall photographers for the "Top Dog" title, then you may want to get the most feature-heavy and powerful camera available in the market.
Basic Requirements
Obviously, if you want to be a camera flyer, you would have to meet some basic requirements, such as being able to skydive. At least having basic training and a bit of experience would do. Of course learning how to operate the gadgets and some of the techniques are important too, but these can all be learned within the whole process.
