Sitting pretty now with over 900 jumps, I've had a crazy few years within the skydiving sport. If it wasn't for COVID-19, I would probably have hit 1,000 jumps in 2020! It may sound like many jumps to some but I assure you it is still dwarved by veterans of the sport that have 5,000, 10,000 and even 20,000 jumps.
I will go into more depth in later blog posts about the sport and content I've created but for now, here's a quick overview of skydiving and photography's place within it.
Generally, there are two types of skydivers, tandem and solo. Anyone with the right health requirements can tandem skydive but to be a solo skydiver you need to go through a training course and achieve a license. The most common route for this is an AFF (Accelerated Freefall) or Static line course. The main differences being in Static line, having your parachute automatically opened by a static line vs. AFF where you learn to deploy your own parachute from the beginning and jumping straight from "the top" in AFF vs. gradually getting more altitude in Static line.
Once qualified as an A license skydiver with around 20 jumps you typically work on your flying skills and shouldn't even think about use of a camera until a C license and 200 jumps. The big reason for this is your altitude awareness and the lack of it with limited jump experience.
For some this journey can be a rapid progression and take months, for others years. Cash and determination are usually the defining factors. However, as a sport it is hugely unique in that it's a close-knit community of people who are often of very different backgrounds but all are united under the same understanding that "once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth, with eyes turned skyward. For there you've been and there you long to return." - Leonardo Da Vinci
It truly is a life changing experience and I look forward to sharing my stories behind photos/videos soon.
