video tandems what is your priority?

[skydiverjerry 0]

hi dave no i turn then open away from them.

life is a journey not to arrive at the grave in a pristine condition but to skid in sideways kicking and screaming, shouting "fuck me what a ride!.

[JPDECHENE 0]

Besides safety for the 3 of us (Student, TM and myself) that is for sure the top priority, we must keep in mind that the one who pays for our jump is the customer and we are there to give him what he expects : to be the STAR OF THE DAY and what he wants is seeing his face, right in the middle of the screen, as long as possible.

A few tips to make him even happier :
A video does not start with the exit and finish with the opening, film as much as you can on the ground, do not forget the family and the kids if they are there – farewell and welcome back kisses are most appreciated – make them talk, let them give their thoughts. Do not forget to congratulate them after landing telling them how good a jump it was (and make sure that it is clear on the video sound track). Ask them also what kind of music they would like to have as background, and if they have no special preference, use your good sense to select it but keep in mind that YOUR favourite music sometimes can not match the student preferences.

Make sure that you have a routine with the TM, so you both will be prepared for what will happen and, if you do not edit yourself the video, that will be easier for the one who will do it as he will know almost exactly what will be on the tape.

Something I also consider as very important : never show on a video what the student would not like to show his girl friend e.g. if a student persistently looks at the ground, I just make a sign to the TM and he makes half a turn, lifts the head of the student and then turns back to the camera, that usually ends with a large smile and as a nice picture.

When TM waves off, backslide, shot the whole opening sequence, finishing either standing or on your back, then roll back face to earth, track away from the tandem vertical, stop your track and pull.

Usually after opening, I screw it down, 5 to 10 turns depending on the spot then shut off my camera and put it on again around 600 or 700 ft to film while I am landing.

Make sure to have fixed a landing zone with the TM to make sure that you will have the landing, both on video and on stills, as said earlier, do not forget to congratulate the student, ask him his first-hand impressions and be ready to go back, as a team (student, TM and videoman) to the public area. Take a few more shots when arriving to the family; I usually end the video with a pause shot of the welcome back kiss.

To say it short, we are there to please the customer and not to please ourselves, our satisfaction must be the one of a well accomplished, professional job. Let's not forget also that a good video is the best promotional tool for a tandem operation, (and the more tandem jumps there is, the more video jumps we will do).

Stay safe,

JPD

[CSpenceFLY 1]

Well said.


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[diverup13k 0]

As tm and photographer,the only priority is safty.When I have a passenger the only thing I NEED to know is where you are.I'll be honest so far the scariest thing for me was coming face to face with my camra as we dropped thru the trapdoor.
Thanks you guys gave me some great ideas for being on both sides of the drouge.[:)