mr_woosh 0 #1 February 20, 2007 ok, I understand I am probably asking too much but I was wondering if it's at all possible to shoot a skydive (if not the whole thing at least the low altitude part of it) from the ground and if so what kind of equipment would be necessary. tried to do search but did not come up with any answers. Thanks! and no I am not an idiot, just a curious noob looking trying to get the most out of his new passion Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DSE 3 #2 February 20, 2007 Very easy, you can do it on the cheap or on the expensive. Just plan on a good lens, great sticks (tripod) and a good eye. Skydivers can be tough to pick out against the sky depending on cloud cover, position of the sun, etc. There are systems made specifically for shooting skydivers in the air. Sony began making systems for shooting skydivers ground to air back in the early 70's. They were aimed much like an anti-aircraft gun. Anyway, it can be done even with fixed lenses. this article gives a little information on one location we recently produced, and has some very low-rez video. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
quade 3 #3 February 20, 2007 Quoteok, I understand I am probably asking too much but I was wondering if it's at all possible to shoot a skydive (if not the whole thing at least the low altitude part of it) from the ground and if so what kind of equipment would be necessary. tried to do search but did not come up with any answers. Thanks! and no I am not an idiot, just a curious noob looking trying to get the most out of his new passion It's done all the time (well for Nationals once a year and at the USAFA) for Style competitions. The gear used for Style has azimuth and elevation readouts for judging purposes. Additionally, Big-ways are frequently shot from the ground for the unique angle. In both instances, tripods and practice by the camera operators are very helpful. What are you thinking of doing?quade - The World's Most Boring Skydiver Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mnealtx 0 #4 February 20, 2007 Yes, it can. You're going to need a decent long lens and a fair amount of practice, though. I've done a bit of it, myself... lots of fun!Mike I love you, Shannon and Jim. POPS 9708 , SCR 14706 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
howardwhite 2 #5 February 20, 2007 Well, if you want to go way back, the "Telechute" was promoted as a feature in association with the opening of the nation's first commercial parachuting center at Orange, MA in 1959. It was supposed to be developed commercially, but I can't find any evidence that anything came of it. HW Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
namgrunt 0 #6 February 21, 2007 yes it is I do it all the time 500mm lens Nikon D-200 you can see pictures on my sight www.dzmemories.com ISO set to 200 shutter speed set to 1000 or greater ..59 YEARS,OVERWEIGHT,BALDIND,X-GRUNT LAST MIL. JUMP VIET-NAM(QUAN-TRI) www.dzmemories.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mnealtx 0 #7 February 21, 2007 Howdy Bob - I already 'plugged' ya in my last post... Mike I love you, Shannon and Jim. POPS 9708 , SCR 14706 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
namgrunt 0 #8 February 22, 2007 Mike is a slacker... he and his lovely lady need/have to come to SKYFEST AND OR DUBLIN and thanks for the plug .59 YEARS,OVERWEIGHT,BALDIND,X-GRUNT LAST MIL. JUMP VIET-NAM(QUAN-TRI) www.dzmemories.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mnealtx 0 #9 February 22, 2007 QuoteMike is a slacker... he and his lovely lady need/have to come to SKYFEST AND OR DUBLIN and thanks for the plug . Unfortunately, I won't be able to make either one this year, vacation scheduling isn't cooperating....Mike I love you, Shannon and Jim. POPS 9708 , SCR 14706 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mr_woosh 0 #10 February 23, 2007 Thanks for the inputs guys! really appreciate it. I was just thinking of taking pics(or possibly videos) of my skydiving buddies and them taking pics/videos of me. I am on a tight budget, so 200 jumps suggested to jump with a camera would probably take me a year to complete, so I was looking for some alternatives meanwhile. good to know it can be done from the ground. I checked the first link posted in the replies here and it looks like bodies still look more like small dots rather then actual human bodies, I am yet to check out the rest of the links, but I hope it's possible to get pics that are more than "oh, that tiny black dot is me".. but even if not, I'd be still glad to be able to take one of those :D again, thanks to everyone who contributed! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mr_woosh 0 #11 February 23, 2007 just an afterthought, does camera body really matter? I got a digi rebel xt at the moment (yet to buy a good lens though). also any reason to set ISO to 200? is it just to make the pic less grainy (sorry don't know much about photography yet)? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mnealtx 0 #12 February 23, 2007 Quotejust an afterthought, does camera body really matter? I got a digi rebel xt at the moment (yet to buy a good lens though). also any reason to set ISO to 200? is it just to make the pic less grainy (sorry don't know much about photography yet)? Nothing wrong with the XT - good fast lenses will help. A better choice would probably be ISO 400; setting Shutter priority and bumping it up to around 1000 or better will help freeze the action as they come in for landing. You're not going to get much detail of the skydive itself without spending pretty major $ on lenses. An example - I can slap a converter on my 100-400 and get close enough to pick out bodies at 10k against the sky - but you're not going to be able to tell who's who. For the last couple hundred feet, though... that's where you can get some GREAT pics (check out Bob's site, above) without breaking the bank on lenses. A 75-300 zoom lens will run about $150 and give good quality shots for that type of pic.Mike I love you, Shannon and Jim. POPS 9708 , SCR 14706 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skybytch 259 #13 February 23, 2007 QuoteI was just thinking of taking pics(or possibly videos) of my skydiving buddies and them taking pics/videos of me. Concentrate on getting stills/video of landings and you'll have more buddies than you ever thought you wanted. Everybody wants an ego still or three of themselves landing. Video is an invaluable learning tool for people who are working on their landings - from students to swoopers. Standing in the landing area watching loads land can be a fantastic learning experience for anyone wanting to improve their canopy control knowledge. And if you do it a lot, you can put together a cool year end video too. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jamesm 0 #14 February 24, 2007 Hey mate, i work as a pro photographer and my tip would be learn the mechanics of photography so you understand what each the shutter speed, aperture, and ISO do. If it were me I would have the lowest aperture (widest hole for light to come through), a shutter speed that is fast enough to record the action without blurring (depends on how much movement there is), and then the lowest ISO possible. Higher ISO will increase grain or noise int he image but will make your sensor more sensitive which means you can use higher shutter speeds for fast motion, everything in photography is a trade off and its all about how much light is present. Also try this, stand side on to someone swooping, set to ISO 100 or less, set your shutter to about 1 second or so (in TV mode) set for neutral exposure compensation and then as a someone swoops in keep him in dead center of frame for the full one second the shutter is open, you might want to experiment with faster shutter speeds as well. good luck! Quote Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Laszloimage 0 #15 March 30, 2007 I took these photos from the ground in the last few days here a t Skydive City during a a 2 point big-way attempt. 1200mm zoom, No cropping! more shots on my web site: http://laszloimage.com/March_2007_NEW/index.htm -Laszlo- www.laszloimage.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Costyn 0 #16 March 30, 2007 1200mm ??!?! Something like this beast?Costyn van Dongen - http://www.flylikebrick.com/ - World Wide Wingsuit News Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Laszloimage 0 #17 March 30, 2007 Not exactly... I'm using a Canon 100-400mm f5.6 IS with a 3X tele-converter. So it gives me 1200mm. Of course not as good if I were using the actual 1200mm f5.6. With my set up I can't use AF and f5.6 gives me f16.8 exposure. So I have to use high ISO (ISO250-320 on the 5D) because I need to maintain at least 1/200 shutter speed too. -Laszlo- Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
iamsam 0 #18 March 30, 2007 Quote If it were me I would have the lowest aperture (widest hole for light to come through) Not how I'd do it. You don't want to open your lens right up to lowest aperture, if there's enough light to stop up an f.stop or two. Lower the number (widest hole), the smaller your depth of field ( distance range in front and behind the chosen focus point that will also be sharp). As you'd be shooting on manual focus set to infinty (actually just before infinity gives better results) you're unlikely to miss focus if they're still in freefall, but all lenses have an optimum f.stop where they're sharpest, and it's not gonna be f2.8 / f.4.. You'll need to overexpose slightly as your camera will be metering for the sky, and if you've no tripod lie on the floor. For the panning technique, for swooping, I'd start at 30thof a sec, and try it with flash too, set to 2nd curtain. edited for claritybut what do I know Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
