How long until you were getting paid?

[VTmotoMike08 0]

Hey all,
Aspiring camera flyer here. I don't have the gear yet but I am working on aquiring a decent camera helmet system (probably an optik illusion w/PC109 cam). A few questions:

1) What is the requirements to film a tandem? I hear some people say 500 jumps, and if that is the manufacturer's requirement, then I will of course respect that. However, if it is only a recommendation then I will pursue a course of training that allows me to do so safely. My profile numbers are up to date, and I know a few tandem instructors that I have jumped with who would let me do it with my current experiance.

2) Just about how long and how many jumps do most people spend to get good enough at shooting tandems and AFFs that you are working for pay? I am willing to pay my own slots for as long as it takes to get good, but I know that this is the direction that I want to take my skydiving and I am anxious to begin. Plus, camera flying will allow me to combine two of my favorite things- skydiving and getting paid
I know that this answer will vary for different people based on skill level, so here is my background:
268 jumps and very current, 3ish hours in various tunnels. I am compotent in 4 way, I can do 15+ points on any given jump (when with 3 others of similiar skill). I recently did a dozen or so 16-22 ways and I was floating or diving for most all of those. I was decent at floating and (early) diving, and I never lost sight of the base and was usually docked within 10 seconds after exit. I am not interested in freeflying. So basically, I am not an awesome flyer, but I am generally compotent and aware for someone with my numbers.

Is flying with a tandem much harder than floating on a big way? Or is it just different? I would think maybe its actually easier because once that drogue is out then it tends to move around less than a 4-way base.

How many jumps did it take you to get to the point that people (students) were willing to pay for your work?

[PharmerPhil 0]

Quote

Plus, camera flying will allow me to combine two of my favorite things- skydiving and getting paid

Don't you mean skydiving and photography? Seriously, flying skills are just half the equation. If you want to be a competent (correct spelling) camera flyer, you should be working on your flying AND your camera skills. If you don't want to learn about photography or videography, you will never be good enough to get paid IMHO. Plus, you can work on your camera skills on the ground. (I don't know a good camera flyer who isn't also a good camera person on the ground.)

If you just want to have fun and get paid, join a carnival.

[PhreeZone 20]

I didn't get paid for a long time since I was instead doing 4 way and freefly video. I might have got some slots paid for along the way but that was about it. I would do a tandem video here or there as a practice but that was about it. Tandem videos use the skills of all sorts of flying to get the right shot and I'm glad I waited until I had 600-700 jumps before I started to video tandems.

Out the door you might need to peel it like a 4 way or dive it head down, if they are late on the drouge you better be able to dive or fly HD to get there. In freefall you need to get low and look up, this is unlike 4 way body positions that you are typically in.

I'd start out doing some RW video and figure out your video techniques there a little bit. Do stuff like film under the formation to get used to that also.

Dont be in a rush to get paid, enjoy the journey!

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

[VTmotoMike08 0]

Good point, I guess it is just easier for me to get excited about skydiving than operating a camera.

I should add that I am already at least a little bit knowledgeable about basic camera operation. I took a real camera class from a pro a few years back and I understand the basics of shutter speeds, lighting, and framing a shot, etc. A refresher would certainly be useful tho. I do enjoy photography.

Err, OK, I'll go ahead and admit it, I was a yearbook nerd back in high school. But I was pretty good at shooting sports photos and a lot of my work was published.

Any comments concerning my origional question?

[tetra316 0]

It depends totally on the dz you are at. I started at a small cessna dz and ended up getting paid vids after only 10 or so practice jumps. Of course this resulted in so-so videos and a couple complete mess ups. At the time there was only one other person really doing videos and a so-so video was better than none they thought. Had I gone to a larger dz I'm sure there is no way I would have been allowed to do vids until I had polished my video skills a lot better. I'm still not sure they would let me now

If you want to become a really good video person you have to be a very good flyer, belly and ff. Then you can capture it all no matter what happens with the tandem, sloppy exits and whatnots, imho. I wish I had taken the time to just fly videos with out the pressure of doing a 'live' one. But everyone likes to get paid if someone is offereing

[PharmerPhil 0]

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Any comments concerning my origional question?

I'd second what Phreezone said. You need to be able to get wherever you want to be on any dive. Personally, I made a lot of video jumps before ever shooting a tandem. Mostly 4-way and bigger RW stuff. The bad 4-way teams, zoo-loads and AFF courses were actually very good for my flying skills because I had to more around a lot, change fall-rate, etc. Shooting tandems is a different animal, and getting the exits right, staying very close and looking up at the tandems will be valuable skills for getting good shots. Remember who is paying the bill (the customer) and make them look good at all times on the ground and in the air.

[dragon2 2]

I spent a lot of time photographing and filming on the ground before I was allowed to skydive with a camera (used to be you needed a C license which I didn't have yet, now though it's B + some other stuff). I then did my first 80 camera jumps filming crw when had about 300 jumps, sometimes paying my own slot sometimes not, then a couple hundred belly fly camera jumps, mostly 4way but also solos, 8ways etc, usually got my slot covered for those and learned TONS doing these, after that I was allowed to do freebee tandem videos (family of staff, charity events etc) I did 20 or 30 of those (got my slot covered but now had to -quickly- produce an edited dvd+ a cd of stills) then because those videos were ok I got asked to fill in sometimes when no one else was available and actually got paid for the first time, this year I got in the tandem video rotation.

I really cannot imagine being able to consistently produce a decent tandem video with less than a few hundred camera jumps beforehand, also you usually need to jump stills too and need to be able to edit the video too, we hand them out before they leave so 10-20 minutes is all you've got.

ciel bleu,
Saskia

[pilotdave 0]

UPT says 500 RW jumps and 100 camera jumps before you can film a tandem at all. Those numbers make sense to me (even though they are quite a bit more conservative than the USPAs numbers). How many it takes before you get paid should depend on how you do on the freebies that you use for practice.

Dave

[DSE 5]

you mean there is a profit to be found somewhere in skydiving photography?
Pilotdave has the most concise and correct technical answer, but some small DZ's will let folks start jumping cams with tandems at 100 jumps
or less. Talked to a guy on the phone recently in the Midwest that has 50 jumps and claims to already have a couple dozen tandem video jumps. Dunno if it's accurate, but from how he spoke, it seemed to be.
If you're like most that are serious about photography, you'll spend most of your profit on what goes on top of your head for a while. If quality and the quest for perfection aren't part of your direction...then I suppose you could start making money on your first tandem skydive. for me...if it's not a paying tandem, I'll go out on my own nickel and practice new ideas on a non-paying tandem.