freekfly

Here is the record shot: canadian 12 way record Congrats! -Brian ___________________________ www.brianbuckland.com

Photos have to be submitted to be printed. Editors want to print interesting and appealing photos that will keep the reader coming back....i.e. "selling magazines"....I'm not an idoit....I realize a subscription comes with membership.....duh......but it's just a figure of speech..... And as for your questions....my guess is both....they aren't printing them because interesting shots are not being submitted and at they same time they are NOT new and trendy. But hey.....if you can submit a cool kick ass skysurfing shot...more power to ya. They do exist...I've seen em before....just not in a long long time..... ___________________________ www.brianbuckland.com

You know.....I appologize....I didn't word that correctly. You are 100% correct in saying that there is TONS of support in the skysurfing community. There is.....just ask every skysurfer you know. Next time you're down at your local DZ as your local skysurfer......go ahead....ask em...... I think THAT was my point......most people reading this CAN'T ask them because they don't exist......there isn't a sizable skysurfing community that can lend that support. Sure I can raddle off a list of skysurfers....but how many of them are actively training as a team and are promoting their discipline? There are a few I will give you that....but they are NOT what they used to be. Skysurfing is NOT the next up and coming big thing......I don't think that is a point that can be argued. ___________________________ www.brianbuckland.com

Sorry Steve....I didn't mention the reason for declining because I honestly couldn't remember. In fact I wasn't sure if was told that was the reason or just heard it later. Either way it sucks when people get hurt and can't attend. Just ask Alchemy this past year in Brazil. And true.....#'s aren't always the best way to judge. And yes....it was VERY frustrating working hard to make rules that didn't exist, work within and over the the USPA's infrastructure that they've outline.....and then all for not. So yeah...you could say that I was a little jaded. But at the same point.....I just don't see the people that I used to see....I don't see pictures in magazines because people aren't submitting the because people aren't taking them. It is a dying art form. Years ago there was ALWAYS a skysurfer leaving the plane first at whatever dz I went to....I haven't seen one at any dz in a few years now....(with the exception of Brazil)....and that says a lot.... -b ___________________________ www.brianbuckland.com

Actually....I guess what I meant when I said support was monetary. There is a US team fund that helps competitors out a little. Right now it only helps the 1st place teams, but at least it's something. And as for the USPA doing something more about support.....they are trying. This past year compeitors got more than they ever had from previous years. Hopefully that will continue. It's tough to compare....but if you look at France....their lead teams submit budget for a years worth of training. The US is far...far from that. Also....as for not seeing pictures in Parachutist......or Skydiving for that matter. The editors print what people submit....obviously filtered a bit, but they also shoot for what is popular and what people are actually doing in the sport. What is the next new thing? That sells magazines. As for you.....don't worry....when you're ready to put on a board.....there will be someone there who will help ya out. -b ___________________________ www.brianbuckland.com

Ok....not sure where to begin. Let's start by saying when I was the 100 jump wonder in Rhode Island and the first 2 X-Games were coming to Providence / Newport I was a kid in a candy store. After hanging out at the venue watching these *stars* of skydiving fly around, I ended up driving half of em around and hanging out in a bar in Newport after the finals and sat with all 10 or so teams and watched them rag on eachother as we all watched the big screen on prime time ESPN. Very cool experience....one I will never forget..... But we have to look at why did ESPN loose interest? Where did the SSI Pro Tour go? They didn't go away because everyone was jumping up and down supporting them..... Fast forward to last year. 2004.... I was the US Parachute Team Manager for Artistic Events. This meant that it was my responsibility to line up a team and get them down to Brazil for the World competition. Fine...no problem. There were 3 teams that competed in the previous US Nationals so it shouldn't be a problem to get at LEAST 1. Well.....I was wrong. Snyder/Gasson sited lack of interested because the USPA wouldn't support them financially. They would like to go....but were fed up with the lack of support (I'm paraphrasing here....there was more too it...but that was the main point) Johnson/Miller also declined.....Hey..Brazil is not a cheap place to get to. However Larry Heltzer was all about going. So here was my skysurf team for the US. Ok....we got one....I can take it. Turns out Larry's teammate at Nationals wasn't his full time teammate...(replaced at the '03 nationals due to an injury so an alternate filmed) so I started jumping through hoops to find a way to swap out a camera flier.....after pushing and pushing and going head to head with Larry Bagley and others we got it approved. We won the fight. Then less than a month prior we find out his teammate can't go because of work. Again we start searching for alternates including myself.....but it fell apart and none of it worked out. End of the story....there was NO representation from the US at the 2004 World competition for skysurfing. We tried...... we tried hard. Larry and his team after pushing so hard couldn't make the final commitment. The reason I'm telling you all this story is that skysurfing, even prior to this fiasco was already on the chopping block. By having the lack of commitment from the skysurfing community at a world level mind you.....the USPA comp committee basically has had enough. And after jumping through all of the hoops that we did.....submitting waivers and exceptions to help them make it happen......they dropped the ball and never went. Larry....I like ya and all.....but please correct me if I'm wrong. Also.....let's look at the last few years of World comps.... 2004....No US teams present 2003....2 US teams present 2002....1 US team present This is not exactly a strong showing for the US. With all of this said......disciplines come and go. Freeflying (thought once to be a fad) was added to the US Nationals a few years ago and has taken off. This year they are adding a pilot 2 way CRW.....and it will be proposed at the meeting in the next few days that VRW4Way be proposed and brought on as another pilot discipline, just like 2 way CRW. My point to this is that if there is an interest in the community....and people start their own competition and there is support for it....then the USPA will listen and hear the skydivers and acknowledge them by adding that discipline at least as a pilot. When was the last skysurf competition outside of the nationals and world level? 4 way has the NSL and regional versions.....and to someone elses point.....why have a competition with 4 people for 3 places. Like they said...that's not a competition...that's an exhibition. I vote scratch Skysurfing from the Nationals. However, at the same time I wish you the best of luck lighting that fire under peoples asses and getting them out their on a board. If you do....and people start showing up with boards again and little competitions start to sprout up.....guess what.....the community and the USPA will recognize that and will support that discipline to let it make a come back. But I gotta be honest with you...right now.....skysurfing is FAR from making a come back. Sacrifice it on the chopping block and we, as a community, will welcome it back if the interest is there down the road. Does that make sense? Hopefully at least one person understands where I'm coming from. -Brian ___________________________ www.brianbuckland.com

Hello out there! Here are a few shots from the weekend......not of the actual attempts, but the B team and around the DZ....... Fun weekend indeed!!!! Thank you ladies for letting me be part of it!!!! As a wise man once said........giggity giggity!!! -Brian ___________________________ www.brianbuckland.com

Ohhhhhh yeah......4th of July weekend on Milwaukee's Lake Front......drunken dodge ball.....man....this ankle better heal or I'm just gonna chop it off.... See you kids there! -b (aka gimp) ___________________________ www.brianbuckland.com

Here it is in action this past weekend. It looks even better in person.....and great in the sky. Very cool idea indeed...... ___________________________ www.brianbuckland.com

Yeah, I've fooled the 300D into staying in AI Servo mode.....but let me tell ya....it's a pain in the arse while on a plane with the camera on your helmet. There is a forum on yahoo groups that has writen a hacked version of the firmware for the 300D that bring out some of the hidden features....however they were never able to get AI Servo to be on all the time with the flick of a button. Thus......upgraded to the 20D......cost a lot more....but man....soooooooooo worth it!!!! Here is the "hacking" firmware website USE WITH CAUTION! This could result in turning your camera into a paper wieght. ___________________________ www.brianbuckland.com

This is my hook up: Sony Mini DV Tape 60 Minute Premium DVM60PRL $3.49 TapeAndMedia.com These guys rock. ___________________________ www.brianbuckland.com

I've got the exact same setup. 20D with a 15mm Sigma....it rocks.... I typically shoot TV - shutter priority around a 400 speed.....depends on the light / day / subject. But the focus that I use is the AI Servo. If you hardwire your switch you can get it so that it thinks the button is always half way down....in other words the lense is always focusing on the subject. The down fall here is that if you point away for a second at the ground or blue sky.....the camera focuses on that and when you point back at your subject.....you might have a few blury shots while the focus catches up to what you are shooting......but the AI servo is the way to go. On the Rebel 300D you can ONLY find this in the sports mode.....which is a bummer cause then you loose control of shutter speed / apature..... Here are some shots from this past weekend.... all taken with the 20D. In fact if you look at the properties of the images you can see the EXIF data which tells you the camera settings.... ___________________________ www.brianbuckland.com

Here is the computer geek in me coming out. SP2 is good and bad. Bad because of crap like this. Here is what you do. Prior to installing it again, go to Dell's support site Look at the back of your computer.....bottom side if it's a laptop and get your Service Tag #. It should be 6 or 8 letters and #'s. On that support page, plug in that service tag # and it will bring you to a support page just for that PC. From there.....you're going to want to go to the download drivers section. Depending on the PC, there might even be a special SP2 update area. The drives that you will want are ones like USB and such. You don't need them all. Then, installl SP2......and then update the drivers by running the downloads from Dell...and you should be good to go. If not....shoot me a PM and I can walk ya through some stuff..... -Tech Support aka Brian ___________________________ www.brianbuckland.com

Hmmm....it's all about the stills.....don't you know that? ___________________________ www.brianbuckland.com

I've got a few more that I didn't post, but here is one for ya ....if you see any others on there that you want just let me know and I can get you a full version of it... Thanks for a great boogie!!! ___________________________ www.brianbuckland.com

Ouch....I think I hurt my head.....man, that was one hell of a party in hotlanta!!! I got there Wednesday night (GO SOX) and left last night and I think the earliest I went to bed was 2:30 (Which also happens to be a Chinese dentists favorite time) but I digress.......thank you EVERYONE for the good times.....from the fur bus - whirly ball extravaganza to the out of control halloween party.....oh yeah, and the cool skydives to boot! In case any of you would like to relive your blur of a weekend....I managed to snap off a few shots.....just do the little clicky on the freekfly site and enjoy (warning.....it's probably gonna be a little slow today since everyone's hitting it at the same time)..... Thanks again for all of the fun! And I will be sure to see you there next year.....giggity giggity!!!! ___________________________ www.brianbuckland.com

im bringing a camera this time. just let me know where your eating. ewww ewwww....I got outside video!!!! ___________________________ www.brianbuckland.com

Add me to that list! Of course I think we're all buggin out a bit early to hit the sites in Hotlanta....but we should be able to get in a good solid 4 - 6 jumps..... Giggity giggity!!! ___________________________ www.brianbuckland.com

Wow.....you really know how to bring a tear to my eye. To think that I had something to do with getting rid of you....man.....I'm getting all choked up over here..... thanks for the kind words!!!! And what's this jive about sharing a bed? This is a boogie.....you think we're gonna have time to actually sleep???? Soooo much to learn young grasshopper......so much to learn..... ___________________________ www.brianbuckland.com

The North East toughened you up? What are you talking about?!?!?! You ran south so fast with your tale tucked between your legs it would make your head spin!!! South African boy!!! I'll be sure to bring my t-shirt and shorts for a weekend away .......by the way....did someone say pylon races........Ian....you wanna be a pylon??? I promise I won't hit you .......no really!!!! ___________________________ www.brianbuckland.com

Did someone say race???? I'm in ___________________________ www.brianbuckland.com

I just got my 20D yesterday. Sold my Digi Rebel to a friend and am taking the next step. Flashed the firmware to 1.0.5 which looks like it was just released and am ready to go. I also slapped on my Sigma 15mm which I purchased about a year ago. It works no problem and man....like someone else said.....this camera is just brutally fast! 5 fps up to 23 shots.......I can't wait to get that thing in the air! In the mean time I need to modify my bite switch to the new style plug. I also slapped on my 19-35 old Vivitar lens which functioned just fine. No errors. And that lenses is probably 4 years old. ___________________________ www.brianbuckland.com

Hold on a second Chris......did you say there was going to be skydiving at this boogie too? I'm not too sure about that......it just sounded like one hell of a party to me.......but yeah, I guess if you threw some skydiving in there too......it would be even better! Great idea!!!! Good times.....good times..... ___________________________ www.brianbuckland.com

Here are pics of the podium . I'm working on another post to sum everything up......keep your eyes open..... also.....gary's post 3 or 4 up was actually me....that's what I get for letting someone use my PC and then I don't check -Brian ___________________________ www.brianbuckland.com

Right on.....I couldn't agree more. I think we have all learned a great deal here. I know several things that I will be including in my post action report to the USPA in terms of suggestions for the furture....like you said....try and address it before it happens..... As for updates.....if you guys want to see the fun that I've been dealing with....check out our protest and the jury's response......oh the fun..... Also, Round 7 is complete. Still waiting on scores for rounds 6 & 7. Once they are out I will post results.....keep your fingers crossed.... -b ___________________________ www.brianbuckland.com