Skydiving 4x5 photographer: Aaron Gustafson

altair · Jul 23, 2011

Not sure if this belongs here, but just needed to share this. Apparently a guy skydives and takes 4x5 large format photos in the process! Brilliantly nuts!

See it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEmpSRro5EE

I wonder how his setup is like, what equipment & film does he use? How does he control exposure? Any film holders?

And of course, one has to wonder how the pitchers look like too...

Matthew Rusbarsky · Jul 24, 2011

His name is Aaron Gustafson. A quick google gets you to his site. There is a section with his 4x5 free-fall photos.

Joe Lipka · Jul 24, 2011

I would assume that he favors a "front fall" with his camera.

{rimshot}

Sirius Glass · Jul 24, 2011

Personally, I do not favor skydiving, too much pesky equipment. I prefer cordless bungee jumping because it makes a great impact and has broad coverage.

Steve

Jeff Kubach · Jul 24, 2011

That something else!

Jeff

Colin Corneau · Jul 24, 2011

My oldest friend is a pilot. I asked him about skydiving once, and he replied, "Why would you jump out of a perfectly functioning plane?"

Me, I agree with him. But this guy does some pretty cool stuff.

altair · Jul 24, 2011

His 4x5 skydiving photos actually look pretty good. Thanks for the tip, Matthew. I'd love to know how he does it, though.

I bet he doesn't worry too much about his chutes failing, he can always utilize some 'front rise'!

Ok, that was lame..

bobwysiwyg · Jul 24, 2011

Sirius Glass said:
Personally, I do not favor skydiving, too much pesky equipment. I prefer cordless bungee jumping because it makes a great impact and has broad coverage.

Steve

David A. Goldfarb · Jul 24, 2011

Looks like he's made himself an ultrawide box camera that attaches to his helmet. The lens looks like a modern Rodenstock or Schneider in the 55-75mm range, and judging by the falloff in the images, he's probably shooting somewhere between wide open and f:8 without a center filter to get the fastest shutter speed. One shot per jump.

jeffreyg · Jul 24, 2011

Be sure to pull the ripcord after pushing the cable release.

http://www.jeffreyglasser.com/

altair · Jul 25, 2011

Interesting observation, thanks David. One shot per jump, eh? Now that's a filler-to-keeper ratio that's too high for me.

Skydiving 4x5 photographer: Aaron Gustafson

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