Basejumper.com - archive

Hello all,

I'm new to the forum. I'm not a base jumper or a skydiver (just a tandem in high school), but I've always been fascinated by both. I often find myself getting side tracked an hour or two every now and then watching base jumping videos on Youtube.

I'm working on building out my sports portfolio (I shoot mountain biking and some rock climbing, and a lot of outdoor/travel/landscape work) and would love to shoot base jumping and other aerial sports. I've contacted some local dropzones in my area (sf bay area, ca) but haven't had much luck finding any base jumpers. I recently discovered this forum and figured I'd reach out.

If there are any jumpers on the west coast here who would be ok with me tagging along, even just as ground crew, I would greatly appreciate it. Or even if you just have any contacts or advice you could offer on finding willing subjects I would really appreciate that as well. I'm happy to offer free prints as thanks. I also understand there are legal issues with jumping in the U.S., so I do not plan on identifying jumpers or objects in any photos/captions should they by published.

Cheers,
Eugene

yes you can come with me as long as you have a 4wd and beer you can shoot or just wank off I dont care but you have to hang out with my dog tyson till we get out of site cuz he will follow but he knows what the sound of a canopy sounds like and then he will follow

Come to Washington...

Pay my previous bartab (150 euros for my last visit with friends), hotel, transportation from Munich to Northern Italy and I will set you up with gear to hang you on the edge and you can click away to your heart's content. Meet the locals and get introe'd to the culture of Italy, Europe and freedom.
I am not joking.
take care,
space

Whaddya know, I'm a photographer looking to shoot basejumping too! I heard it's the next big thing, who can do the squirell suit for me?

Eugene,

I do not doubt your sincerity but I think you are asking for a lot more than you realize. That is why you are getting the wiseass responses. Well that plus the fact that BASE jumpers are a bunch of wiseasses anyway.

BASE sites are hard to come by in the U.S.--legal *or* illegal--so those who act as stewards of the precious few sites there are tend not to openly share them with people outside the BASE community. Many have been burned in the past by doing so.

Even if jumpers and objects are not named by someone photographing BASE jumps, that does not mean the jumpers and the sites cannot be identified.

There has to be a very high level of trust when a site is shared and that trust is not given simply because someone has asked for it.

Even among people in the BASE community, it is common practice to check a jumper's references. That is not hard to do because it is a small community. You do not have the advantage of having an established reputation in the BASE community. Nor do you have much of a vested interest in making sure information about a site is kept confidential--at least not the same level of interest as jumper who wants to continue jumping the site would have.

Photographs of BASE jumps can be stunning, so it *is* worth pursuing, but be prepared to take the time to earn jumpers' trust.

Best of luck, and if you *do* get the opportunity to photograph some jumps, please be respectful of that opportunity by keeping quiet about and and keeping details within the BASE community.

Walt

Grab a friend, your camera, and take a road trip.
I suggest either Moab, Utah or The Magic Valley
located in Twin Falls, Idaho.

These are the two closest places to Cali that
have legal places to BASE jump, hence there
are plenty of jumpers already there.

Plus both places are really beautiful sans nylon.

I would have suggested you visit me in Florida
because I am a camera whore BUT we already
have a world renowed photographer willing to
hang from ropes to snap the moment.

I heard about this bridge in Idaho...

Who is this Walt guy? His posts are so goddamm serious. Mods can we do sumthin' bout this? I am joking of course. Nice post, well said!! You do give lazy, ignorant, newbies hope

Well I sure do feel like a jackass. Thanks for setting me straight, clearly I have much to learn! Thank you all nonetheless for the advice, I do hope to check out some legal locations in the near future and go from there. And if anyone finds themselves in the sf bay area, I'd be happy to meet up (sans camera) just to make an intro. I can't afford to pay anyone's airfare or hotel, but I'm always willing to buy a round.

Cheers,
Eugene

Thanks for the compliment.

Sometimes, like in this thread, I see a post from someone who seems very genuine but is obviously in unfamiliar territory. In the hopes that they actually *are* sincere, I will make the effort to fill in some of the blanks for them.

I still like the wiseass comments and memes, though.

Hopefully someone will do the same for me next time I say or write something that seems kinda dumbass. Probably not, but I can hope!

BTW guys, thanks for tolerating me here even though I'm somewhere between a "has been" and a "never was". You guys rock!!!

Walt

Please don't, Eugene! In fact, you may in for the "Least scorched whuffo 'kin-I-take-pitchers?'" post award -- even the wiseasses were pretty gentle this time around.

As Walt said so eloquently (eloquence is easier when you have that many decades of talkin' 'n' writin'!), you were clearly sincere, but this is all a little more complicated than it looks on YouTube.

It's sorta like having your little brother ask if he can tag along on a date with you -- he's doesn't know what he's asking, know what I mean?

Given your location, do consider taking a road trip about 600-some miles northeast. I hear there's a place up there where people like to jump 'cause it's pretty safe and not against the law. People all the time post on this forum for traveling companions to defray the costs, so after making some no-camera intros, you may either find some road buddies, or at least someone who'll give you a good reference.

Best of luck, and keep learning all you can, and you'll no doubt end up with some good additions to your portfolio.

44

Go to Washington! check the airlines for a cheap direct flight from SFO to SEA. I just made that flight round trip for about $250 a week or 2 ago.

Try2Live will let you take pictures of him base jumping all day long. he will even let you take pictures of him doing sexy poses, Playing with his dog and even Masterbating!

Seriously! this is no joke.

Masterbating and playing with my dog? Really? I told you that was the first and last time..

I told you you're not allowed to jump with him anymore. The differential in sketch levels is just too much. It's well documented that differential sketch induces malfunctions on short delays.

Tom, can you please put that Differential Equation into a math word problem so it is more easily understood?

Tom,
I thought you were on my side...?
(Not the masterbating part)

I'm always on your side.

Unless you leave cheap beer at the school. Then I have to break out the Mossberg.

I will never forget the rolling rock that lost their lives that sad rainy day... Excuse me while I have a moment of silence