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What I sell….Prints, Canvas & Gallery Float Mounts

I have to admit, being a photographer is fun.  I’m able to do what I love doing and share in other people’s moments.  Capturing those moments in people’s lives that means so much to them is something that I treasure.  Sharing those pictures with everyone is the obvious next step.

My website galleries are for all to see and share, for some this is enough.  But I’d like to take a moment to dive into what it is that I sell and the finished products that I offer.  The pictures are taken, they’ve been edited and now they’re posted online.  As with most photographers, I offer a range of different print sizes.  These prints will be mailed to you directly from my vendor.  You can mount them and frame them as you wish making sure they fit nicely into your home or office.  However if you’d allow me the privileged of creating a work of art for you, take a little closer look at my Gallery Wrapped Canvas Art and my Gallery Float Mounts.

To start, both selections are personally signed, inspected and guaranteed to be free of any damage or defects upon arriving at your location.  On the back, each will have my contact information as well as a description of the image, where it was taken, what camera was used and the camera settings.  The vendors I use only sell to professional photographers.  This is a key point because they know that not only will the actual photographer be scrutinizing their work, but so will the end client.  With that knowledge, they deliver the highest possible quality they can.

Gallery Wrapped Canvas Art

I’ve been selling the Gallery Wrapped Canvas Art for several years now.  The frames I sell are 1.5″ deep and can be almost any size up to 56″ x 120″.  Using museum quality canvas, they are hand stretched so that the image continues naturally around the sides and are ready to hang on your wall when you receive them.  Not only do they use archival quality inks, but they are sprayed with a UV coating for extra protection and won’t fade or discolor for at least 100 years.

 

Gallery Float Mounts

The Gallery Float Mounts are a glass-free mounting process designed to enhance and protect photographs while providing a glare-free finish. This high quality process provides a distinctive new look that is durable and offers a greater degree of protection from moisture and harmful UV rays.  The Gallery Float sits 3/4 of an inch away from the wall.  Using a French Cleat Mount, it can easily be adjusted with little effort.  Expertly Crafted – Prints are professionally mounted on MDF with a carefully formulated cold-press, UV Protective mounting adhesive and topped with a non-glare, protective crystal laminate. The edges are expertly beveled, sanded and finished with a high quality seal. Touchable and completely washable—grease, dust, dirt and moisture wipe right off with regular household glass cleaner (Ammonia Free Only).

Seeing past the 2D image can be hard.  But just think, you can turn this shot:

Into THIS Gallery Float.  The difference is amazing!

Another Gallery Float so you can see behind the actual art on the wall.

If you’re curious how it breaks down, here is a diagram of what a Gallery Float Mount is made of.

To order Prints, Gallery Wrapped Canvas or Gallery Float Mounts directly from my website, just click on the image that you’d like to order and then select the size product that you’d like.  If you’re not sure what size to get, please don’t hesitate to give me a call or send me a note through my contact page.  There are many times that clients will end up ordering product sizes that I do not have listed on my website.  Depending on how the aspect ratio of an image works out, some sizes may be better than others.  For instance, the 138-Way shot of the recent World Record Skydive fits great in an aspect ratio of 3 : 5.  So many have ordered a 20″ x 33″ and even a 24″ x 40″.  I can make almost any size, but most importantly is getting the right size for the shot.

Thanks for taking a minute to learn about my products.  I’ve always got my eyes on the latest ways to display my work, so the product line will keep expanding with time.  If you have any specific requests, please let me know.

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Vertical World Record Video – Digital Download

Just an update for those interested in the Official Video from the 2012 Vertical World Record 138-Way Skydive.

You can now download an HD version of the video online for only $4.99.  Download now.  We are also shipping the first batch of DVD’s.

We wanted to tell a story, a story about making a world record skydive. We interviewed the organizers, the jumpers and the camera men. We filmed on the ground, in the planes and in the air. They talked about the energy, that good energy when people unite together to accomplish a common goal. They talked about the heartache when something you’re striving for is so close it’s within your graspe only to be denied, then how you pick yourself up and you do it again and again until you get it done. This is the story of the 138-Way through the eyes of the people on it. In this 33 minute documentary film, the curtains have been pulled back and you can see how things work behind the scenes and how skydivers triumph over the obsticles in their paths.

Watch it. If you like what you see, share this post and spread the story of an amazing accomplishment.

Thank you English Jon for doing all the hard work and making this a reality!

To order Prints, Gallery Wrapped Canvas, Gallery Float Mounts, DVD’s or to download the digital version of this video, please visit:  http://www.verticalrecord.com

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National Head Up Record

Steve Vogdes and Simon Bones rallied the troops and gathered at Skydive Cross Keys during the last weekend of August.  Their goal was to make the first ever, National Head Up Record.  Earlier on in the year, Steve went to the USPA Board of Director’s Meeting.  His proposal to create a new category of a Vertical Head Up Formation was reviewed and accepted.  This would be the first event of it’s kind, the birth of Head Up Formation flying.  I was lucky enough to see this happen and be a small part of it.

The weekend started with plane troubles when a jumper inadvertantly dislodged the emergancy exit door in the Twin Otter and it proceeded to leave the aircraft.  With the Otter down, the organizers were scrambling for an aircraft.  Nearly canceling the event, the only plane they currently had access to was a King Air.  At the last minute, a Casa 212 arrived and saved the day.

The formation started out as over 20 people, but ended up getting chopped down to around 16.  Here is the group as well as a 20 Way and the Official 16 Way.  As in any record for the first time, there were issues that came up, things to be figured out, judging angles to question, etc…  As we all said, if it were easy, someone would have done it before.  There is no doubt that things will change in terms of how a Head Up Record is made and most importantly, completed.  But for now, it starts with a 16-Way.  To check out more pictures, please visit my gallery.

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Sling Strap Mount Review

My new favorite toy.  It’s the BlackRapid RS-7 Camera Strap.  But it’s not your average camera strap.  You wear the strap like a sash across your chest and the camera hangs, upside down at your side.  When you see a shot and grab your camera, the mount freely slides up the strap allowing the camera to move into position while leaving the strap in place.  This means that you don’t have to lose a second or two as traditional camera straps catch on clothing or back packs or other buckles.  This strap allows the camera to slide up the strap while leaving the strap in place.

Here are a few shots of the strap itself as well as a demo video on how to use the product below.  You can get it from B&H for $58.95.

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Lost Prairie Boogie

I have always wanted to go to the Lost Prairie Boogie put on by Skydive Arizona up in the middle of no where Montana.  Back in the day I remember seeing amazing pictures when team Monkey Claw went up there and had their fun.  Lately it’s been the crew out of AZ.  This time around Nick, Bill, Ty, Brandon & Amy from AZ came up to organize the kids and see what trouble they could get into!  This was also a stop on the Hittin It Again Summer Boogie tour by SkyVenture Colorado.

Montana is indeed a beautiful place, big sky country for sure.  The DZ is located in the middle of a little valley with literally a huge prairie in the middle where we land.  From freefall you look out and see a couple of massive clear lakes in the distance and the enormous prairie underneath.  I was lucky enough to get in some fun jumps including filming the Montana POPS record!

Take a peak at a few of the shots and CLICK HERE TO SEE THE ENTIRE GALLERY.  And next year, come on up and join the fun!  It’s worth it!

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Blast from the Past…Project Horizon V

As I update my new website with galleries of events, I’m able to break out the old hard drives and upload events from the past.  Rounding out the 2007 Gallery is an event that we held for 5 years running.  2007 was the last year for Project Horizon.  Dave Donnelly, Dave Brown, Chris Salcone and Storm Dunker hosted this years event at Skydive Chicago.

At the time, Project Horizon was pushing the limits of freeflying as we knew it.  The idea was to get a bunch of the organizers and coaches from all over, some of the better fliers out there, and get them together and see what they could do.

Thank you guys for pushing the sport!  So glad I could be a part of it.  Here are a few teaser shots.  If you’d like to visit the entire gallery, please click here.

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The Vertical World Record 138-Way, or was that a 142-Way?

It’s been 3 years since freefliers from around the world gathered together to hold hands and create the 108-Way Vertical World Record back in 2009.  So this year it was time to see what we could do.  With 6 planes, 142 skydivers and a bench FULL of jumpers just itching to get on, we set out on August 1, 2012 at Skydive Chicago to smash the old record.

On Day 1 of the event (that was happening during Skydive Chicago’s annual Summerfest Boogie) we started off by building formations with over 130 jumpers linked up.  Since we were trying something completely new, we decided to try exits that we had never tried before.  The lead plane (a sherpa) put out a super floater.  When that floater exited, so did the back 3 aircraft.  As the last jumpers were exiting the back 3 planes, the front 3 planes began to exit.  The idea was to have the back 3 planes worth of jumpers Float Up to the formation, while the front 3 planes worth would Dive Down.

Day 1 was a good day. We got in some amazing jumps, learned a lot about over floating and blowing past the formation and by the end of that day, most of the kinks were ironed out.

Day 2.  The day started out great.  The clouds rolled in for a few jumps, but were high enough that they only made the camera fliers sad to be shooting into a large white backdrop.  The formations were taking shape and we were getting to the point where everyone on the skydive was docking on the formation, just not at the same time.  That is until the 5th jump of the day.  That’s when the magic happened.  We built a beautiful 142-Way formation.  Everyone was on.  It looked good.  We landed, the photographers pulled up the pictures and scrutinized the images.  It still looked good.  Time to submit to the judges.  Within just a few minutes, the judges were calling us over.  They started asking me questions and I simply called over and deferred to Rook.  All the organizers and the judges chatted for what seemed like an eternity and then the news.  There was no 142-Way.
When attempting an official World Record Skydive, the organizers of the jump must declare the exact formation that they are intending to build.  They draw it out on paper and submit it to the judges prior to taking off.  Then, if the formation completes and is judge-able, the judges compare the drawing to the picture or video and declare a record or not.
In the rush that happens at events like this, minor details were over looked and the formation that was submitted had 2 stingers with incorrect grips.  It was a huge blow.  The 142-Way formation that was indeed complete, and might count in the Guinness Books, would not be an FAI official World Record.  The only thing left to do was to keep the energy up and move forward, and that meant more jumps.

Here is Jump 9 from Day 2, an amazing 142-Way formation.  The UnOfficial Vertical World Record:
Day 3.  With all of the paperwork now in order, the entire group was striving to recapture that magic moment of the 142-Way.  Several jumps were going on and the energy was good, but starting to fade.  Many times there was just 1 jumper off and as they got on, break off was happening.  The group was starting to get frustrated, but the jumps were still amazing and nearly everyone was so close to re-creating that record to make it official.
It was getting towards the end of the day and the organizers were going to have to do what they had been avoiding all along.  Cut down the jump from 142 to 138.  One of the pods that was causing issues just had to go.  This was going to be the 15th jump of the attempts and people were getting tired.  It was going to be one of the last jumps of the day and the next day was our last day to go for a record.  It was now or never.  With 138 skydivers (16 of which were women) from 17 nations and 4 cameramen we boarded 6 aircraft and headed to 18,500 feet.  Break off was 7,000 feet.  We went up and did what we had to do.  When that last jumper picked up their grips, everything smoothed out.  You could feel it, see it, sense it.  It was flying as smooth as the organizers had hoped it would.  There were no stragglers on the outside, just cameramen trying to get that nice angle and take as many pictures as possible, since after all, this is what we are here for.  It flew for nearly 4 seconds, but that seems like an eternity at 165 m.p.h.  The end result was this shot of the Official Vertical World Record 138-Way.
Congratulations to all 138 Skydivers on this record!  It was an amazing experience and I can’t wait for the next one.
The OFFICIAL VERTICAL WORLD RECORD DVD is now available.  English Jon and Brian Buckland are putting together the DVD and stepping it up a notch this year.  It will be a 25-30 minute long feature with multiple outside angles and inside angles as well as a lot of ground footage, interviews, bonus material, etc…  Please visit verticalrecord.com to place your order.
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Vertical World Record Shots

Hey All!

Just wanted to let you know that the Vertical World Record is happening at Skydive Chicago right now from August 1 – 4. So far we have 2 jumps complete. If all goes well I will be posting each jump right after it happens in my Gallery, link is below.

Please forward this link along to anyone who would like to check it out:

http://gallery.brianbuckland.com/p352003387 

Here are a few teasers from the first couple of jumps! Current attempts are going for a 142-Way.

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Canadian Records at Parachute Montreal

Another fantastic weekend in Canada!  But this time we set 2 Records.  The first was a 30-Way Headdown formation of all Canadians setting the new Canadian Record!  The second was the World’s Largest Head Up Formation ever built to date (unofficially) of an 18-Way.  Thank you Parachute Montreal for a fantastic weekend and looking forward to getting back up there for future events!  And congratulations to all the Canadians who made it happen!

If you’d like to check out all of the shots, please visit my gallery here.

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Voltige Go BIG

When they say Go Big at Voltige in Montreal, Canada, they mean it!  EVERY load was with Oxygen and over 17,000 feet ALL weekend long.  Now that’s Going Big!  Thank you Philippe for putting it all together!  And thank you Luis, David, Rob & Tuck for keeping everyone flying and making it all happen!

Now for the good part, the proof!  Here are a few choice shots from the weekend.  If you would like to VIEW THE ENTIRE GALLERY, CLICK HERE.  Thanks Voltige for putting on such a great event!  See you next year!

Again, to VIEW THE ENTIRE GALLERY, CLICK HERE.