Together with the Red Bull Skydive Team, I did this crazy Project called “Megaswing“ back in 2016. After my assignment I already knew this had to be a tricky one: Two Hot Air Balloons, one with a long rope attached and the other one to jump out with the swing, and of course the Skydiver with his parachute.
After the first couple of jumps I realized that I wouldn’t get the perfect shot by simply shooting from the inside of the basket they where jumping out of. Lucky me, I had my monopod in the car as well as a pair of radio-triggers. My solution to get the right angle was to hold the camera, that I had attached to my monopod, as deep under the basket and just hope to get the perfect framing.
Another thing, I asked the athlete Marco Fürst to turn a little bit towards my direction to avoid getting an ass-shot and to get this playful mood in the image. In the end it was the very last try which gave us the moneyshot.
Philip Platzer

About the shot

Biography
My name is Philip Platzer and I am a 37-year-old sports photographer based in the Graz, Austria. I have always been active in sports such as surfing, rock climbing, and snowboarding but I always knew something was missing.
I wanted to capture the dynamic and emotion of a single moment. I've always been interested in both photography and sports, so for me it made perfect sense to capture all these great moments and adventures.
I started to shoot friends, and became addicted to photography pretty quickly. I don’t have any classical education or training - I am an autodidact. I’ve also done lots of assisting, and still do, because it’s a great way to learn new things and improve my skills.
In 2009, I started working as a pro photographer, and I’m happy it worked out for me that way. What I love most about my job is creating unique and never-before-seen images.