Camera in the Sky
Professional photographers often have to take calculated risks to get the perfect shot. But few photographers are willing to “take the plunge” like Tom Sanders. His enthusiasm and daring have made him one of the world’s most legendary skydiving photographers.
From Fearful to Fearless.
If you watched Sanders leaping out of a plane today, weighed down with heavy camera equipment, you would never guess that he was once terrified of heights. But that fear is what launched his remarkable career. “I was doing a course in building self-confidence,” says Sanders, “and one of the assignments had to involve something you were scared of doing. I was petrified of heights, so my assignment was to jump out of a plane.” After about 50 jumps, Sanders did more than conquer his fear; he began to enjoy the thrill of parachuting. Today, Sanders never lets fear prevent him from trying something new. He says he wakes up every morning and asks himself, “How am I going to enjoy the most out of this life?”
Falling Feats.
These days, Sanders is comfortable enough to shoot astonishing photographs while dropping thousands of feet in free fall. For one advertisement, he snapped photos of stunt riders driving motorcycles out of an airplane door. For another ad campaign, he photographed a sofa as it plummeted to the ground.
He has also recorded enormous group dives in which hundreds of skydivers join hands to create beautiful