Photography & Video Workshop News

Join us for Norman’s first photo and video workshop series of the year . Once again you will have the opportunity to learn from the most renowned photographer in skydiving who will be sharing his 35 years of knowledge with anyone looking to expand their skills. You can maximize your learning experience by attending this workshop as well as the  Skydiving Expo in Deland, Florida (which starts the day after our last session) during the same visit! Great opportunity to attend both!  Whether you’re a seasoned vet getting published every month or just bought your first camera and are wanting to know what’s the best way to mount it on your helmet, there is a lot to be gained from these workshops.  For more information click on the banner below.

Summerfest 108 Way World Freefly Record

Congratulations to all free flyers participating in the new 108 way world freefly record. I had the privilege to participate in the world record jumps. It was an awesome display of talent and it was great to be a part of it. I thank the organizers and all participants for the opportunity. Please visit our Summerfest 09 gallery to view photos from the event. We also have a great sideshow video for your enjoyment.

Norman

Norman Kent Featured in Distinguished Lifestyles Magazine

Norman Kent gets featured in “Distinguished Lifestyles” magazine, an elegant Florida publication featuring exclusive homes and lifestyles of famous people.  Norman was chosen for his unique photographic work, both in skydiving and outside of skydiving. We invite you to read the featured article.

Extreme Scrabble Photo Shoot Comissioned by Mattel

Talk about a wacky assignment, Norman Kent Productions was hired by Mattel toy company to shoot for a campaign called “Extreme Scrabble” to celebrate the 65th anniversary of the game Scrabble.  Special Edition custom boards with the original colors were created and released for sale in the United Kingdom in celebration of the anniversary. The advertising campaign involved several sports and wacky activities including playing the game underwater amongst sharks, in front of crocodiles, and of course while skydiving, which is where we came in (check out the newspaper clipping).  We had to create a safe way to take the board in freefall to simulate a game of Scrabble.  The shoot took place in Zephyrhills, Florida, the game was played by Ramsey Kent and Nicole Angelides and shot by Norman.  To view other images from this shoot please visit our “Extreme Scrabble” photo gallery.

Wingsuit 71 Way World Record

Images for the Wingsuit record 71 way at Elsinore, CA. are now available for viewing. We are proud to say that a couple of the images from this event are being considered for Norman’s new coffee table book which is now in the design stages.

German 200 Way Record

Congratulations to the participants of the 200 way German record. The formation was built over Eloy, Arizona on November 14, 2008. To view images from this event, please visit our photo gallery.

September 11th Memorial in New York

On September 11, the members of Team Fastrax were asked to do a demonstration jump flying 7 American flags simultaneously over Ground Zero in New York city as part of the official ceremony conducted that morning on the ground in memory of the 9/11 events.  Norman was there to capture the images. It was an emotional moment, news media reported that people started crying as the flags flew over New York skies.

Click on the image below to see some of the photos from this event. We will soon have an article about this event, please check back with us at a later time or put your email in the box on the right side of this page to sign up for email updates.

UPDATE: The special commemorative video from this historic event is now available.

UPDATE: The article entitled “Seven Flags for Seven Years Over Ground Zero” has been published. You can read it here.

Download the “Get Smart” Skydiving Sequence for Free

Want to look at a sneak peek of the skydiving sequence in “Get Smart”?

We are proud to announce that our sequence was chosen to be shared as a promotional piece for the movie. In this free video clip, Maxwell Smart and Agent 99 do a little interaction about the sequence before they show it to us.

To view the video, you can download the sequence directly to your iTunes for free. Enjoy! And feel free to send us your comments.

Get Smart – Production Photos and Article Now Available

With the upcoming release of the Warner Bros. film, Get Smart, we are now able to present some of our work that was done for the movie. Norman Kent was the Aerial Director of Photography responsible for filming the skydiving sequence in this new film. We have put together a photo gallery of images from the production of this sequence for your viewing.

In addition to having some fantastic photos available, we have a great behind-the-scenes article written by Helena Poleo. The article details some of the challenges, obstacles and situations unique to this film that the aerial filming unit encountered during production on Get Smart.

Norman Kent Speaks at NAB 2008

Norman was invited to be a speaker at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) trade show in Las Vegas during a party hosted by Sony and VASST. It was very exciting as this is not a skydiving environment and he was asked to talk about his opinion on HD video format vs. film. In his speech, he said “all formats are good, they are simply a flavor to choose from to achieve a desired look for creative purposes” he also talked about how technology in relation to his creative side, were similar to managing fear in skydiving with his creativity in that environment. The entire event was a huge success and his speech was so powerful that two other speakers (including Les Stroud from “Survivorman” show) referred to Norman’s comments several times during their speeches.