Birthplace: Wolverhampton
Current Home DZ: Langar
Jump Numbers: 13,500
Cutaways: Too many! About 20
Team: None any more, but various over the years, including the British Canopy Piloting Team, NRG, Om, Connextion, Storm, Satori, Stack It Up Before You Wrap It Up, Thick Socks and Big Docks
Sponsors: Aerodyne, Vigil, Tonfly
Container: Icon Main
Canopy: Pilot 124, Pilot7 127
Reserve Canopy: Smart 120
AAD: Vigil
1. Where, when and why did you make your very first jump?
First jump was RAPS at Halfpenny Green in 1993 — Langar became home the following year. I didn't really enjoy static line, but I liked the idea of being a skydiving photographer so stuck with it.
2. What are your three favourite things to do when you're not jumping?
Playing bass in my band, taking photographs and watching horror movies—particularly if they have zombies in them. Osama Bin Zombie is particularly bad!
3. What philosophy guides your life in general? If different, what philosophy guides your life in skydiving?
Don't be a c!n%. Be kind (not necessarily nice—they are different). It's not a sign of weakness to change your mind if presented with new evidence.
4. What items on your "skydiving CV" are you proudest of?
Camera for Team Storm when we won the Women's 4-way World Meet in 2008, the 400-way camera team, and the Honda live advert I shot.
5. Who have been your mentors in the sport, and what was the most important lesson each of them taught you?
Tony Danbury taught me everything I know about photography (and real ale). All of my team mates, but particularly Team Storm—I didn't know it at the time, but it was the best experience of my life, and motivated me to kick-start my career in my regular 9-to-5 work.
6. What would you like every new skydiver to know?
Safety features are only back-ups—practise your drills. The ground is unforgiving. Canopy courses have probably done more to improve safety in recent years than anything else.
7. What about the sport would you most like to change, and why?
The cost! Not jump tickets, but equipment. I first joined the camera team at Langar in 1997 and bought a new rig for £2,100; that same rig today is £8,990—average salary has just over doubled in this time.
8. What has been your most challenging moment in the sport, and why?
Again, going back to Team Storm—we secured some funding, but it eventually ran out. We decided to carry on through financial hardship. (With that said, it was a lot worse for them than it was for me.)
9. What's the next challenge you've set for yourself?
I'm going to do more freeflying next year.
10. What does it mean to you to be a British skydiver?
Not sure how to answer this! I'm British and a skydiver! I've always been proud to be part of Team GB at various world meets over the years.
