If you can do it in the sky, Elliot Byrd can film it. In his 16 years of skydiving, Byrd has put together an impressive list of accomplishments, including several national and world championships in 4- and 8-way FS, records in multiple disciplines and his unquestioned status as a pillar of the skydiving community in the Upper Midwest. A passionate photographer and videographer from early in his jumping career, he now devotes much of his time to teaching up-and-coming camera flyers how it’s done.
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“Elliot Byrd is the epitome of the phrase ‘role model.’ In all aspects of his life he pushes himself to be the best at whatever task is presented to him. His growth to become one of the best videographers has been amazing to watch. As a father, husband, videographer, friend and person—he is top notch.” –Doug Barron, Parachutist profile #251
Nickname: Crazy Eyez
Age: 39
Height: 5’11”
Birthplace: Hanover, New Hampshire
Marital Status: Married to Lauren Byrd
Children: 4-month-old daughter, Astrid Byrd
Pets: Four cats: Forrest, Wicket, Khris, Meesha
Occupation: Wearing a lot of hats as a skydiver: photographer, videographer, graphic designer, marketing, event coordinator, the list goes on …
Education: Bachelor’s degree in psychology
Hard opening or line twists? Line twists; my neck can’t handle hard openings with all the weight on my helmet.
Jump Philosophy: As a videographer, it's all about delivering the best possible product to the customer. Whether I am filming a tandem, a team or a big-way, it is about capturing their special moment and not about what I want to do on the jump.
Team Names: All American Big Ways and Byrd’s Eye Studio
Sponsors: Airtec CYPRES, Cookie Helmets, Larsen & Brusgaard, Liquidsky, Performance Designs, SSK Industries, Sun Path
Container: Sun Path Javelin Odyssey RSK1
Main Canopy: Performance Designs Valkyrie 84 Hybrid
Reserve: PD Optimum 126
AAD: CYPRES
Home Drop Zone: Skydive Midwest in Sturtevant, Wisconsin
First Jump: 2009
Championships/Records:
8-way: Two world championships, one world cup and three national championships
4-way: One national championship, six FS state records, one head-down FS state record and one head-up FS world record
Total Jumps: 6,800
Camera: most of them
Largest completed formation: 112 (camera)
Cutaways: 21
What advice do you have for aspiring camera flyers?
I get asked a lot about camera flying, and the best advice I can give is this: If you are really passionate about it, devote all your time and resources to it. There are so many fun things to do in skydiving, but to get really good at one discipline, you should put 100% of your effort into it. I have close to 7,000 skydives and a little over 6,000 of them have been dedicated camera flying.
Any suggestions for students?
Remember, we were all where you are now at one point. Don’t beat yourself up if you have to repeat an AFF level; most of us had to.
What has been your strangest thought in freefall?
I shouldn’t have trusted that fart.
Does one jump stand out the most?
Our first practice jump over the Gold Coast in Australia before the 2018 world meet. We were the last team out, and jumping over neighborhoods instead of a drop zone. We opened and I immediately knew my wife wasn’t going to make it back, so I decided to follow her. The only outs available were active paved roads or the backyard of a school surrounded by trees, which seemed like way too small an area to land our 84s in. She chose the school and we both had perfect landings feet away from smashing face-first into the school. Thankfully it wasn’t recess. It was a great confidence booster to start our first experience at a world meet.
What are your future skydiving goals?
Sharing the knowledge of video flying with people looking to get into the discipline.
Were you a hard child to raise?
I like to think I was easy, but my parents would say otherwise.
The toughest thing to do in skydiving is:
Be patient. I see a lot of new skydivers that immediately want to jump into the more difficult and challenging disciplines without doing the work to get there. Take your time and get proficient at one discipline before moving on to the next one.
What kind of skydiving student were you?
I was definitely not a natural. My AFF instructor sent me to the tunnel before my release dive. Even after the tunnel, I still had to repeat that jump.
What do you consider your most significant life achievement?
Starting a family. The adoption process is an emotional roller coaster, and there were times where we thought that we should give up and move on. It was close to a three-year process for us, and I am grateful every day that we stuck it out and finally brought home a beautiful baby girl in September 2024.
Best skydiving moment?
Lauren and I got married on a CASA, jumped out and built a 20-way with a bunch of our friends and had our first kiss as a married couple in freefall.
Greatest competition moment?
Flying video for Rhythm at the 2019 Nationals and beating Airspeed by one point in a jump-off round.
What drives your competitive spirit?
To be honest, competition has always scared me. To be judged in a point system really makes you lay it out on the table for the world to see. I like the idea of facing my fears and insecurities about what I do. It helps me navigate all the doubts in my head about my abilities, and become a more confident person. Not just in skydiving but life in general.
Describe what it’s like to film a record-setting skydive:
Filming records is one of the coolest and most rewarding experiences as a camera flyer. Usually, record events involve a couple warm-up jumps followed by the official attempts. You get to watch the journey of every participant throughout the event, including the overcoming of some major mistakes, then see it all culminate in setting a record. The excitement when everything comes together into one perfect record-setting jump is indescribable.
Explain Elliot Byrd in five words or fewer:
Diligent and dependable.