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During the Spring Festival holiday, more and more people are choosing winter sports. How can you use your camera to capture the cool moves of yourself or your friends while skiing? Zhou Bin, a photographer from the magazine "Winter Sports," will share his experience in shooting skiing. For photographers, choosing a sunny day and a ski resort with beautiful natural surroundings for shooting makes it easier to capture stunning skiing photos.Understand Skiing
If you don’t know how to ski or understand the sport, it’s very difficult to take good skiing photos. Because you won’t know when skiers are performing moves, what the best angles are, or how to avoid potential dangers.
1. Gear Showcase
Let’s take a look at the “weapons” of professional skiing photographers. They’re all packed in a professional snowboard photography bag. It’s called “professional” because this bag has a special pair of external clips designed specifically for carrying a snowboard.
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Telephoto Lens
●Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L
To capture the athlete’s dynamic movements, a medium to long telephoto zoom lens is ideal. Skiers move quickly from a distance, and a medium to long telephoto zoom lens allows flexible shooting of mid-close-ups and athlete portraits.
Camera Body
●Canon 1D MARKⅡN
With 8.2 million effective pixels, 8.5 frames per second, and the ability to shoot 40 continuous frames, an advanced digital SLR camera is a powerful tool for shooting skiing. As long as you have enough memory cards, the number of shots is unlimited. Ski resorts are cold, and cameras drain power quickly. It’s best to keep spare batteries close to your body and only take them out when shooting. If you just want to snap photos of your friends, partner, or kids on sleds, a point-and-shoot camera or even a disposable one will do.
Wide-Angle Lens
●Canon AF 17-40mm f/2.8L USM
A wide-angle lens is essential. It offers a broad field of view, allowing you to not only capture the athlete’s moves but also show the height of their jumps and the full scenery of the ski resort. If possible, it’s also good to have a Canon 15mm f/2.8 fisheye lens, as it can make snowboarders appear to jump even higher and farther, adding a more exaggerated and visually impactful effect to your shots.
Flash
● Canon 580 flash, off-camera flash extension cord, and one U2 external flash
To take outstanding skiing photos, a high-output flash is essential. You’ll also need a flash sync cord to enable off-camera flash work. It’s even better if you can prepare an external flash.
TIPS
When opening your camera bag on the snow to change lenses, be careful not to let snow get inside. Clean it promptly if needed. Before starting work, check that all your pockets are zipped and any attached gear is securely fastened to prevent losing items during movement.