Snow photographers become an emerging profession — to learn shooting, first learn to ski backward

 

       On January 11, Beidahu was not only cold but also saw snowfall. At the halfpipe competition venue, a person in ski gear holding a DV became more famous than the award-winning athletes, and their online works went viral. In Beidahu, both journalists covering the event and participating athletes shared and watched them, while netizens clicked and commented en masse, making it a hot topic of discussion in no time.

       His name is Du Haijun, a freelance snow photographer. He drew the attention of journalists because he has taken on a job few have ever heard of — skiing behind athletes while filming them.

       What does Du Haijun do? There isn’t a particularly good name for it yet. Essentially, he’s a photographer whose job is to specifically follow and shoot skiers. This profession already exists abroad but is emerging in China. Du Haijun said, “To put it plainly, I’m a photojournalist, but while photojournalists usually shoot from fixed positions, I shoot while moving.” However, Du Haijun is no longer “free” now — he is part of the Beidahu staff. He runs a “Beidaku Impact Studio” in Beidahu, responsible for video promotion about Beidahu, as well as producing programs for “Beidahu TV.” Searching online for Beidaku’s works yields many results, and many videos have been widely praised by netizens. One netizen named “Shenhai” asked in surprise, “Was this shot by foreigners?”

       Born in 1974 in Kouqian Town near Beidahu, Du Haijun was originally an art teacher at an elementary school. He later quit to become a freelancer, mainly out of a love for photography. “I mostly took photos for people,” Du Haijun said. “In 2007, I happened to watch the snow events of the Asian Winter Games in Beidahu and suddenly felt that shooting video was a more intuitive and thorough way to capture the scene than taking photos, especially when paired with music.”

       Du Haijun’s profession actually involves following skiers on snow, which first requires learning how to ski. Du Haijun admitted that he was a complete novice when it came to skiing. It took him a winter of practice to get the hang of it. Because skiing serves the purpose of video shooting, his style differs from regular skiing. Du Haijun said, “You need to learn to ski backward, and you must do it steadily, as if you’re gliding along a track. If it’s unstable, the footage will shake.” To achieve more stable footage, Du Haijun even custom-made a small rig called a “camera stabilizer.” This tool has been immensely helpful during his shoots.

       Following shots lead to sponsorships

       Starting in 2008, Du Haijun began shooting skiing videos. He officially joined the Beidahu team during the 2010–2011 snow season. Du Haijun explained that initially, he filmed ordinary skiers. By chance, he came across a video of a halfpipe competition shot by a foreign photographer, which turned out to be excellent. He decided to give it a try himself. Since the start of the 12th National Winter Games, he specifically headed to the halfpipe venue. With the coach’s permission, he filmed during the athletes’ training sessions. His method involved the athletes starting first, then him following them on his snowboard while filming with the DV.

       Du Haijun said, “Many people think that me filming from behind might distract the athletes, but in reality, it doesn’t affect them at all.” During the athletes’ practice, Du Haijun had already shot a video and uploaded it online. The response from netizens was overwhelmingly positive. Du Haijun also revealed that after his DV was posted online, a skiwear company expressed interest in sponsoring the Chinese team. The company’s representative even asked him to contact Li Yang, head of the Skiing Department One at the Winter Sports Management Center. “This time, I met the company rep in Beidahu — kind of like a reunion between online friends!” Du Haijun said with a laugh. “Director Li is very supportive of my shooting. He’d been looking for someone like me for a long time — turns out there are people in China who can do this too.”

       Shooting equipment is just a consumer-grade DV

       For snow photography, the camera mustn’t be too large. Du Haijun’s equipment is actually just a high-definition consumer DV.

       Limited range of shooting events

       This type of follow-style ski DV shooting isn’t suitable for all events — it’s only ideal for halfpipe, alpine skiing, and some freestyle park features. Other events are better suited for fixed-camera setups.

       Regular shoots cost 400 yuan per hour

       Du Haijun’s team also shoots videos for amateur skiers. Their fee is 400 yuan per hour, which includes video editing, adding music, and delivering all footage to the skier. “People who want videos made either want to keep them as memories or use them to analyze their form,” Du Haijun explained.