Attempting to Shoot Snowboarders

[haleina]

My boyfriend recently got a local board shop to sponsor him for snowboarding, who have registered him for Canada's Burton Open in Calgary this upcoming February. For the most part this is irrelevant, but he's asked me to take pictures for him before then and while we're there. I have a Nikon d80, I bought almost a year ago, have played around with a little bit, but I still don't know very much about it. I was hoping someone could suggest a certain lens, a certain flash or anything else in particular that would help to make these pictures the best that I'm capable of. I believe the majority of these picture will be taken during the daylight hours, but to be safe, let's assume some will be taken at night as well.

Here are a few I took last season. The following were obviously taken during the day, I used AF-S Nikkor 18-55mm lens (it came with the camera body when I bought it).

This next one was taken at night after we decided to set up a few jumps just outside the cabin. My camera came with addition flash, but I didn't have it with me. Instead, we turned on our friend's car and used the headlights for light. Would have using my flash been a better idea? What other ways could I achieve this sort of picture when I don't have a car present?

Although we got a few cool shots like these, I wasn't able to catch a steady picture of anyone in the air, mind you I didn't have a tripod with me either. I wasn't at all prepared for this. Would simply using a tripod fix this problem?

Thank you so much for everyone's help.

 

[JamesMason]

You could do with a longer faster lens, if you have the budget. This will improve your snowboard shots.

Although we got a few cool shots like these, I wasn't able to catch a steady picture of anyone in the air, mind you I didn't have a tripod with me either. I wasn't at all prepared for this. Would simply using a tripod fix this problem?

No, you need a faster shutter speed to freeze motion, if you are already working at the lowest you can get away with raise your iso.

This next one was taken at night after we decided to set up a few jumps just outside the cabin. My camera came with addition flash, but I didn't have it with me. Instead, we turned on our friend's car and used the headlights for light. Would have using my flash been a better idea? What other ways could I achieve this sort of picture when I don't have a car present?

I assume you are looking to darken the background and highlight the boarder whist in the air, like the magazine shots. Best way to do this is buy a handheld spotlight, have someone follow the border with it and spot meter off him