A few of my better shots (more can be seen in the albums linked at bottom)
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Being the kid with the camera, it has become my job to shoot our races when I have free time. In general I have been please with my results and feel I have been making improvement with each race; nonetheless, I am looking for ways to improve.
Lighting is always challenging with a largely snow covered background and usually flat lighting. I have been shooting manual with settings around 1/400-1/500sec, f5.6-8.0, ISO 400 depending on the conditions of the day. We are not allowed to use flashes as it may distract the racers.
The main problem I have been having is focusing, and I think it is largely stemming from my lens being primarily a macro lens. I mainly shoot macro and bought it for that purpose, but I have been struggling with focusing and focus tracking. I have been using the center point as my focus point.
I do not know if anyone has specific experience with shooting ski races, but I have been trying to stay as close to the fall line as the race officials will let me.
I have tried using a monopod, but have found it to be more of a hassle than anything since the subject is moving both vertically and towards me. I have ended up ditching the monopod every time I have tried to use it.
I always shoot raw and tend to try to just underexpose the skiier while over exposing the snow, then bringing both back into range in post. I have noticed that this method does exaggerate some colors, but have yet to find a better method without blowing out the snow completely.
I have been shooting on high speed burst with Servo AF and try to shoot a sequence of images though a few turns, both to achieve a quality single image at the apex, but also so the racers can analyze their movements. I plan on trying shooting in jpg next race so I can shoot longer sequences and hopefully not miss that crash that always seems to occur after I max out my buffer.
Equipment:
Canon 50D/battery grip
Sigma 150mm f2.8
monopod
Here are the 3 races I have shot so far, the bottom one is my most recent attempt.
Penn State Ski Team
Penn State Ski Team
Penn State Ski Team
1
2
3
4
5
6
Being the kid with the camera, it has become my job to shoot our races when I have free time. In general I have been please with my results and feel I have been making improvement with each race; nonetheless, I am looking for ways to improve.
Lighting is always challenging with a largely snow covered background and usually flat lighting. I have been shooting manual with settings around 1/400-1/500sec, f5.6-8.0, ISO 400 depending on the conditions of the day. We are not allowed to use flashes as it may distract the racers.
The main problem I have been having is focusing, and I think it is largely stemming from my lens being primarily a macro lens. I mainly shoot macro and bought it for that purpose, but I have been struggling with focusing and focus tracking. I have been using the center point as my focus point.
I do not know if anyone has specific experience with shooting ski races, but I have been trying to stay as close to the fall line as the race officials will let me.
I have tried using a monopod, but have found it to be more of a hassle than anything since the subject is moving both vertically and towards me. I have ended up ditching the monopod every time I have tried to use it.
I always shoot raw and tend to try to just underexpose the skiier while over exposing the snow, then bringing both back into range in post. I have noticed that this method does exaggerate some colors, but have yet to find a better method without blowing out the snow completely.
I have been shooting on high speed burst with Servo AF and try to shoot a sequence of images though a few turns, both to achieve a quality single image at the apex, but also so the racers can analyze their movements. I plan on trying shooting in jpg next race so I can shoot longer sequences and hopefully not miss that crash that always seems to occur after I max out my buffer.
Equipment:
Canon 50D/battery grip
Sigma 150mm f2.8
monopod
Here are the 3 races I have shot so far, the bottom one is my most recent attempt.
Penn State Ski Team
Penn State Ski Team
Penn State Ski Team
