With the ski season coming up, here are a couple of tips for getting good ski shots. As I usually take a camera with me whenever I go just about anywhere, and since skiing has been a passion for the last 40 years or so, I love to make skiing images. The best advice I can give for those interested in making good ski shots is to separate the skiing from the photography. If you are going skiing to challenge yourself with a more difficult run, that is not the time to think about taking pictures. That’s the time to concentrate on your skiing technique. So, I make a few runs in the morning and try to scope out spots from which I may want to take pictures later. I look for scenic vistas, close up shots of snow on trees, good vantage points to catch people skiing and of course, the lighting.
Then, I’ll go back to those places and spend some time just taking pictures. Sometimes this means having to sideslip down a slope to get to a particular spot. Sometimes it may mean actually taking the skis off and walking to a spot.
I keep the camera locked up inside the warm base lodge and just take it out when I’m going to take pictures. Sometimes a good point-and-shoot camera is handy, but I’ve found that if I concentrate on taking pictures, I’ll need some filters, maybe even a tripod to get the shots I want. I can remember actually snow-shoeing up a slope on Berthoud Pass, in Rocky Mountain National Park with my camera gear in a backpack and a tripod strapped to the outside. Those are shots you can’t always get with even a good point-and-shoot camera.
How To Make Good Ski Photographs
By William Lulow
Telluride, CO ©Photograph by William Lulow