Sport through the lens

I have been asked quite few times about tips when shooting skiing. Since sometimes I don’t feel like writing or explaining this over and over again, I finally decided to write thing or two about this. I’m not going to be writing about aperture and time settings, about white balance or about right AF mode. I guess everyone know this already, so I will rather write about things, which are not so obvious and are specific for shooting skiing.

Sanni Leinonen of Finland skiing in first run of first Women GS FIS Alpine ski World Cup 2009-2010 race in Soelden

For beginning few short lines about photo equipment. I’m using Canon equipment, so I will write about Canon stuff, and you can easily find equivalent equipment on Nikon side too. And one more thing, before I continue. 90% of my shooting skiing consists of shooting FIS World cup races. Things on World cup races are different then on lower category races, so also equipment choice depends on this. Nowadays I’m shooting with Canon 1dmk4 camera and my normal lenses for on course are 300/2.8 or 500/4. No matter if I go up on hill with 300/2.8, or with 500/4, there’s always 70-200/2.8 also in my backpack, since it can easily happen that thick fog or heavy snowfall comes, and at such moments, there’s no other chance then to revert to shorter lens and shoot closer gate, even if position for that is not ideal.

Sixth after first run Julien Cousineau of Canada skiing in first run of Men Night slalom race of Audi FIS alpine skiing World Cup in Schladming

Now when we went through basic photo equipment setup, we can go to more important things like safety and position.

Silvan Zurbriggen of Switzerland crashing in first run of second Men giant slalom race of Audi FIS alpine skiing World Cup in Kranjska Gora

As I wrote, I normally shoot World cup races, where speeds are higher, and therefore security risks are bigger, as they are on lower category races. Most of us, who are shooting skiing WC regularly, are aware of this, and we don’t complain when FIS race director comes and moves us to different position, since in his opinion, we are standing on not safe position. It doesn’t happen all that often, but it does happen from time to time. These guys are on hill every day, they are responsible for all WC races, so they have experience. On top of that most of them were (great) ski racers them self, so they know where course is tricky and where it’s safe. They are responsible for skiers safety and for our safety too. And with really great atmosphere there, we really are like on big family, so there’s never problem. On lower category races, there’s noone who would take care of photographers and tell where you can or can not stay, so you should always be aware of possible risks. Skiers are going down the hill at 130km/h or even faster, and you should always count, something can happen, so standing in fall line or close to fall line is a BIG NO! Try to imagine how course goes, and where skiers would slide if they would accidentally get out of course. Then add at least few meters of space to each side of that, more with speed events, a bit less with technical events, and there you have your possible position. If you are not sure if it’s safe place or not, ask coach who is near or is slipping down the course. If can’t get ahold of anyone with more experiences, and you are not sure it’s safe, it’s better to move further down.

Esther Good of Switzerland crashing in first run of women giant slalom World Cup race in Lienz

I always go on course with skis (except in Schladming, where I just walk up last steep part from finish), of course if possible, and I ski down the course to find right position. I always rather take some extra time to do this, so there’s no hurry, even though it means waking up a bit earlier. Sometimes I find perfect position on top part of course, and I don’t even bother going further down, but sometimes there are courses without any decent position, and it already happened (last year on women super-G WC race in Tarvisio, Italy), that I went down the course 3 times before I finally settled for position, which I wouldn’t even look at on other courses. With picking positions there are always more then just one thing in play. First is of course safety, but we went through this already. Second is of course event you are shooting. Perfect position for slalom is completely different, then perfect position for GS, super-g or even DH. Third thing to consider is how course flows, and how gates are set. Another issue are coaches and slipping crews, which can stand higher up the course and clutter your background. Of course there’s also issue of picking up position, where you don’t have only snow, or even worse, red safety nets, in background, but nice tree’s, preferably with snow on :), mountains, blue sky, or even city, village or finish area under it (if shooting from sides or back). And last, but not least important, how far up you can see skier. For auto focus to work properly, you need to track skier for at least a little while. If possible I pick position which allows me to do this, but sometimes there’s no chance so I pre-focus on gate and hope for best.

Florian Eisath of Italy skiing in first run of second Men giant slalom race of Audi FIS alpine skiing World Cup in Kranjska Gora

Now let’s go one by one. We went through safety already, so I will jump to picking position for specific event. Each of events is very specific when it comes to picking position. For slalom (SL), I always pick position opposite of positions I pick for other 3 disciplines. They way they ski nowadays, they always use hands and poles to hit gates. If you pick position same as for GS, you have really good chances to end up with photo of skier, where his or her face is covered by hand. Of course such photos are good only for bin, so I rather play it safe and go for position, where there’s no chances for this. And besides, photos look a lot better, when you have skier going straight at you. This means, I place on left side of course (if looking from top down) to shoot gates on right side of course (again looking from top down) and vice versa.
This way you can get photo like this:

Fourth after first run Benjamin Raich of Austria skiing in first run of Men Night slalom race of Audi FIS alpine skiing World Cup in Schladming

Instead of photo like this:

Second after first run Reinfried Herbst of Austria skiing in first run of Men slalom race of Audi FIS alpine skiing World Cup in Kranjska Gora

For GS best position for me is exactly the opposite. I’m on same side as gate I’m shooting, so skiers are actually turning away from me. But if I have space, and long enough lens, I shoot gate above these too, so I get photo of skier, normally framed by gates, when he or she is heading toward me. This way you can have two shots of a skier, one going at you, and one turning away from you.
Going at you:

Leader after first run Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway skiing in first run of Men giant slalom race of Audi FIS alpine skiing World Cup in Kranjska Gora

Turning away from you:

Leader after first run Didier Cuche of Switzerland skiing in first run of first Men GS FIS Alpine ski World Cup 2009-2010 race in Soelden

For super-G and DH races, position is about same as for GS, except that I try to make it a bit different, so it shows more speed. Good thing with Super-G and DH is, they have a lot of jumps in race too, something what you almost never see in GS races. This way you can get some interesting photos with skiers up in the air.

Maria Riesch of Germany skiing in downhill part of Women Super combined race of Tarvisio Audi FIS Ski World Cup

As I mentioned before, another issue is getting nice clean background. Personally I hate photos with red safety nets, coaches or even worse, slipping crews with bright neon green or orange vests in background. So I try to pick position, where I know coaches won’t stand. This is not really all that easy, and it takes quite lot of experiences to know where they will stay. And not just experience as photographers but as skier and coach, and here’s moment, when 20 years of ski racing, and few years of being serviceman on ski World cup, kicks in ;) I have to excuse myself, but for me it’s not possible to write what places you should be looking when it comes to this. I just see them when I ski down the course, but to be honest, I can’t explain this why. Main thing is, coaches have to see as much as track as possible from their position. So they normally pick position on break, so they can see up and down the course. When you combine this with TV cameras and advertising on course, you can imagine where they will be. Once I have done this, I search for interesting gates. Not all gates are same. They hit some really strong, while they ski by the others without even touching them. They come at some gates at really extreme angle, while they ski next to other almost standing. This is something what I can’t really explain either here, and where experience in ski racing is important. Best thing for this is to ski down the course (of course on side of course!!!) and watch how course is set. Check for fast traverses, which end on top of break with closed gate. It’s pretty sure they will be hitting those closed gates on top of break, and if they are closed enough, they will be hitting them at extreme angle. So no matter of discipline, we are basically looking for closed gates, since there’s much more action on closed gates, as it is on open ones. At least for still photography.
A lot of action:

Winner Lindsey Vonn of USA skiing during women downhill race of Audi FIS alpine skiing World Cup in Haus im Ennstal

No action at all:

Second placed Anja Paerson of Sweden skiing during women Super-G race of Audi FIS alpine skiing World Cup in Haus im Ennstal

Now few more lines about other equipment, which you must have, or which is just good to have. First and most important things are crampons. On almost all WC races, crampons are obligatory for photographers. Most WC races are on injected snow, and on extremely steep hills. With plastic ski boots, or in fact with any boots, without crampons on, you are everything but stable. And when you are not stable, you are not safe! So put crampons on!! Accidents happen even with crampons, so riscing going up to the hill without them is really unnecessary. Crampons are cheap, so even if you don’t have them, you can afford them. You don’t need those with which you can easily conquer Mt. Everest, but normal 60 or 70eur worth crampons will do perfectly. And learn how to walk with them… not on steep hill, but not in middle of press center either…. yes I saw this already! Go out on flat, put them on, and try them. It’s not normal walking, especially when you have a bit wider ski pants on. So try, before your crampon gets stuck somewhere when you will be on middle of hill, and you will be sliding down the hill next second. And yes, I’m talking from my own experience. I have spent many years on crampons, yet I still managed to slip down the hill. It’s not something I’m really proud of, but as I wrote before, accidents do happen.

Stefano Gross of Italy skiing in first run of Men slalom race of Kranjska Gora Audi FIS Ski World Cup

As I said, I go to course with skis, so race stock GS skis, and proper ski boots (AT boots would be perfect, but…) are already part of my equipment. I prefer real race GS skis for this, since edges are better, and handling those skis at icy slopes is easier for me, then being on some recreational skis. For DH and SG races, I normally use also ski poles, since it’s a bit easier to ski down. On DH and Super-G races, it can happen quite often, that you go down the course the way course is set. That means not much zig-zaging but straight down, and with poles in my hands, I feel a bit more secure at higher speed. On GS and SL courses this is never case, so I don’t bother with poles. At least there’s less stuff to carry around this way :)

Seventh placed after first run Tanja Poutiainen of Finland skiing in first run of Women slalom race of Audi FIS alpine skiing World Cup in Maribor

As far as rest of equipment is concerned I would suggest only warm clothes, and two pairs of gloves. On World cup races, photographers should be on position 60 minutes before first racer. Since it’s winter sport, and temperatures down to -25c are not unusual, I have one pair of gloves (Halti SL race gloves) for course inspection and for waiting for race, while for shooting I have pair of cross country skiing gloves (Yoko Windstopper gloves), which are thin enough to easy handle all the buttons on camera and lens, but still warm enough for not freezing my fingers. There are people who are shooting with alpine skiing gloves, but personally I just can’t, since I don’t have enough feeling for buttons through thick gloves. Another really cool item, which is always in my backpack is Halti coach jacket, I got as present from chief of Finnish ski jumping team (BIIIIIG THANK YOU AGAIN JANNE!!), which some fuck burned through with cigarette on one of last races. It’s best thing you can have when it’s snowing or raining, or when it’s just damn cold and windy. And on hill, weather can change in minute. We are standing on hill for hours (worse one was 6 hours on DH course last year in Garmisch, when race was getting postponed and postponed and on the end canceled due heavy fog), and it happened already, morning sun turned into snow storm. So rain jacket, and lens cover is always in my backpack.

Sanni Leinonen of Finland skiing in first run of Women slalom race of Ofterschwang Audi FIS Ski World Cup

There’s not much other equipment I carry up. I used to carry iPod, but I never used it. There are always other photographers, coaches, servicemen, or guys taking care for course, around, so there’s always someone to have fun with. So nowadays my iPod stays back in hotel.

Croatian coach supporting Ana Jelusic of Croatia during first run of Women slalom race of Garmisch-Partenkirchen Audi FIS Ski World Cup

Is there anything else? I guess not, but if you find something you would still want to know, feel free to ask :) So good luck shooting skiing, and don’t forget to check PhotoSI on-line archive for our skiing and other photos :)