Getting The Money Shot

Social media and the Internet are the most accessible way to share information in today’s world. As such, digital photography carries a lot of weight in terms of the images we project and the stories we tell. It’s simply no longer enough to go on vacation and send a postcard, only for it to arrive a week or two later with nothing more than a stock photo of a view you may or may not have actually witnessed with your own eyes. We want to take the pictures ourselves and we want to post them as soon as possible, please and thank you. What’s more, we want them to be impressive. Fortunately, we’ve got some hot tips when it comes to getting the money shot and wowing your virtual circle of friends.

For one thing, lighting is incredibly tricky when most of the photo is composed of varying degrees of white. In some cases, this can mean that the shot is too dark: in other cases, the snow takes on a yellow or blue tone you don’t necessarily want. Most point-and-shoot digital cameras have what’s called a white-balance function that enables the photographer to select a setting specifically designed to keep the whites white, like a good laundry detergent. Otherwise, it’s pretty easy to fix the problem with a good photo editing program if you’ve got the time and patience. Hot Tip #1: know how your gear works.

On another note, the sun is always a tough thing to work with in terms of lighting. If you shoot into the sun, you risk having a photo that’s backlit in which the subject becomes a silhouette. This can have a really cool effect if you know what you’re doing or if you just get lucky, but it’s a challenge and you might miss the shot altogether. Hot Tip #2: shoot with your back to the sun.

Natural framing is a big piece of what makes great ski photos stand out. Capturing a skier just as they pass between two trees is far more dramatic than shooting someone on a wide open slope. Offset shots can also be really cool – especially if the skier appears in the left third of the frame, moving or jumping into the rest of the photo. Hot Tip #3: see beyond your subject to create the photograph.

Finally, it’s important to understand a little bit about action photography. Just about every digital camera has an automatic sports setting, but the idea is basically to shorten the shutter speed as much as possible, which helps to create a nice, sharp image in motion. Timing is everything, however. Every ski photographer has a cutting room floor full of shots taken a split second too early or too late. If you can choose a rapid-fire function that takes several quick shots in a row, DO IT. Also, shoot from below your moving target if possible, especially if they’re going to drop something like a cliff or pillow line. It makes everything look bigger and, well, that’s just better. Hot Tip #4: think fast.

Of course, the beauty of digital photography is that images can always be fixed, altered, cropped and manipulated thanks to the magic of editing software. You can change the exposure, dim the highlights, brighten the shadows and add any number of filters to boost or change the colours of your photo. What technology cannot do, however, is create an image from your imagination. Hot Tip #5: if you really want to take great ski photos, get out there and ski something great.