High School Ski Racing

Mike J · January 31, 2010

My kids were not racing this weekend and my knee has been a little flaky so I decided to take the afternoon off from skiing and drag my camera out.

This is from one of the high school races on the mountain.My oldest raced in this league last year so I know a lot of the kids.

Of course, the clouds rolled down the mountain right after lunch. Here are a few before it got too bad.

#1

#2

#3 I would really like this one but I cut off her boots and skis!

#4

Thanks for looking! Click on images to see EXIF data.

2whlrcr · January 31, 2010

#3. Doesn't matter too me that the skis are cut off, still a nice capture. That girl is focused.

Gringriff · January 31, 2010

I didn't know there was such a thing as High School Skiing. Very nice images. Love the capture of the eyes through the goggles. We just had one of the biggest snowfalls here in several years about 8" deep.

Andy

slipkid · January 31, 2010

Those are real nice, exposure is dead on. They all look very focused (pictures and the skiers), nice job.

MXC Photos · January 31, 2010

I wish I knew how to set the white balance manually because those colors look amazing. Nice job.

Mike J · January 31, 2010

2whlrcr wrote:

#3. Doesn't matter too me that the skis are cut off, still a nice capture. That girl is focused.

Thanks. I have a thing about seeing the skis in photos. To me it really shows the action. Despite missing, I do like this one though.

Gringriff wrote:

I didn't know there was such a thing as High School Skiing. Very nice images. Love the capture of the eyes through the goggles. We just had one of the biggest snowfalls here in several years about 8" deep.

Andy

Not all schools have it but we have three high school leagues that race on Mt Hood. It is not as competitive as the USSA programs but is a lot of fun for the kids. What is nice is you get a lot of different levels - those just starting to race to those that have raced for years.

slipkid wrote:

Those are real nice, exposure is dead on. They all look very focused (pictures and the skiers), nice job.

Thanks for the comments. The skiers need to be focused for how fast they are going and for how hard some shoulder the gates.
I've switched to manual exposure from aperture-priority and like to a lot better. Took me too long to learn that.

MXC Photos wrote:

I wish I knew how to set the white balance manually because those colors look amazing. Nice job.

For these I just set the D300 WB to cloudy. I do see inhe EXIF that it says manual. I wonder if this is put there if the WB is not set to Auto?I need to check on that 'cause I definitely did not do anything special.
I do love the colors in some of these speedsuits.

StefanL · January 31, 2010

Nr 1 is excellent, frozen action but still enough motion blur in the snow to creat a strong sense of speed. Perfect timing as well, with the shoulder touching the gate.

The glove covering the face except for that focused eye.

Lotsa white without much definition, but what can you ask for really... besides, I think it isolates the skiier nicely.

I think it would have been a smidge better had you managed to get the end of the ski pole in frame, but you got it 99,9%!

/Stefan

Mike J · January 31, 2010

StefanL wrote:

Nr 1 is excellent, frozen action but still enough motion blur in the snow to creat a strong sense of speed. Perfect timing as well, with the shoulder touching the gate.

The glove covering the face except for that focused eye.

Lotsa white without much definition, but what can you ask for really... besides, I think it isolates the skiier nicely.

I think it would have been a smidge better had you managed to get the end of the ski pole in frame, but you got it 99,9%!

/Stefan

Here is a different crop with the end of the pole. What do you think? I like to show some texture in the snow but one of the things I learned here is to expose so you are blowing parts of the snow. The flat light also makes it hard to see any of the texture.

Erbeman · February 1, 2010

Very Very well done sir!!

johng · February 1, 2010

Fantastic images Mike. I like the 2nd version of shot 1. Really great - really a demonstration of how much EYES add to the shot. Some of the best skiing shots I've seen!

Mike J · February 1, 2010

Erbeman wrote:

Very Very well done sir!!

I appreciate the compliment and knowing I'm on the right track.

Mike J · February 1, 2010

johng wrote:

Fantastic images Mike. I like the 2nd version of shot 1. Really great - really a demonstration of how much EYES add to the shot. Some of the best skiing shots I've seen!

Wow.:D Thanks John. I do believe I learned the importance of eyes from you. I do feel like this season I'm doing a lot better than last - but than again upgrading the body and the lens might have something to do wit that too.:D

StefanL · February 1, 2010

Yep, I think the second crop of nr. 1 is even better. Great!

/Stefan

Mike J · February 2, 2010

StefanL wrote:

Yep, I think the second crop of nr. 1 is even better. Great!

/Stefan

Here's a different crop of #2 Thoughts?

OhEddie · February 5, 2010

Mike,

Great shots. Looks like it would be a fun event to shoot. Very predictable where your subject will be so you can get just the right angle, as you have done, to get those "eye" catching shots.

My only suggestion would be to use levels to set a black point. They need just a tad more contrast.

Mike J · February 9, 2010

OhEddie wrote:

Mike,

Great shots. Looks like it would be a fun event to shoot. Very predictable where your subject will be so you can get just the right angle, as you have done, to get those "eye" catching shots.

My only suggestion would be to use levels to set a black point. They need just a tad more contrast.

I'll take a look at this tonight and play with it. There probably is a some more clipping that can be done.

High School Ski Racing

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