How To Photograph Skiers

Photographing any sports event is no easy task, and learning how to photograph skiers can be an even harder feat. Even the most seasoned portrait or wedding photographer may pass up the job of photographing skiers. But with a little knowledge of how to photograph skiers under your belt and a good camera, you can head to the slopes.

1. How to photograph skiers best is to photograph on a bright sunny day. You want to be able to stop your lens down to the smallest f/stop you can to ensure sharpness and great depth of field. This requires bright light.
2. You will want to stop the skier on the slope. This requires that you set your camera to at least a shutter speed of 1/125. When learning how to photograph skiers, remember that stopping the action and getting a sharp image creates the best photographs. The higher the ISO, the higher you can set your shutter speed. A higher ISO also allows for smaller lens openings..
3. In the event that you have to shoot on a cloudy day, make sure you have a good flash. Your flash should be able to recycle rapidly. You don't want to loose a shot while waiting for your flash to recycle.
4. When learning how to photograph skiers on a cloudy day, you will soon discover that your strobe flash will stop the action and that a lens setting of 1/60 at F/8 should cover your needs. If the sky is very dark with no or little ambient light, you may want to open your lens up to F/5.6. If you are shooting with a strobe on a bright day, you may want to close your lens down to F/16.
5. How to photograph skiers so that the image fills the frame is to have a fast zoom lens on your camera. You can keep another camera handy with a set telephoto lens on in the event that you want to capture something at a further distance. Remember, the larger the lens, the more unsteady the camera will be and you may need a tripod.
6. When learning how to photograph skiers under any circumstance, you will  soon learn that you will have to pan the slope and anticipate where the skier will be before he gets there. Focus on a shadow or any outcropping where you know the skier will pass. By setting the shot up beforehand, you are not trying to frame and focus when you get the skier in the viewfinder.
7. You can put your camera on automatic when you are photographing skiers, but this can limit your creativity. How to photograph skiers so that there is blur and a sense of movement entails slowing your shutter speed down. Slow shutter speeds don't stop the action so precisely.
8.  When you are shooting skiers, keep in mind that you can shoot literally hundreds of shots in a few minutes. If you are shooting with film, make sure you have many extra rolls. If you are shooting digitally, maker sure you have lots of storage. 

 Resources:

The digital photographer: How to photograph winter sports