Downhill Action Tips

[Leithen]

Can anyone give me a few hints on taking high speed action shots?

I'm heading off to the Ski World Championships next week and will be borrowing the wife's D80 with Nikon 18-200MM F3.5-5.6G IF-ED AF-S VR DX.

Hopefully we'll manage to find somewhere to hang on half way down the downhill course for the training runs and the race. I've had very mixed results in the past, especially with subjects hurtling towards me at speed - somehow getting the focus right is very hit and miss.

All advice gratefully received.

[andy-xr]

Closest comparison I have is Craner Curves in the wet

I'd think a monopod, decent shutter speed and shoot in NEF (to sort out the whites on the snow later) should see you through

[Leithen]

Thanks Andy - better find a monopod before Wednesday then! What do you do re focusing? Manual or Automatic?

[crmcatee]

Probably best to manually focus on a spot in the track where you know they'll be going through then it's just a case of timing it right.

[LongQ]

If you have serious snow and light issues there is only so much you can do to make grey snow look white in post processing.

You should be able to set an adjustment for the exposure in camera to make everything at least 1 stop lighter (+1) than the camera's system would measure. You may need more for the snow shots, but remember to remove the adjustment before the apres ski sessions! In very bright sun conditions all bets are off so try a few test shots on the day.

Yes you can adjust white balance when shooting RAW but if the original exposrue is a long way off you are likely to be compromised anyway, especially if you are seeking bright and vivid results.