Ski Team photo on the slopes

Hey all. I have a job coming up in 2 weeks for a ski race team. The actual shoot will be on the slopes somewhere not too busy and in the shade from what I have been told. My question really is about strobes that I need to use. As of right now, I have 2 160ws strobes and a 580EXII. I have looked over the teams photos from a while ago and there is a little sun in the BG, but not tons. I'm just wondering if I have enough light with what I have.

Power is another issue. I do have a portable battery that works for my strobes but I think I might need some bigger strobes. Or rent a BIG strobe. I just need to keep everything as compact as possible. Any thoughts??? Thanks!

Matty, no response after 3 days, I'll see if I can help. First of all, how many members on this team? 10,20,50? The amount of flash you are going to need will vary, depending on how large of a group you are trying to photograph. I think I've done team pictures of 28-30 different sports, but never a ski team on the side of a mountain. However, if you can tell me how many subjects, I might be able to steer you in the right direction.

Looks like there will be 2 different groups of 50. Normally I would bring more than I know I would need, but on the slopes going up a chairlift and skiing down is a different animal. I'm almost thinking of using one big strobe.

For a group that size I would normally use a pair of AB 1600's (Total of 1240 ws) using a standard reflector if outside in full sun. If you are able to get them all in a shaded area, you won't need that much flash power, but I'm not sure you can cover the entire group with a single strobe; it depends on how wide you'll need to go. Plus, if you have any area in the background in full sun, it will be blown out.

If you can keep the entire shot in the shade, don't go more than about 15-18 ft wide, you can probably get by with a single strobe 400-600ws. Do you have an assistant to help you get your gear up the mountain? I've never shot a team in the snow. I do a lot of teams at the beach, and getting my gear across 300 yards of soft sand has it's challenges as well

Thanks. Thats what I wanted to hear. There is a chance I'll have an assistant fire the shoot and that will help a ton. My power pack should be able to handle the 2 AB's. The only drag is that the 2 teams will shoot at separate times so I need to set up twice. Oh well. I have remote triggers so I'll be fine firing 2 strobes.

Another option would be to shoot them front or partially side lit in full sun. The snow would work as a gigantic reflector, picking up light from both the sun as well as the AB's. Then you would be able to balance the ambient, and probably end up with a much more dynamic image.

That is what I would really like to do. The president of the team is giving me no say in what goes on or where to shoot. I have a placer in mind on the mountain that would give amazing results. They would have a nice 3/4 back light with a beautiful background. But she wants these team photos to be like all the rest. One thing will be better than the past shoots and that will be image quality. My son was on that team for 6 years and I always thought the prints were terrible.

It's a shame that a Coach or League President will hire a professional photographer, then ignore their professional advice. I deal with a few of them every year. Drives me crazy.

RSB wrote in post #13738372
It's a shame that a Coach or League President will hire a professional photographer, then ignore their professional advice. I deal with a few of them every year. Drives me crazy.

That's the funny part. For the last 8 years, one of the racers mom asked if she could do the team photos in exchange for the cost of entry for her 2 kids. At a cost of $1600 per racer, the mom made out like a bandit. Now that her kids are done with racing, she is no longer taking the team photos. Being that I shoot the races, the board asked me to do the team photos. When I mentioned I had a place in mind and some ideas to share, the president told me no thank you and gave me the location of where the shoot will take place.

What you might want to do is get a smaller group of kids that you know, and do a group shot in your preferred location at another time. Then you can show the entire board how much of a difference location and lighting has on an image.

Are you taking posed individuals as well, or just the team pictures?

I wasn't doing to bring that up, but yes I am doing singles as well. They want to stuff me near this building that has a tree. Pretty bad place. Good thing for me is that I know the head coach well and we are going to "talk" about the shoot this weekend. Being that he is kind of a fan of my sports work, maybe he can convince the president to let me do this my way....

Well at least it looks like you'll have some nice new snow!

I hope we get some. It's raining right now. But we do have a colder storm coming in monday.

RSB wrote in post #13737360
Another option would be to shoot them front or partially side lit in full sun. The snow would work as a gigantic reflector, picking up light from both the sun as well as the AB's. Then you would be able to balance the ambient, and probably end up with a much more dynamic image.

I second this idea. I've done ski school photographs where we set up on the giant piles of snow in the parking lot. Great for tiering a lot of people and more fun than the traditional.

flowrider wrote in post #13781731
I second this idea. I've done ski school photographs where we set up on the giant piles of snow in the parking lot. Great for tiering a lot of people and more fun than the traditional.

I hope it can work out like that. Just got home from Calumet camera which was a 200 mile round trip to get the strobes. The shoot is changing a little. I talked them into at least my idea for the portraits with a nice BG. Team photo will still be in the same place but I know I can make it work. I'll post up some shots later tomorrow.