Exposure on the mountain!

Hey there! I'm new to the forums (first post) so don't rip on me too hard... haha. This is my 12th season on the slopes but only about my 3rd year shooting with a digi-slr. I'm doing a photo shoot at Whistler/Blackcomb BC and have already spent 2 days taking some practice shots. Unfortunately, I'm struggling to get proper exposures / WB. I've done a ton of reading on shooting in the snow and understand it's one of the more difficult scenes to expose properly. Makes sense on print, but not so easily executed on the fly when you have very little to no time to set up as a skier or snowboarder rips by. I don't have a lot of experience shooting in M but I've read that it's best to shoot in Tv or (if you're comfortable) M.

I guess what I'm looking for a is a crash course explanation on how to set up my camera with not a whole lot of time. What I've been doing is riding, stopping, pulling out my camera and taking a few test photos of where I predict the skier will fall into the frame, lock my exposure and fire in continuous (5 fps) as my subject rips by (sometimes panning with them).

I'd like a more clear explanation on which metering mode to use, what to meter, tips on WB, what mode to use and how. I know it's a lot to ask but I honestly don't know anyone that shares the same passion for photography as I do, so here I am =P.

Thanks so much in advance,

Aressem

CUSTOM WHITE BALANCE! Learn to set a custom white balance and it will apply for everything in the scene as long as your light doesn't change.

What type of shoot is it? Are you doing environmental portraits?
Action shots?
Landscapes?

If action shots are the case, you want the most sharpness you can get (highest shutter speed possible) with the most subject isolation and bokeh (largest aperture possible within dof). So assuming its a sunny day, set your ISO to 100 or 200; set your shutter speed to as high as you can with a wide aperture. Fire some test shots and chimp to make sure you aren't blowing out the snow too bad.

What body are you using? Assuming it can track decent, lock focus on your subject as it approaches and unload your 5fps while you pan the subject.

I hope this helps. *Disclaimer* I have never actually shot on the slopes, this is just what I would do.

Welcome to POTN, stick around and you'll learn a lot here!

There are two ways i'd do this:
- If the light is constant put the camera in M and take a photo of your hand. Use the histogram to make sure it's well exposed. You can use Av mode to get initial settings.
- Use Av mode, partial metering, exposure compensation +1 or so. Again, try it and see.

In both cases AWB should be more than fine. If you shoot RAW you can fix it later, and given the harsh lighting RAW would be a good idea.

If you need to know about histograms read this.

Good luck!

Aressem wrote in post #9243163
Hey there! I'm new to the forums (first post) so don't rip on me too hard... haha.

Welcome and don't worry about folks being hard on you. This is one of the most friendly and helpful forums you'll find.

tim wrote in post #9243189
Welcome to POTN, stick around and you'll learn a lot here!

There are two ways i'd do this:
- If the light is constant put the camera in M and take a photo of your hand. Use the histogram to make sure it's well exposed. You can use Av mode to get initial settings.
- Use Av mode, partial metering, exposure compensation +1 or so. Again, try it and see.

In both cases AWB should be more than fine. If you shoot RAW you can fix it later, and given the harsh lighting RAW would be a good idea.

If you need to know about histograms read this.

Good luck!

Awesome info on the histogram, tyvm! That really opened my eyes. Thanks for the replies . Any other snow specific tips would be really appreciated.

One more question.. if my subject is moving towards me which AF mode should I be in and will it be able to keep up firing 5 fps??

Aressem wrote in post #9249440
One more question.. if my subject is moving towards me which AF mode should I be in and will it be able to keep up firing 5 fps??

AI Servo