Cross country skiing

This was something completely new for me - I have never shot cross country skiing before. I was actually there for the snowmobile event, but decided to stay for the non-motoring part too... And I'm glad I did, it was a nice race and a great learning experience. Definitely not an easy sport to shoot.

Very nice, thanks for posting! That's a 40D? and what lens(s)?

Thanks Yep, 40D and Canon 70-200 f/2.8.

Nice ones. XC skiing is actually not really hard sport to shoot (it might be different for me, since I was actually racing in this particular sport for almost 20 years), and normally it gives you really lot of options for a bit different photos, since access for photographers is not so restricted (even on World cup races). Only "problem" is timing, which is not really easy to catch if you don't know this sport. But you did this really good.

Thanks, Primoz Yes, following the skiers wasn't a problem, since they move in a predictable trajectory and that's quite similar to what race cars do. Like you said, what was difficult was the timing - if you get it wrong, the person will look very awkward in the shot.

Nice shots Tessa. Did you use flash on #4?
I´ve been wondering why somebody even bothers to take shots of this kind of competition as it looks so boring on tv. These shots changed my mind
I need to give it a go some day But the temperature must be close to 0 before I go out shooting

Hi Vesa Nope, no flash - the sun was shining behind trees, so it gave a nice bit of light if you were shooting from a certain angle. And yeah, it was cold, around -17C or thereabouts, but I had my full winter gear on and enjoyed every minute of it

Semmonka wrote in post #9336173
Nice shots Tessa. Did you use flash on #4?
I´ve been wondering why somebody even bothers to take shots of this kind of competition as it looks so boring on tv. These shots changed my mind
I need to give it a go some day But the temperature must be close to 0 before I go out shooting

That's funny, I think the exact same thing about most "American" sports!