Skiing / Snowboarding photos

Hi there<br /><br />Am new to the board. I'm off to Chamonix this weekend with some mates and would really appreciate some advice on taking photos of skiers / snowboarders. I have a number of questions: <br /><br />1. Aside from keeping batteries warm, are there any equipment issues I should expect / plan to deal with when taking my Canon 600D up the mountain? Clearly I need to protect it in case I fall, and I also understand that I need to be careful about condensation forming on the camera / lens when coming in from the cold - any practical tips or points to watch out for would be much appreciated! <br /><br />2. I have a Canon 17-55 2.8 IS USM and a Tamron 18-270 PZD. My thoughts are currently that I'll leave the 17-55 lens at home (or at least in our appartment) because it's expensive, heavy and being a 77mm lens, pretty chunky. Also there will be plenty of light on the hill with all that snow around and changing lenses on the mountain with gloves etc. on will be tricky to say the least. Would you agree? <br /><br />3. Is it worth taking a polarizer with me - I understand that at altitude they can over darken the sky, and that a UV filter is probably best?<br /><br />4. My Olympus Mju Tough has a dedicated snow shooting mode. The 600D lets you set up custom Picture Styles - by doing that, can I approximate a similar sort of effect, and what settings should I change?<br /><br />5. Am I correct in thinking that If I change the metering mode to spot metering, then so long as the "spot" is on my subject then he or she will be correctly metered and that will avoid the main issue of the TTL metering system being misled by the reflections off the snow? <br /><br />6. Finally, any technical / compositional tips and tricks would be much appreciated!<br /><br />Thanks very much in advance for your help!<br /><br />Olie

<p>1. Get a good backpack. I do it in either a Dakine ProII and wrap the gear or a Burton F-Stop.</p>

<p>2. Depends on the needs. If it is just you and your buddies, then the superzoom is probably fine. If it was a commercial shoot, then I might be inclined to carry up the other lens. That said, I usually carry a 18-55mm and 70-300mm. I switched from the 70-200mm f2.8 (Sigma with Nikon F-Mount) due to bulk and weight, and am happy I did.</p>

<p>3. I don't use them normally. Mostly because It gets annoying when you change the direction of the lens and have to realign it. Not sure on the altitude thing (I shoot in MI, so we don't have that concern).</p>

<p>4. Well, the first thing I'm going to say is that I meter manually with an external meter most of the time. Not to say you should, just what I do. Otherwise, you can try two things, chimp and look at levels or set your exposure compensation to a -1 (or is it a +1, I always forget). So, to chimp, you take a test shot, look at your levels and compensate as needed. I would recommend this as the best route if possible. There probably also are scene modes on the camera, but I can't verify that.</p>

<p>5. Not exactly. All TTL metering goes off the assumption of middle grey, so if you point it at something dark (say your buddy dressed in all black), then it will over expose. I have better luck in sports situations either manually metering or chimping and using levels to figure out the exposure (and leaving the metering to the whole frame, not spot or center weighted).</p>

<p>6. Both some tight in to the person, and others wide to show the environment and interaction with it. What you may see happen a lot is that you use your center focus points more often and crop in post to make a better composition. The reason is that generally SLRs focus better in the center of the frame then off to the sides. Also, getting low against the snow can lead to interesting shot in the right situations. Or from far away with a long lens.</p>

<p>Enjoy Chamonix! It's one of the places I want to ski the most.</p>

<p>Zach<br>

Awesome response, thanks very much indeed!<br>

Olie</p>

<p>Not a problem. Feel free to ask anything else, or for an expanded answer.</p>

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