Glacier Skiing

I worked hard this day to capture the fun (my partner was chaffing at the bit to just cut it

up!).

I like the compo...its great!!Congratulations and greetings from Mexico

wonderfull shot.

Very good!

Manuel

I love the diffused light, like in a fairytale. Beautiful.... jana

I like the unreal light of this shot, with the sun passing through the mist. It makes it sort of dreamy, which contrasts with the sharp (and potentially dangerous) reality of this place.

 

I like the way you've composed it, limiting the skier in a corner, and letting the seracs tower over him.

 

There is a nice amount of empty space in front of the guy, which gives the feeling of motion, and I like the powder snow behind him, which enhances an idea of speed and not-your-everyday-slope experience of this place altogether.

 

I wish the bright attire of the skier would "pop-out" more, but in this light this is clearly not possible and would seem rather artificial indeed.

 

A truly nice shot: I will be looking forward to more of the same outing.

Impressive! light is interesting, like "crawling" into the scene in a soft way. The skier as a red point in the white area accentuat his pose and action. The bg. has an interesting forms.Pnina

Congrats on making the Patagucci catalogue - nice shot.

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Seems like the skier needs more room to ski down the hill. Your eye goes right to the top of the picture, then down and right in order to find a route for the skier. Then, you go outside of the picture to see where he is going. I would place the skier more near the top left and have the diagonal lines go to bottom right. Sharpness could be improved.

Forget the photographic aspects -- From the POV of someone who has taught skiing off and on for 30 years (PSIA cert), the very first thing that catches my eye and holds it is that the model is skiing very poorly.

His center of mass is way too far back. This has caused his lower legs press on the rear of his boots instead of the front of the cuffs of the boot, where they belong. This has caused him to stem (aka, "wedge", "pizza pie", etc.) and he now has very limited control. Even if he is free-heeling and was caught in a poor position, eg, transitioning from one telemark turn to the next, it just shouldn't look like this.

Unless the subject is an expert who the photographer happened to catch at a *really* bad moment, this guy is exuding all the typical signs of fear, but yet the slope is just not that steep ... maybe it would be rated as an upper intermediate or low expert slope if it were in-bounds at a resort. Unfortunately, lots of non-skiers, teenaged intermediate skiers, and self-taught skiers think skiing this way is just fine, and that all that matters is getting down some gnarly terrain any way they can. This does not do the sport any favors. People skiing like this (ie, probably skiing terrain that is beyond their ability level) causes lots of accidents.

Whether the image was shot on a cell phone or a 50 Mpixel digital back, unfortunately, the content of the image completely distracts me from looking at the photographic aspects of the shot. It probably would take some doing, but I would suggest either going back and re-shooting it, or photoshopping in someone else who can make decent off-piste turns, e.g., http://photos-b.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-sf2p/v357/6/97/505253356/n505253356_818169_3010.jpg

Sorry to have to be so critical.

Tom M

Good grief, I'm not going to comment on the guy's skiing techniques; this is a photography forum. The background is exceptional. It's quite different than the usual ski slope, its aesthetic value is high, and it gives me a sense that this is quite high in elevation. The winter sun is low in the sky, and its haze contrasts with the angular snow blocks in a good way. The haze also adds an element of the unknown beyond those snow blocks, and I thinks that's in keeping with the spirit of glacier skiing. The skier is perfectly placed in the frame -- my eye sees all of this in a very natural, free-flowing manner. Great photo, and congrats to Jim on the POW.

I'm with Tom on this one, my attention was drawn to the skier's posture but I'm happy to cut some slack because I'm so envious of the location. I haven't had a run like that in a very long time. Kudos for taking the time to get into position for the shot!
I like the light very much and it adds to the awe insipred by those huge fractured blocks of snow.

I think the landscape itself is beautifully handled. I love the mist and the ethereal light captured. Beautiful exposure for this kind of atmospheric yet straightforward sporting event shot.

Other aspects leave me wanting. The distance and downward perspective from which it's shot don't draw me in, don't compel me, and seem to zap energy from the shot. Having shot from this far distance, it would help the photo if other elements about the subject drew in the viewer, but that doesn't seem to happen for me. It feels as if I'm just looking on from a distance, perhaps through binoculars or something, and I feel separated from the action. The lack of clarity and focus on the skier also seems to take away from my connection.

As a Ski Instructor and a Photographer I will give my 2 cents. This photo will not make the cover of Powder but I will look great on the photographers and skiers wall.

The fact that the skier is against a 'clean' background is critical to the composition. The 'splotchy' light streaming through low cloud-cover ads an ominous flavor. The contrast between direct vs. diffused light and soft, powdery slope vs. angular ice blocks adds a level of tension and seriousness. No, the image may not make the cover but for many other reasons, with which I can empathize, I enjoy it.

Where one may see flawed style I see adventure and 'making do' under the conditions. In this case it is not about heavenly turns in bottomless powder but battling gear – the 'less-than ideal' gear under foot and too much on the back – and emerging unscathed in order to carry-on for another day of adventuring.

Tough audience here, critiquing the skier’s form. Valid and well-intentioned, of course, but perhaps a little context is needed. The skier is not a ‘model’. He’s a mountaineer on Denali (20,320' or 6,194m) at, I'll speculate, approximately 12,000'...an area called 'Motorcycle Hill, perhaps? (The large blocks are not soft by any strecth...more like brick wall.)

No 're-shoots' here. Mountaineers climbing difficult terrain cannot afford the luxury of proper ski boots. While he'd prefer ski boots he's probably in mountaineering boots; analogous to the handling of a Porche 911 vs. a pick-up truck. Pretty hefty pack for making casual turns…hardly lunch and an extra layer. From experience I can tell you this combo of soft boots and heavy pack forces you to 'steer' from the backseat for fear of going over the handlebars. Taking a dive into a few inches of dust over a hard crust and having a 40 lb. pack drive a shoulder or face icebound could bring one's expedition to a screaming halt. He may well be thinking 'all that matters is getting down some gnarly terrain any way (I) can.' Put him in ski boots, lose the pack and he will ski circles around most.

I fully appreciate his 'position' in every sense. Nice work by both.

A relook at the photo at 300% looks to me like the skier was pasted into the picture of the snow. The pixels around the skier are mottled just like the artists signature. I would agree the skier looks strange. I still do not like the composition.

The background and the interesting luminosity of the light rays falling on powdery snow (which is tough to get exposed well as we all know) I find relaxing. Whipped cream. Scoops of vanilla ice cream. The skier, frankly, almost becomes an intrusion into the magical jack frost snow scene. I judge it rather fails for me,well mostly fails to hang together anyway. A nice enough effort nonetheless and photo display worthy for a sportskier.

Where does the white go when the snow melts? yes its all about light and you captured it beautifully. Marvelous shot!

@Lilly

You're correct that dust on breakable crust or even just breakable crust is one of the very few conditions in which you should have your tips weighted less than normal. It doesn't look like he was skiing on breakable crust, but I wasn't there, so I can't say. What is clear is that the skier has almost all his weight on his tails -- look at the amount of spray coming from the rear of the skis vs from mid-body or the front of the skis.

Unfortunately, IMHO, you're *completely* out of your depth if you think that skiing from the backseat for any other reason including non-optimal boots or a heavy load will make getting down the hill any safer. Most instructors and patrollers can easily ski with their boots unbuckled (ie, simulating mountaineering boots), and then, it's even MORE important than usual to keep your weight centered.

The same goes for carrying heavy loads. We often were called to help the patrol carry 50+ pound loads of wands and fencing (and the occasional kid) in our arms, and shuttle other heavy loads in a pack. If your center of mass ever got in back of the center of your skiis while carrying a load that heavy, except for short, extremely defensive maneuvers like an emergency hockey stop, you were on your way to losing control.

In any case, as someone pointed out, this is a photo forum, not a skiing forum, so probably enough has been said on ski technique. If you want an unbiased and expert opinion on backcountry skiing technique, go over to epicski.com or Teton Gravity and ask for a critique of the subject of this photo. If you just want to lurk, Google {+defensive +"fore-aft" site:epicski.com}. The first page of results look to be right on the mark, and I think you will see that they pretty much echo what I have said. Pay special attention to the posts by Bob Barnes on this subject. He is one of the top PSIA examiners in the country and wrote many of the manuals, developed certification tests for ski pros, etc.

Again, I *really* hate to be so critical, but my real beef with glorifying skiing technique like this is safety: Teen and older "boys" :-( see a photo of someone skiing like this in obviously serious terrain, think its THE way to ski, and then turn themselves into human cannonballs on crowded slopes because they can't make turns from this position. I can't tell you the number of big kids skiing like that that have screamed through the middle of my classes, completely out of control, or who have hit small kids, seriously injuring them, even in slow skiing areas.

That being said, it sounds like you were along when that picture was taken. I love the terrain and the lighting!

Cheers,

Tom M

PS - Are either of these guys in the back seat? The terrain certainly is serious enough and they have every reason to fear a fall.

1) http://www.find-graphics.com/Y/sports/ski_extreme/ski_extreme_001.jpg

2) http://live.tetongravity.com/_Doug-Coombs-on-route-victory-in-the-firs-World-Extreme-Skiing-Championships-Valdez-AK-91/photo/4840876/75233.html

BTW, the 2nd photo is of Doug Coombs.

Tom M

Oh man, would the bleacher section give the photog a break? It's a photo forum. You want skiing, go to a ski magazine. It's an insult to the maker
I think there's just enough of the skier positioned in the frame. The red pops out in the whiteness of the frame. The background is fantastic. Unfortunately, my eye keeps going to the bright sunlit upper right section

I'm with Ken Thalheimer on this. This is a photograph of someone skiing, not a how-to tutorial on how to ski/not ski. Comments on whether the skier is doing it the right way or the wrong way have absolutely nothing to do with photography technique, lighting, and composition.

I'm no big fan of sports or adventure photography, but I love the clarity and depth of field here. I love the diffusion of light in the sky as opposed to the crispness of detail in the rest of the shot, and actually have no problem with the brighter area in the upper right...it looks real to me, and as someone else sort of mentions, this looks like a one-shot opportunity...you shoot it when you get the chance to shoot it and don't worry too much about the light.

I'm sure the skier likes the shot, and frankly, this one might even have some mid-range commercial value. Comparing it to other work in the photographer's portfolio, I don't see it being as much of a keeper, but still...I think it's good work.

Well, since there is a debate here about it, I am going to throw in my 2 cents.

I lived in Portland for 20 years and as one who shot for both Nike and Adidas (headquartered there), you would run into a lot of wannabe sports models. One of the biggest issues was finding someone who actually knew how to run, play basketball etc. Sure, that was for commercial use, but if you are going to shoot sports, you need to know the sport and get shots that inspire, not ignorant photographers, but the people who actually care about what is going on in the shot. I don't know skiing technique, but I would say there has been enough said about this shot that it would be get canned in any attempt to get it published or with anyone who actually knows the sport.

As a photographic attempt, maybe there are other shots and this was just an awkward moment. The setting is impressive, however, for an action shot, I do feel that the image is pretty static. The bisection of the image by the rough terrain and the quiet corners sort of just plant the image instead of making it dynamic. The skier's placement doesn't allow for a sense of movement you would expect. The shot reminds me more of a landscape set up that a skier just happened to come into it--it leaves me wondering if landscape is Jim's primary photographic interest?

Great photo.