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ayoung1969

Airborne

Snow-boarder taking to the air.
Taken in "The Stash", Avoriaz, France

Snow-boarder taking to the air.
Taken in "The Stash", Avoriaz, France
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NIKON D7100

settings

Aperture f/2.8 ISO 100 Shutter 1/1600 Focal Length 1750/10

upload_date

Mar, 2016

Views

2046

Likes

+169

Awards

Top Shot Award 21

Legendary Award

Contest Finalist in People In Motion Photo Contest

Contest Finalist in Full Adrenaline Rush Photo Contest

Member Selection Award

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Contest Finalist in Sport Photo Contest

Peer Award

+67

Superb Composition

+13

Absolute Masterpiece

Top Choice

Outstanding Creativity

Magnificent Capture

All Star

Superior Skill

Emotions

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Behind The Lens

Location

This photo was taken in the French Alps in a part of the Avoriaz Ski resort called "The Stash" where a number of jumps have been set up amongst the trees to provide a playground for those who want to head off the beaten track (piste).

Time

This was taken at around 11:00, typically not the best time for photography but it took me a while to get into position (as I had to walk up the mountain to get there) so I was later than planned.

Lighting

The location was surrounded by high trees so I wasn't getting any direct sunlight and there was thick snow all around (even on the trees as you can see from the photograph) so the whole area was just a giant softbox / reflector. I was a little worried that the images would come out flat because there was no clearly defined direction for the light so I had to wait for skiers / snowboarders who had bright coloured clothes in order to get some degree of contrast.

Equipment

Nikon D7100, Nikkor 80-200mm lens. The location was light enough to allow a fast enough shutter speed for hand-holding the camera so no need for a tripod.

Inspiration

I've skied here with my family for a couple of years and I've stood below this jump on a couple of occasions and admired the skiill of some of the skiers / snowboarders (and the lack of skill in some cases) and thought that this would be a great place to get some action shots from here because the drop in front of the jump gives a nice clear view and allows the skiers / snowboarders to get a lot of air. I'm not a confident enough skier to carry all my camera gear and ski down to the location so I've never had the opportunity but I wasn't able to ski this year as I was recovering from an operation so hired some snow-shoes and after saying good-bye to my family for the morning I grabbed a coffee and then started walking uphill. I thought I had a rough idea of where to go in order get below this one jump but having only ever skied down to it I soon learned that things look a lot different when you're walking uphill. After lots of time spent turning round to look downhill and see if I recognised anything I finally found my way to the right spot, even though it was about 90 mins later than planned. I tried several locations in all that morning but this proved the best because it has the trees in the background which provide some interest but had enough separation from the subject and were able to be blurred enough to not be distracting. The drop in front of the jump allowed my plenty of time to catch the subjects in mid-air.

Editing

I sharpened the image in Lightroom and enhanced the black / white points to improve the contrast because the lighting was a little flat.

In my camera bag

My camera body is a Nikon D7100 and I have a variety of lenses but I usually stick to my Nikkor 80-200 F2.4, my Nikkor 18-105 (kit lens but it seems to do the job) and a Tokina 11-16mm. I have a selection of ND filters but I don't have (and would love to own) something like a Big-stopper. I have a Nikon SB-700 Speedlight and a couple of Yongnuo wireless flash triggers. The flash triggers can also be wired into the camera to remotely fire the camera and I find that I use them more for this purpose when I'm taking shots on a tripod rather than using them to fire the flash.

Feedback

Scout the locations ahead of time so that you don't need to carry all your heavy gear with you - especially useful if you're going to get lost several times getting there. Don't be afraid to try lots of different angles in order to get the most impact from your shot. Be careful about where the skiers / snowboarders will travel after the jumps and ensure you're not in the way and in danger of being run over. Make sure people can see you so that you're not catching them by surprise and distracting them while they're trying to land after a particularly big jump.

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ayoung1969

ayoung1969

Airborne

Snow-boarder taking to the air. Taken in "The Stash", Avoriaz, France

Behind The Lens

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Snow-boarder taking to the air.
Taken in "The Stash", Avoriaz, France

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