I miss summer...

After two weeks of 0 temperatures here in Utah, I miss warmth and I miss summer. I know, I know...I do love my snow and winter but seriously, it's too cold to ski right now (I'm a wimp and I have had too many frostbite in my days that in these temps, my toesies freeze).

So I'm sitting here going through summer shots and thought I'd post something that can warm us all up...at least in spirit:).

A Lone Ski Pic

Brought my camera up the other day for some ski pics, but it was so cold that when I took my gloves off...my fingers froze and I couldn't feel the shutter. Managed to photograph one small little passage through the trees for a few seconds and that was it. But since I hauled heavy gear and dragged it over the mountain on my back....I need to post at least one photo of the snowy day. 

In the mood for skiing....

Taking the holidays off and spending time with family, skiing as much as possible and just enjoying beautiful mountains and snow.
Here are some flickr images for inspiration on ski photography. Check out individual links for more photos from the individual photographers.
1.http://flickr.com/photos/27398168@N06/2692352451
2.http://flickr.com/photos/15474665@N02/3678718943
3.http://flickr.com/photos/62778796@N00/5294432814
4.http://flickr.com/photos/31538549@N03/4222694333
5.http://flickr.com/photos/8031338@N05/3371308099
6.http://flickr.com/photos/31444528@N03/4500991198
7.http://flickr.com/photos/51729865@N05/5193062503
8.http://flickr.com/photos/8031338@N05/3371308303
9.http://flickr.com/photos/86205067@N00/4443251017

Slow shutterspeed to show motion-Tutorial

To follow up on my previous post on photographing sports and freezing action, an opposite but equallyinteresting technique is to use shutter speed to show motion. 

To freeze something moving quickly requires a fast shutter speed.

To "unfreeze" it, and to show it's motion, requires a slow shutter speed.

Granted, a slow shutter speed 1/60, 1/30, 1/15, 1/8, 1/4th of a second a so on, will blur motion in your photograph. 

Realize that if you slow your shutter speed down, handholding your camera can be difficult. Usually, most have difficulty handholding a camera any slower than 1/60th of a second and getting the subjects you want in focus. There will start being a blur simply from your hands shaking the camera slightly. You can get better at having a steady hand, but use that as a general guide. Anything really slow, use a tripod.

For example, if you want to photograph water running and want to get the water to that "whispy", "creamy" look....set your camera on a tripod and shoot the photo at a slow shutter speed.

This is where you need to experiment. Start at 1/30 and move your way slower to see the effects. 

One of the reasons digital is great is the ability to immediately see the results of what you're playing with. 

If you want to show motion in your photograph but to hand hold it, you can also try "panning". 

This is where you follow the moving subject (and try to focus as you do this) but do so at a slow shutter speed.

The result is the subject in focus but the background blurring with motion from your panning motion.

Photographing Sports Tutorial

People ask me all the time how to photograph sports. Granted, most will not be photographing Olympic skiing or NBA games, but still, it's important to understand how to freeze action and photograph things that move...and move quickly.
First step is to understand how your camera works.
Without getting too technical, basically your camera lets light in through it's aperture, and the f-stops on your camera determines how large or small the aperture (hole that lets in light) is.
The shutter speed is what determines how fast that shutter opens and closes, (to let in light) and thus is instrumental in photographing sports.
On your camera there will be settings for your shutter speed. 1/60, 1/125, 1/250, 1/500, 1/1000th and so on.
As a general rule, in order to freeze action you need to photograph at a minimum of 1/500. This means your aperture will open and close at 1/500th of a second. For most moving subjects this will be adequate. Granted, if you're photographing something like car racing, you will have to double or triple that speed to 1/1000, or 1/2000, etc
You will notice that when you set your camera at such high speeds, in order to let get enough light to correctly expose your photo, you will need to open your aperture (fstop) to f5.6, f4, or f2.8. This will mean that your depth of field (the area that is in focus) will narrow. So you have to be extra careful to keep your subjects in focus since only a very small area is in that range at a wide open aperture.
Once you get better at this, you'll realize that a narrow depth of field is the look you often want since only the subject will be in focus and everything else....blurry. Perfect for sports.
This is also why many who photograph sports buy very expensive lenses. Because the wider your aperture (f2.8 for example), you are able to photograph sports in darker situations. If you're looking for a minimum of 1/500th of a second, you'll notice that you need a lot of light or a very open aperture, and if your lens only opens to an f5.6, you'll run out of light and be forced to slow your shutterspeed not to underexpose your images and thus...things will begin to get blurry. Frustrating, I know! And one of the many reasons photographers LOVE lenses with  f2.8 and pay dearly for them. On top of that, when photographing sports you'll also need longer glass. Something that gets you close to your subject since you most likely can't be closer than the sidelines of a game. A minimum of a 200 mm lens, but more often than not, a 300mm or 400 mm is the standard. For some sports, even bigger glass is required.