Few things are as exciting as seeing a good skier rip down a steep powder slope in high quality video format. Yet one can wonder what science is behind these movies ? How hard is it to film a good ski movie ? In this post I will tackle a few of the techical sapects of making a good ski movie, starting with temperature, moving on to lighting and finally communications and stability.
Temperature can be a definite drag when it comes to digital equipment. Depending on the camera, it will often tend to freeze in cold weather. The direct consequence of this is a dramatically reduced battery life. One tip that is often mentionned is to keep battery packs close to the body to optimize filming time. Also ski bars seem to be a drag for condensation. When entering prepare for a a period where you cant operate the camera. It should eventually return to normal levels but can be annoying. Finally, filming means less activity than other skiers so you might want to consider putting on an extra layer to stay warm.
Ligthing deals obviously with a lot of white snow. Increasing shutter speed will decraease light exposure on each frame but will also cause a variation in focus. You might want to consider a polarized lens in order to get a good balance focus and lighting. For communications, a walkie talkie is definetly recommended in order not to miss any of the action and to coordinate shots. For stability, a mono pod can be a good idea but unfortunatly they are not very stable for larger lenses, which are often essential for quality action shots. A good old fashionned tripod will procure quality, shake free shots but it can be difficult to follow the action with these.
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