Please read Part 1 on Equipment before continuing.
Shooting in snow is challenging to say the least. It makes batteries die, lenses fog and cameras angry. It also gives you thousands of new options to work with. To name a few; Riders dressed like skittle bags, popcorn effect, never ending formations of snow, urban adventures, and of course, those beautiful snowflakes.
In this section I'll focus on general lighting techniques for beginners. I'll be talking mainly about 2 flash set ups as that's what most beginners would be using. Once you get into 3+ flashes you're dealing with more advanced techniques.
Points of interest:
- Equipment Prep
- Placement
- Jumps & Rails (Coming soon)
1. Equipment Prep
Alright great. You've read our Part 1 on Equipment and are ready to start shooting. Wrong. You need to get that equipment ready for the cold.
Start with a checklist. Do you have your camera (Obvious. Yes. But necessary), flashes, triggers, cords, lights stands, tripod, tripod/light stand carrying case, batteries (Camera, flashes and triggers), lenses!, and your backpack?
Awesome now don't forget about your jacket, hat, gloves (extra set PLUS mittens), hand warmers, foot warmers another hat, tape when you get holes in your gloves from jumping that fence which coincidentally made you lose your mittens and you've realized you left your second set of gloves in the car, very warm boots, snowpants because it's going to get cold, thick socks times 3, car keys, assistant and don't forget the map to the super secret hand rail. Ok, now I think you're ready to start prepping your gear.
I don't do anything special to prep my gear for the cold but there are a few points I'd like to make. Never, under any circumstances, turn your camera on after bringing it inside UNTIL IT IS WARM. I don't care if your friends want to see that last shot "Just real quick". It only takes a fraction of a second for moisture to fry a cameras internal electronics. Tell your friends they can wait or buy you a new camera. Their choice.
Next is make sure your batteries are always charged. And then read this. One of the drawbacks of shooting on location, albeit on the hill or in the middle of a city, is the lack of power. You're pretty much restricted lugging around a generator, 10,000 rechargeable batteries or expensive professional pack. Since we're still discussing beginner lighting, I'll just touch on the AA's. There is a an alternative though.
Using homemade battery packs. My first battery packs were for my 285′s. They were 7ah 6v SLA's and they worked "great" for the $35 I spent on them. I say "great" because with anything homemade there are drawbacks and sometimes fires.
To see how to make your own battery packs click here: DIY Battery Pack for Flashes. If you've somehow ended up here on accident and are looking for a Vegabond style DIY Battery Pack click here
AA's are an essential in your camera bag. I carry 16 rechargeables and a backup of new alkalines. You can never have too many batteries. In the cold you can pretty much half your expected number of shots along with increased recycle time. With the SLA's it isn't as bad because you will almost never be able to stand around in the cold long enough to deplete them.
The best batteries for your flash are NiMh's. They are 1.2v but will decrease recycle time and almost always have longer life. Alkalines are to be used only in emergencies.
2. Placement
Every time you use flashes you're basically creating the same lighting pattern every time. A main light source and a rim light. The way I look at a subject and envision the lighting is place my rim light first then place my main light about 180 degrees on the other side. This is a very basic approach bust then again, that's the name of the article.
The reason I do this is because you have a lot more flexibility lighting from the front but getting that perfect rim light is very difficult. For me at least. Once you have both in the general area you think is good, take a few test shots. Gotta love digital. You can then tweak it to your preference. Try moving them in and out. You'll change the shadows and increase or decrease power.
Still subjects are always a 100x easier to photograph than moving, especially with flashes, but also give you another opportunity to get creative with your photo. I'll discuss shooting jumps and rails later.
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