Sled Dog Race Photography How To

Posted by on Mar 10, 2010 | Comments Off

Someone asked me the other day for sled dog photography tips so I thought I’d blog them here so everyone can benefit.

  1. To freeze the action you’re going to want to shoot at least 1/1000 of a second.
  2. I’ve found that 100mm to 200mm brings the best results for getting the entire team at a good distance.  Much wider than this and you have to many distracting background/foreground elements.
  3. Check your highlights.  You want to have a few blinkies on average otherwise your snow ends up looking very gray instead of white.  To accomplish this you’ll need to probably push your EV’s to +.5 to +2 depending on lighting conditions.  Or you could shoot manual, which is fine.  If you do shoot manual you’ll need to be more aware of the lighting conditions.  I normally shoot the races in aperture priority.
  4. Shoot physically low to the ground.  Just don’t shoot at normal height.   There are to many photos out there with this perspective.  :)
  5. Try to find a spot where the trail jumps up or down.  Play with the angles.
  6. Find a corner and place yourself on either side.  This allows for shots that look like the team is heading right for you.
  7. Check the weather.  If it’s going to be cold take hand warmers.  These can be a life saver.
  8. Take more than one battery and keep the spare on the inside pocket.  When your primary battery is to cold to operate swap it with the warm one and place the now frozen battery in an inside pocket to begin warming it up again.
  9. Waterproof pants and jacket.  When you’re laying on the ground and it’s close to 30F you’re body heat will melt the snow and ice.  With waterproof clothing you’ll stay more comfortable (read you won’t get soggy underwear)
  10. A monopod wouldn’t hurt for panning shots if you want to get some longer exposures.

mytoesarecold gallery series