Tuesday, April 08, 2008
Snoots in the snow
Photographer Paul Morrison shared some cool pictures he shot at a ski photography competition in Canada. He used one of my 8" Speed Snoots to direct some light at a skier under a dark overhang. Paul writes:
"Here's a shot from the competition where your products were very useful and contributed to the success of the shot in a significant manner. This shot won the 'Best of Show' award as well.
The 'Deep Winter 2008' photographer's competition took place in early January. There were six teams of consisting of a photographer and one or more skier and/or snowboarders. My team consisted of myself and world reknown freeskier, Mike Douglas, plus my 16 year old son Ian, who served as 'pack horse' and team comedian.
The concept behind 'Deep Winter' is to celebrate the storm season that is in full force in December and January here in Whistler, only a few miles to the Pacific Ocean and the often intense storm cycles that roll in at regular intervals. Each team has three days to shoot and on the fourth day present a slideshow to a sold out crowd of over 700 who each paid $20 to be there. The winner received $2500, second was $1500 and third $1000. Mike and I won last year, but placed second this time around.
This particular shot was taken in the late afternoon on Blackcomb Mountain. Although it's hard to tell in this image, it was snowing very heavily and being the relative shelter of the overhanging rock was a welcome respite from the howling winds and driving snow. The single flash was set up camera right (with a small clamp with a ball head on my ski tip which was stuck into the snow tail first) and triggered by a Pocket Wizard. The 8" HonlPhoto Speed Snoot allowed me to focus the light on the spot where I wanted the skier to turn. By triggering a test flash, Mike knew exactly where I wanted him to turn and was able to fine tune the exposure. Without the snoot, the light would have spilled on the snow in the foreground and the rock over his head, lessening the visual impact of the image.
I find the HonlPhoto flash products to be ideal for my work. They are lightweight and durable. They fit into my camera pack easily, which is important for my style of location work. They are highly weather resistant as well, again important when everything is getting soaked by the wet, blowing snow. The HonlPhoto Speed Strap makes setting up the flashes fast and predictable. Thanks for an excellent product.
Paul Morrison
www.portfolios.com/paulmorrison
Camera: Canon EOS 1D MkIIn
Lens: 17-35mm f2.8L
Flash: Canon 580 EXII
Exposure: 1/250 at f8
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