Snowshoe Snowboarding Photography

Over the holidays I have been spending time at our condo at Snowshoe, WV and getting in some riding in the incredible conditions we have this season. The snowfall to date has been consistent enough that the quality of snow keeps getting better. As for today, we awoke to heavy snowfall in the morning and it snowed all day and it is still snowing as I write this at 10p.

Getting in so much riding in this short time frame, my legs are spent. So I gladly hauled my gear onto the slopes to get my friends Nick and Ryan to session a feature I have been wanting to shoot. The heavy falling snow always makes for interesting photography, so I wanted to use the lights and pick up the falling snow for effect.

Additionally, the cloud cover was heavy and low. Once the lights came on the slopes a unique ambient light was created. Being deep in the trees, we felt like it was almost daylight. Once the shoot started moving and the riders became more comfortable with the feature, I was able to grab a few shots that I was happy with. Using low light and slow shutter speeds can create some fun photographs and helps to lend to the action.

Sports, or action photography is flooded with great photographers creating incredible photography. Thinking of something that will make a shot unique is always the most important aspect of a shoot like this. Setting up lights and snapping away is the easy part. Once a photographer starts to bend the rules a little, a unique perspective can start to form and sometimes something special can occur. I enjoy looking at other photographer’s shots and trying to see how they set up the shot and what might have been going through their mind when bringing their creative ideas to life.

Tonight, I was trying to leave behind the more straight-forward methods for shooting a scene like this in hopes of grabbing a unique shot. The riders were fun and eager to keep the shoot going and this made my work much easier. I hope to return and shoot the same feature in different conditions to see what might transpire from another session.

Opening day Snowshoe, WVA

As the winter season is upon us, we are geared up for one of our most-favorite sports. Snowboarding. Ah, the season is short here on the right coast, but what excitement it brings. Out of all of the sports I participate in snowboarding is right there at the top of the list for being my favorite. If I had to name one it would have to be surfing, but snowboarding is running pretty close in second place. Mountain biking is high on the list too. Right along with road biking. Oh, and kiteboarding too. It places near the top as well. I guess it’s a good thing I sold all of my climbing gear earlier this year or that would be competing for top honors as well.

Ugh. So many hobbies, so little time.

The official opening weekend for Snowshoe resort in Snowshoe, WV kicked off the 09/10 winter season this past weekend. Originally, opening day was scheduled for last week – the week of Thanksgiving. With plans to be out of town for Thanksgiving already nailed down, I had accepted the fact that I would miss opening weekend. However, with warm temperatures the snowfall and snowmaking to date was not enough to provide suitable conditions for the resort to open as originally scheduled. So opening day was delayed until this weekend. Bummer for the resort, but not so bad for Kim and I.

I left work in Hatteras around 5:30pm this past Friday headed to Richmond to switch cars and pick up Kim along with a season’s worth of snowboarding gear.  I pulled into the drive way, unloaded one car, finished packing the other and hit the road continuing my journey westward. Up to a foot of snow was expected to fall overnight so we wanted to get to the mountain before conditions got too bad. We pulled up to our condo at 2:00am. I think we finally crawled into bed around 3:00am. Not even one flake of snow had fallen.

After waking from an all too short night’s sleep, I was like a kid on Christmas morning jumping around ready to hit the snow. It didn’t help that 8 inches of snow had fallen sometime during the night and was still coming down in buckets. There was no containing my excitement. We were getting dumped on the first day of the season!!!

The drive up the mountain on the ‘back road’ was about as we expected. Two-wheeled drive cars were spinning and careening barely able to make it halfway up the mountain. We drove by some determined kids combining every effort to get themselves up the mountain. I was impressed; they looked as if they might actually make it. If not, they were at least going to enjoy the ride as long at it lasted.

Coming back to the resort after leaving in March was a great first day on the slopes. We saw so many friends that it was like we never left. Hearing about everyone’s summer and what their upcoming plans are is always a great. Everyone was so excited to be back on the snow. Getting the legs back into shape might be a bit of a challenge though. I know it will come, but wow, they felt like noodles. Working at the beach all summer I hardly rode my bikes. My legs are usually quite a bit stronger by this point in the year, so I was feeling the result of the work they were accomplishing.

Of course, I have been brewing up photography ideas about what I want to shoot this year. I was lucky to get some nice shots on the mountain last season, and I can’t wait to start shooting again this year. Actually I have already started shooting. Always keeping my camera gear with me I am ready at a moment’s notice. In fact, I am always pestering my friends, and even strangers to shoot. I actually met a kid tonight that was eager to perform for me at our condo complex on one of the picnic tables. He lives in the Outer Banks during the summer and spends his winters here, so we had a lot to chat about.

There is nothing better than wearing yourself out doing something you love. I was glad to see some of my skills remain, but I have a little work to do before I get back to last year’s level. Also, I have some goals I would like to accomplish, so I need to do some specific training to get my butt into the physical shape required.

By the time the day was over I was ready to hit the sack. Not before a required hot tub soaking though. Ah, hot tub, an incredible dinner with great friends and some relaxing beverages – is there anything better? Uh yeah… A solid night’s sleep. Goodnight.