How To: Shoot Great Water Skiing Photos

Mark Dickinson, an attorney from Doncaster, UK, loves waterskiing almost as much as photography. After years pursuing both, he’s developed great tricks for capturing one of waterskiing’s killer visuals: the wall of sheering water produced by a slalom skier in a turn. Follow his tips below and learn how to capture equally as impressive water skiing photos:

1.Have the skier use a single slalom ski. It produces more impressive spray than two conventional skis.

2. For extra sparkle, plot a course that puts the turning skier in direct sunlight.

3. Compose to get dark shadows immediately behind the spray.

4. Place yourself so the skier is between you and the spray, not behind it.

5. The smoother and less choppy the water’s surface, the more uniformly high the wall of water will be. Also, smooth water and no wind let the skier obtain the fast speed required for high spray.

6. Set the highest shutter speed conditions will allow—at least 1/1000 sec.

7. Meter using the evaluative mode. (Spotmetering off the spray can result in underexposure.)

8. Shoot continously to get off as many frames per pass as possible.

9. For info on water skiing events near you, visit www.usawaterski.org.