I love skiing and as a professional photographer I find it a great way to get closer to the mountains and find beautiful spots for pictures. I was recently on vacation in Kitzbuhel, Austria and as usual I had a camera with me at all times (yep even when I was skiing). This time it was my favourite travel camera – Fujifilm X-Pro2 and my Fujinon 35mm F2 WR lens (50mm equivalent on a full frame sensor). It is a great travel kit especially if you plan on taking lots of photos outside (even in bad weather), since both the camera body and the lens are water resistant.

Kitzbihel, Austria / Fujifilm X-Pro2 with Fujinon 35mm F2 WR / Iso: 200, F16, 1/1600, Exp. Comp.: -1.0

So, this particular morning I was skiing alone and there were very few people on the slope around me. It was easy to stop and take pictures whenever I found an interesting subject or nice light, or even better – both. The sun was slowly going up and the light was near perfect. I was skiing on one of the longest runs in the area and after I got to the bottom, I sat on the lift to get back up. A few minutes after we started I saw a great photo opportunity that I unfortunately missed, since my camera was in my backpack (big mistake). I barely managed to not go crazy during the long ride up and after reaching the summit, skied as fast as I could back down, hoping I can still manage to get the shot I imagined. I took my camera out and got on the lift again this time ready to get the shot! I wasn’t sure if I would have the same conditions, but I held my breath and “prayed”.

As you can see from the result I was lucky enough that the sun was still in the right place. I was sitting in a moving lift, so I didn’t have lots of options composition wise. I tried to visualise the shot before I reached the spot, I set my camera and I was ready. I knew I wanted a dramatic looking photo, so I chose to underexpose the scene to preserve the highlights.

For those of you who are interested here are the camera settings: Iso: 200, F16, 1/1600, Exp. Comp.: -1.0

Moral of the story: Know your settings and keep your camera close. And please don’t give up trying even if it looks very improbable that you will get the shot you imagine.