XC Ski Lesson With MVB Coaching

Yesterday afternoon was a lot of fun. It started with a group cross-country ski lesson with my friend Martin of MVB Coaching. Martin is an endurance sports coach who offers coaching to folks all over the world, through the magic of the internet. I've shot many photos of him for his website and social media, and Martin gave me my first XC ski lesson last year.

The group lesson was great for beginners, and it was good to be reminded of the basics as I know I've developed some bad habits... After the lesson, the two of us got out for a long ski and we tried to find a nice spot for a sunset shoot. There actually wasn't a lot of nice lake views at the Nevada Nordic ski area, but we did find a couple decent spots. For some reason, my Garmin watch did not record the activity, but it was a lot longer of a ski than I'm used to, I was exhausted when I got back to the car.

The sunset was not as explosive as we had hoped, but we still got some nice shots with Lake Tahoe in the background. Here's a couple of them below.

Both of these photos were shot with the Canon 5DS R and a 24-105mm lens.

The shot above was ISO 400, the lens aperture was f/14, and the shutter speed was 1/320 of a second.

The shot below was ISO 1000, the lens aperture was f/5.6, and the shutter speed was 1/200 of a second. A flash was used for this shot, or else Martin would have been looking very dark.

Martin was giving free hour-long lessons all day, my group was a fairly small one compared to the other big groups. He was passing out business cards in hopes to get some folks signing up for his lesson/training packages. It was a smart idea!

And of course, the obligatory selfie with the camera, lol.

Thanks for looking and I hope you are all having a great weekend!

Scott Thompson
Scott Shots Photography
www.ScottShotsPhoto.com

Sunset Shoot At Coldstream Pond

This evening, I got out for a little backcountry cross-country ski with Martin of MVB Coaching at Donner Lake and a frozen over Coldstream Pond. The sunset was better than expected, and fortunately, I had packed my camera. Okay, I almost always pack my camera when I head outdoors... But I'm glad I did because we ended up with some unexpected very nice photos!

Martin gave me my first cross-country ski lesson last year and I immediately fell in love with the sport. Being able to get out there further and faster with the camera has been great.

These were all shot with the Canon 5DS R and a 24-105mm lens. Handheld photos, a flash was used in order to lighten up Martin and to make sure he wasn't a silhouette. The ISO was 1000, the lens aperture was f/8, and it was 1/200 of a second long exposure.

Yup, I was happy to be out there and happy with the photos I was capturing!

Thanks for looking and I hope you all had a great day too.

Scott Thompson
Scott Shots Photography
www.ScottShotsPhoto.com

Cross Country Ski Photoshoot with Martin Benes MVB Coaching

 

Join me on a quick photo adventure with Martin Benes of MVB Coaching. Martin offers in-person and online coaching for nordic skiing, backcountry skiing, marathon running and more. If you participate in endurance sports, you could benefit from Martin's guidance. Check out what he has to offer at https://mvbcoaching.com.

The "keeper" photos from the shoot can be seen at the end of the video. Camera settings are briefly discussed but this is more of a "plug" for Martin. I truly appreciate the new skill he has taught me and it has been fun getting out to winter locations with the camera, further and faster.

We met up at a nearby higher elevation location that still has plenty of snow. Really, it's kind of ridiculous that there is still this much snow in Truckee/Tahoe this time of year... It was very foggy at times yesterday, and the sun popped out a few times. This made for some very different looks and Martin ended up with many new "keeper" photos for his website and social media. Here are some of them:

These were all shot handheld with a Canon 5DSr and a 24-205mm lens. No flash was needed as the light was pretty flat and the shadows on Martin did not need to be filled in with a bit of extra light like is sometimes needed on sunny days. The ISO was 400 and the shutter speed was 1/400th of a second. The camera was set to shutter speed priority, so the aperture varied depending on the light.

Martin coaches everyone from olympians to beginner goof-balls like me. You can really see it in the photos that he knows what he is doing. He had perfect ski posture in every shot. Martin also shot a little video of me and you can really see that I am a beginner, lol. My technique and posture need a few more lessons...

 

Thanks for looking!

Scott Thompson
Scott Shots Photography
www.ScottShotsPhoto.com

This Morning's Sunrise Shoot At Donner Lake

I had a morning photoshoot scheduled today with Coach Martin of MVB Coaching. Martin trains athletes for marathons, cross country skiing and more. His beginner cross country ski lessons helped me get going with the sport right away. (He also does online consultations and training if you're interested...)

Last night, I looked at the Skyfire app and it was forecasting a great sunrise with lots of color. So a change in the plans was made and we decided to meet up even earlier, in the dark, and head out for about a 30 minute trek to a great view spot at Donner Lake, here in Truckee, California.

The forecast was correct! We ended up with some beautiful photos with a colorful sky and stunning scenery behind the action. Here are a few of my favorites from this morning:

Shot with a Canon 5DS R and a 24-105mm lens. A flash unit on the camera was used. No lens filters or tripod. The photo above was ISO 1000, aperture f/4.0, and 1/200 of a second. The photo below was ISO 640, aperture 7.1, and also 1/200 of a second. A decent amount of work was done to the RAW images in Photoshop in order to balance everything out.

Once we were done shooting images at the peak sunrise color, Martin found this wood chair and took a quick break. Gotta stop and smell the roses, even when you're a competitive athlete.

I thought I'd share a screenshot of the Skyfire app. As you can see, Friday morning was in the orange which means "GO SHOOT!" It's the best sunrise/sunset forecast app I've ever used. A dollar a week for the subscription adds up but for me, it's totally worth having.

Yes, that is frost on my beanie, it was chilly out. Tons of fun, good exercise, and some great photos too.

Thanks for looking and I hope you are all having a photogenic day. Cheers to the weekend!

Scott Thompson
Scott Shots Photography
www.ScottShotsPhoto.com

Photos from the Cushing Classic at Squaw Valley, 2012

"Cushing Classic at Squaw Valley 23" - Photograph of a skier crossing
a pond during the Cushing Classic at Squaw Valley, USA.

This past weekend brought an end to the 2011/2012 ski season at Squaw Valley USA. My son skis and I snowboard there almost every Sunday in the winter. It's one of the reasons we moved to the Tahoe area. 

This closing weekend was also the famous Cushing Classic pond crossing. An event where skiers and snowboards dress in silly costumes and attempt to ski across Lake Cushing (it's more of a pond than lake). 

I was there with my friends and family and wasn't planning on working, but I brought my camera just in case. We ended up getting a great spot to sit, thanks to my wife, so I got the camera out of the bag. I'm glad I did, as I got a ton of fun and funny photos of a very entertaining event. 

Below is a slideshow of the Cushing Classic. If it looks like fun, be sure to check it out next spring!

-Scott Thompson

Cushing Classic at Squaw Valley, 2012 - Images by Scott Thompson

The images above are available as prints or to license as editorial photography. Click on an image for more info.