jmccl Loc: Western Shore of Utah Lake

Hello all. Has anyone here ever shot a skier torch light parade? I'm just wondering what shutter speed and aperture to use. I'm after a timed photo that will show the blur of the torches as they carve down the trail, somewhat like the blur of car tail lights on a winding curve. Tripod, of course, maybe ISO 100, 1 minute exposure @ f/22? All suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

MJPerini

I have not shot that specific thing, but if I needed to prepare to do so, I would do the following research
How far will your vantage point be?
What lens do you expect to use?
How fast do the skiers normally go - since it is a parade they probably won't be going too fast
When you get some of those answers try practicing on cars on roads with a speed limit a little below the expected speed. That way you can dial in the amount of blur you want. I would try to use a tripod so that some things will be sharp.
It is like shooting water, getting the right blur for your taste depends on distance, focal length, shutter speed , and the speed of the water. All you are trying to do here is to eliminate some variables before the day of the shoot.
Not bad to have 2 cameras 2 tripods.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

Go to the ski area at night and practice. Use a tripod. A one minute exposure will get the torches, but the skiers will be invisible, but it would be a good starting point.

Photocraig

Echoing the visibility of the skiers, What time is the parade? How much ambient light is available. the snow will reflect the reddish light, but be sure to expose enough to see the skiers, and hope for a few faces. Will the Parade Slope slope be one that is already lit? The streams of the torches, frequently they use road flares, put out enough light to reflect, at least shapes, of the skiers.

I'd be sure to get before and after parade close ups using flash to capture the skiers and the slopes and their fellow skiers. Inquire about Flash. Perhaps you cold put the camera on the tripod, open of "B" and ski down and flash sections of teh snaking parade as it descends. Terrain is usually a beginner hill visible from the resort base, so not a big skiing challenge for the photographer, just flashing a manual flash freezing action in the pen frame. This will work only if it is pitch black dark.

C

worldcycle Loc: Stateline, Nevada

I have participated in torchlight parades so I can give advice from both sides. This is from my hotel room in Portillo, Chile. According to my metadata it was shot at an ISO of 640, F 4.0 and at 148 seconds. (I probably used the "B" setting, this was 7 years ago) There were no other lights on the mountain except for the one on the lift in the lower right. You will want to wait a bit after the skiers start to begin your exposure if you want to get the entire run illuminated. The skiers end up getting fairly strung out along the length of the run. I was able to "crank" off 3 exposures each in about the 120 range that showed this entire flow of light. This is the chosen one for it was about the middle of the parade and the mountains and snow were lit up nicely. The skiers ski really slow and wind back and forth across the run. The object is to make the parade last as long as possible. After all, it is a pretty cool experience to be doing it.

joecichjr Loc: Chicago S. Suburbs, Illinois, USA

Sooo excellent, and I thought it was a lava flow 🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗

jmccl Loc: Western Shore of Utah Lake

THANK YOU!

Retired CPO Loc: Travel full time in an RV

Pretty cool!