What skills you need to be a ski camera operator

To really succeed as a snowboard cinematographer and ski camera operator you need to focus on three primary skills...

Hone your people skills

As you see throughout my website, I strongly believe that people skills are the most important asset you can bring to working as a ski director of photography. Companies and video production companies prefer to work with individuals who they enjoy being around. This becomes especially important on expedition based work and long, cold days on the mountain really affect a group dynamic. If you can be that smiling face and maintain a positive attitude in the face of adversity, people will want to work with you again and again. The ski industry is pretty small and being known for your good attitude, compassion and willingness to go above and beyond for the people you work with goes a long way.

There is so much that goes on behind the scenes of these when you’re on the snow during a video production processes that your skills on the camera or as a snowboarder, I believe, isn’t actually the most important. How you interact with the client, how open you are to receiving feedback and how well you’re able to problem-solve when something goes wrong are all crucial elements to be a successful ski director of photography.

Get better at skiing and snowboarding

Obviously if you’re going to get hired to shoot skiing or snowboarding, it’s important to be a good athlete yourself. Your skiing and snowboard ability is, similar to your personality, more important than your camera ability because you need to put yourself in the right position on the mountain. If you’re not able to put yourself in the right position to get the shot, you’ll miss the opportunity to create an award winning ski film.

You may be wondering, “Roo this is kind of a lame tip are you actually going to give me any actionable pieces of advice to become a better skier and snowboarder?”

Yes, of course!

Three tips to become a better skier and snowboard…

1) Invest time into your cardio strength

I know, I know - people often don’t enjoy cardio but I believe it can become one of the greatest strengths to becoming a successful ski director of photography or on snow cinematographer. The higher your base finesses is, the longer and faster you’ll be able to move in the mountains.

It’s no secret that the athlete you’re filming will very likely have a stronger cardiovascular base than you will and when you’re also being weighed down by a camera, you’re going to be moving extra slow. So, to even the playing field, put on your running shoes and go on a run. If running hurts your knees, hop on a bike and stay out for a while.

2) Go skiing with people that are better than you

By surrounding yourself with skiers and riders that have a higher level of ability than you do on the snow, you’ll naturally begin to push yourself and see what’s possible in the sport. If you’re always the best one out there, it’ll be more difficult to improve.

Obviously making ski films with professional skiers and riders will make you better but you won’t be doing the same type of skiing that they are. They are going to be performing for the camera and odds are you’ll just be there to hold it. However, when you go out with friends and hone your technical abilities with a supportive group around you - you’re able to push your skills even farther. Then during your next job as a ski director of photography or ski cinematographer, you’ll be going backwards like a champ.

3) Ski and snowboard frequently

Consistency is key when it comes to developing any skill and skiing and snowboarding are no different. In Colorado, we’re blessed with some of the best ski resorts in the world but we’re cursed with terrible weekend traffic along I-70. If, like me, you are not necessarily excited about sitting in traffic for 4 hours every weekend you may have to work around skiing on weekdays or getting up extra early. Because I balance my role as a ski director of photography and commercial snowboard director with other adventure film making projects in the winter, I typically get around 30 days of skiing a year.

Having done that for about 20 years so I feel like my skill set is pretty locked in at this point. There’s always room to improve and maintaining that growth mindset is important as you show up consistently to the mountain to get better. Every time you go out, try to push yourself a little bit. Take a whole run switch, focus on your carves or put yourself in terrain that is unfamiliar so you can challenge yourself every day. The small steps overtime will result in big gains.

Improve your camera expertise

Finally, to really set yourself apart from the rest of the crowd looking to make a career as a ski director of photography or snowboard camera operator it’s important to become familiar with the filmmaking process.

Understanding the intricacies of planning your shots, creating shot lists and crafting visual storyboards can help get you in the right mindset for when you show up to the mountain. When you take out the camera and begin to set up on the day, it’s important to have an in-depth understanding of a RED cinema camera or a variety of small mirror less options that are being more frequently used because of their amazing weight to image quality ratio.

Prioritize what’s important

Making sure you have the right focus settings, can frame your subject with interesting composition, can nail the correct exposure off the bright snow or in variable weather conditions, and provide the right camera movement for the action taking place is a necessary part of the job.

There’s so much that can go into camera operating and adding the challenge of doing it all on skis or snowboard can really overwhelm some people. So, staying calm and trusting your training when you’re out working as a ski director of photography will go a long way.

Making a Career as as Ski Filmmaker

I hope you enjoyed learning about my approach to ski cinematography and what I think about to elevate myself in this industry. There’s a lot of ways to make a career in the ski industry, if working as a ski director of photography or on snow camera operator doesn’t appeal to you that’s totally okay as well. This is just the path that I found myself on and have enjoyed getting to tell stories of passionate people doing what they love in the outdoors. Reflecting on what you want and what really lights your fire is a question only you know the answer to. No amount of incredibly amazing blog posts on roosmith.com will answer your life calling, but hopefully it gives you a better insight into mine.

Connect with Roo

Roo is a commercial/documentary filmmaker and photographer based in Boulder, Colorado but travels all around the world for his filmmaking career. He has produced films for Outside Magazine in Ireland, camera operated for Netflix in the Rocky Mountain West, photographed among indigenous communities in Peru and Ecuador, directed videos with professional climbers in Mexico and has received notable recognition in his hometown of Orcas Island in Washington State for his work telling uplifting stories in the outdoor space.