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Behind the cool lens, ski photographers are the real "great gods"
When they saw the pictures of fully-armed skiers galloping on the snow field, many netizens exclaimed: "It turns out that the ski photographers in the back are the real gods!" The "ski fever" brought by the Beijing Winter Olympics made " The niche profession of "stealth" snow circle - "ski photographer" is out of the circle.
In early December last year, CCTV shot a set of training videos for the one-legged Wa teenager Yan Gong, who represented China in the Winter Paralympics alpine skiing. .
Unexpectedly, once the footage of Yan Gong galloping in the snow field was forwarded, it was also seen by Ran Mengming, the chief director of the "Beijing Winter Olympics Legacy Series Promotional Video".
At that time, Ran Mengming was looking for a photographer who could follow the skiing. The two hit it off, and Lu Yongliang took over the task of shooting the skiing scene in the promotional video.
Recently, the series of promotional videos have been broadcast one after another.
"I'm very lucky to be able to turn my hobby into a career. In my opinion, persistence and love do not necessarily make dreams come true. Those who truly realize their dreams often need some opportunities. When opportunities come, you have to be fully prepared to go meet it".
Back in 2014, it has been 7 years since Lv Yongliang established a photography studio after graduating from the Film and Television Department of Beijing Normal University.
That winter, he and his friends came to the ski resort in Chongli District, Zhangjiakou City, Hebei Province, and enjoyed snowboarding for the first time.
The Chongli snow season lasted for 5 months. Since then, whenever the snow season came, Lv Yongliang would move his family from Beijing to Chongli.
He told a reporter from China Youth Daily and China Youth Daily, "The extreme movements shown by the cool snow friends in the snow circle and the great gods made me want to record them with the camera in my hand."
As a ski enthusiast, he has been in the snow circle for a few years, and he has seen the market gap of ski follow-up. "There were very few photographers who did ski follow-up in the early days. .I am a photography major, and I have practiced skiing for a few years. I wanted to try it out, but I did not expect that I would really gain a foothold in the industry.”
Now engaged in ski photography for more than 5 years, Lu Yongliang is used to sharing the shooting highlights on his social platform. Many young netizens said when they saw him "making money while playing", "I also want to be a ski photographer, is it difficult?" But after he gave an answer, everyone was almost silent.
"Let's not talk about professional equipment burning money, becoming a professional ski photographer has high requirements for skiing, shooting skills, etc., and you have to spend a lot of time and energy to practice constantly." In Lu Yongliang's view, despite the fact that A niche occupation has a high entry barrier.
They need to work in the icy world of minus ten or even twenty degrees Celsius, "the camera in their hands is freezing cold, even if they wear thick gloves and thick snow suits, the cold wind will still pierce through the whole body. Especially when skiing and filming, the camera lens, monitor, stabilizer and other equipment are full of five or six kilograms.”
In the case of heavy load, it is necessary to keep up with the skier and complete the shooting from various angles, which requires strong physical fitness.
Lv Yongliang said that by insisting on physical training in the early days, he lost 12 kg in 4 months.
"Skiing and filming is a high-risk job. You have to travel through the crowd with equipment. You must watch the monitor screen for 80% of the time, control the position of the person, and avoid other skiers at all times. If you need to communicate with the person being filmed, also Gestures are required to communicate at any time.”
In his view, the occupational risk factor is high, and one must do what is within one's capacity, and personal safety is always the first.
From the early days, he provided services for personal shoot appointments sporadically. Slowly, Lu Yongliang became famous in the snow circle, which brought him new opportunities.
This snow season, he turned his focus to commercial shooting.
Thanks to the "ice and snow fever" brought by the Beijing Winter Olympics, the popularity of ice and snow equipment, clothing and peripheral products has surged, and rich content such as film and television works, variety shows, and stage plays related to the theme of ice and snow have emerged one after another.
"Before the Beijing Winter Olympics, all walks of life were moving closer to ice and snow sports, so many film crews, TV stations and companies came to Chongli this year, such as the publicity shooting of snow clothing and snow equipment products of sports brands such as Anta. Being able to shoot 24 days a month is five or six times the workload of previous years.”
When not busy at work, Lu Yongliang likes to study techniques while skiing.
Recently, he went to the snow field in Xinjiang to practice skiing, "I hope to develop in the direction of alpine forest skaters in the future. Compared with ski photographers, there are fewer photographers in this field. I need to strengthen my skiing skills, Empower yourself to accomplish new tasks. There is no end to technological advancement.”
Turning his hobby into a career, Lu Yongliang said: "Luck doesn't depend entirely on luck, it's more about perseverance in love, perseverance in skiing and photography, no matter how much you pay for the career you like, it's all about perseverance. worth it."
China Youth Daily, China Youth Daily reporter Meng Peipei Source: China Youth Daily