Dustin Satloff checks his watch. He has just over an hour until the first racers drop. He shoulders his camera pack—the weight of which only makes the icy slalom course he’s about to ski down more formidable—and clicks into his skis. Sliding down to a spot by one of the gates where he’ll be positioned until the end of the race, Satloff takes inventory of where the sun is and where it’ll be in a few hours. He pulls out his camera and sets up.

Shooting alpine ski racing is like a puzzle for Satloff. The pieces change a little at each event he shoots, requiring him to find new ways to fit them together, but all the different shapes have become familiar. How many gates can he see? How will the light change in the next two hours? How can he add variety to his shots from the same spot? The practice of putting this puzzle together is what fuels the New York-based photographer.

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