Get great results from your action cam as you capture your heroics ... and your epic bails.

When to Slo-Mo
The GoPro Hero6 can shoot 1080p video at 240 frames per second—meaning that when you slow it down 10X, it looks amazing. But hitting the brakes doesn’t work for everything. Slo-mo is garbage for point-of-view angles. Save it for when you’re shooting video of your friends—place the camera at ground level to film a trick—or when you’re (sigh) using a selfie stick.

When to Helmet Mount
The helmet mount is the easiest approach for most snowy activities. It captures things the way you see them, so you want a nice, fat frame: Shoot 1080p at 60 fps in Wide mode, with stabilization turned on. This makes a tree run look like the speeder bike chase on Endor from The Return of the Jedi.

When to Chest Mount
For all types of skiing, go with a chest mount. It’s more stable than the head, and it puts your hands, poles, and skis into the frame. It’s also best for a snowmobiles or snowbike, as it gets the handlebars into the shot. It’s rubbish for snowboarding. Shoot in SuperView mode for skiing, which fills the top and bottom of the frame.

When to Selfie Stick
Your best option for getting primo footage when snowboarding solo. Use the same video settings as with the helmet mount, but if you’re going for a big trick, crank the frame rate to 120 to slurp up more detail. Try it with the camera both ahead of you and following you. For confident carvers only—wielding a selfie stick on a fast run can be dangerous.

When to Time-Lapse
Action cams take great stills too. Set your camera to take one shot every half-second while it’s mounted on a selfie stick to make share-worthy GIFs or an extreme new Tinder profile pic. If you’re shooting a friend hitting a jump or doing a nasty turn, try Burst mode. Then select the most epic still from the dozen or so the camera grabs.

When to 4K
Reserve 4K shots for when you really want to reproduce the scene, like taking a panning shot of the stunning view from the mountaintop. The Hero6 now does 4K at 60 frames per second, so it’s also fantastic for shooting incredibly detailed action shots. Use it sparingly—it devours memory card space and battery life.

Wired Recommends:
GoPro Hero6 Black
Advanced image stabilization gets you smoother shots; simple software helps you share them. $500

This article appears in the January issue. Subscribe now.