Winter shooting tips?

[mikedadude]

Hey guys,

I really am a newbie.. and truth be told I've not picked up my camera in months (finding work and motivation a bit troublesome without a car).

Nonetheless... I shall be spending the winter in the European alps and really do want to get some good shots.. and it shouldn't be too difficult considering it's the alps right?

This is my current setup: Canon 450D w/ IS 18-55m

I was wondering if anyone could give me some do's / don'ts with regards to shooting and storing the camera. I'm a bit concerned that moisture/cold may damage it.

I generally want to take landscape shots, with hope of perhaps catching some "action" skiing shots as well.

So for landscape I assume:
Aperture mode
Narrow aperture
Somewhat lengthened shutter speed
Depending on time of day - low/med ISO

Action shots:
Shutter mode
Have a quick shutter speed
Wide aperture
Medium iso

Then there's the whole thing about white balance.. I fully appreciate it is pretty difficult to tell me how to shoot a hypothetical picture in a hypothetical environment, but some general tips would be appreciated.

I also will need to get a tripod, I don't really want to spend a lot, but are majority of tripods compatible with different types of cameras? Or is it where there's a Nikon-friendly tripod and a canon-friendly tripod? That may have sounded like a stupid question..

Thanks in advance!


(what thread would be complete without some pictures? These were taken with my mobile back in '08...)

 

[oldmacman]

One thing to keep in mind is the way a camera meters. When it reads all that white, it will want to make the white 18% grey. You can either purposefully over expose what the camera indicates or use a light meter to read the ambient light. For example, apart from the fact the the sky is a little blown in shot two, the snow does not read as being white.

 

[mikedadude]

Buuump.

 

[KmH]

No need to bump, oldmacman covered the critical things you need to know about shooting winter scenes.