How To: Photograph in the snow?

[JeffieLove]

So I am going to give examples of what I want to do because I don't think this is just a simple answer lol... I tried with the last snow "storm" we got where the flakes were nice and big and fluffy and the pictures ended up looking like they were covered in dust lol...

Soooo, here's some examples of what I want to do (we have a snow storm coming through tomorrow and I want to give this a shot!):

1. http://www.dreamstime.com/teenager-and-dog-thumb4602312.jpg I like how you can actually see the snow flakes. Now, granted, my kids are 3 & 5 and I'll be taking pictures of them (hopefully) playing in the snow and not just posing, I'm trying to find an example like that...

2. Here - kid playing in the snow and the picture doesn't look gray and dusty! lol http://wwwdelivery.superstock.com/WI/223/1557/PreviewComp/SuperStock_1557R-277472.jpg

So, that is what I'm shooting for, but I couldn't seem to make it work last time we had snow... So, if anyone has suggestions or other examples or anything and can give me some "guidance" on how to make this happen, I'd greatly appreciate it

 

[naaaach]

I think you'd have to try to go out during a time when it's snowing and somewhat sunny at the same time (might be hard) but other than that, use a fast shutter speed and flash (try not to use the on-camera, because that would just overexpose / ruin all the snowflakes that are right in front of you). And just make sure your snow turns out white, and not grey!

 

[Overread]

First remember that when the camera meters on snow (or any other highly reflective and bright surface) it has a strong chance of underexposing the shot - so you'll likely have to apply a bit of overexposure through either doing so manually in manual mode or exposure compensation.

Furthermore (and I'm only guessing) I'd say both of those shots you post look like they have had flash used. This would help brighten up falling flakes (if local lighting can't do it for you) and the foreground areas in general (you can see this strongly in the second shot where the background is very dark as compared to the foreground child).
Reflectors can also be used to a similar effect of boosting local lighting; but make sure your shutter speed is fast enough to freeze the motion

 

[Light Artisan]

You can do it with no flash if you can get your shutter speed fast enough (not a problem in day time hours usually unless the sky is really overcast).

Off camera flash would help, but it's not mandatory.

 

[MattxMosh]

jeffie, you know where to look.

 

[dhaval]

Bryan Peterson in his book Understanding Exposure says that for snow it's better to use a grey card to set your exposure. Else the camera tries to make it grey and underexposes a bit.

However, I've always found that my D300s does a pretty good job of getting the exposure right both on matrix metering and center-weighted metering.

 

[JeffieLove]

http://bristolwood.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/snow-on-demandsmall.jpg

This is what my photos came out looking like when I did it last time... This just isn't quite what I'm looking for though :/

 

[swedberg311]

Ive been trying to do the same the best I can get are these

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2



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4



5



best advice I can give is make sure there is a tree or something behind to show contrast

 

[usayit]

http://bristolwood.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/snow-on-demandsmall.jpg

This is what my photos came out looking like when I did it last time... This just isn't quite what I'm looking for though :/

Color Space: sRGB
Compressed Bits Per Pixel: 4
Contrast: Normal
Custom Rendered: Normal process
Date Time Digitized: 2008:11:24 04:19:01
Date Time Original: 2008:11:24 04:19:01
Digital Zoom Ratio: 0
Exif Version: 2.2.1
Exposure Bias Value: 0.33
Exposure Mode: Auto exposure
Exposure Program: Normal program
Exposure Time: 1 / 1000
Flash: Flash did not fire, auto mode
FlashPix Version: 1.0
FNumber: 4.5
Focal Length: 10.5
Focal Length In 35mm Film: 62
Gain Control: High gain up
ISO Speed Ratings: 1600
Light Source: unknown
Max Aperture Value: 3.44
Metering Mode: Pattern
Pixel X Dimension: 1280
Pixel Y Dimension: 960
Saturation: High saturation
Scene Capture Type: Standard
Sensing Method: One-chip color area sensor
Sharpness: Hard
White Balance: Auto white balance

- You are shooting at ISO 1600. That will account to the loss of image quality.
- The white snow dominates the frame. This tricks the camera's meter to thinking it needs to stop down thus resulting in an underexposure of subject and drab grey snowy background. You need to compensate for this by purposely opening up the exposure a few stops (depending on conditions) over what the camera meter tells you. People will give you several different ways to determine exposure in under these conditions.. there's no right or wrong way. Simply put you need to compensate for the camera's metering predominantly white background.

 

[JeffieLove]

That's not my photo, that's just what they look like.

 

[BetWinston]

Hello. I'm new to this forum and noticed that this thread isnt so old. I have a question on how to photograph not people in the snow but rather a cemetery. It's for a photo project from school, and since the majority of the landscape will be white, except for the trees, I'm going to need some help here. Please notice that i'm not using digital but rather traditional 35 mm film.

If i was on stop 1/125 would i change the stop or the aperture? If i was to change either would i go to a higher stop or lower, and wider lens or smaller lens frame? Also, would a gray card be helpful in this instance or would that just mess it all up. I asked my photo teacher and he told me take one photo of what you see with the meter, next bump up the stop, and then 2 stops up from the original, so i would have 3 photos of the same image.

Thank you!

 

[KmH]

Hello. I'm new to this forum and noticed that this thread isnt so old. I have a question on how to photograph not people in the snow but rather a cemetery. It's for a photo project from school, and since the majority of the landscape will be white, except for the trees, I'm going to need some help here. Please notice that i'm not using digital but rather traditional 35 mm film.

If i was on stop 1/125 would i change the stop or the aperture? If i was to change either would i go to a higher stop or lower, and wider lens or smaller lens frame? Also, would a gray card be helpful in this instance or would that just mess it all up. I asked my photo teacher and he told me take one photo of what you see with the meter, next bump up the stop, and then 2 stops up from the original, so i would have 3 photos of the same image.

Thank you!

Making a photo with a gray card in it is used to set a custom white balance post process in an image editing application. You would need to scan the negative and convert it to digital to make use of a gray card.

A stop can be either shutter speed or lens aperture.

A stop is a doubleing or a halving. If it is a stop of lens aperture the amount of light the lens is letting in is changed.
If it is a stop of shutter speed the length of time the shutter is open is changed.

The camera you are using likely has a built in light meter, the use of which the instructor probably has previously explained.

Your instructor was describing a technique called 'bracketing', whereby you under or over expose a short series of frames by a set amount, like +1 stop, +0 stops, and -1 stop as indicated by the in-camera light meter.