Snow

In my Ugly/Pretty post, I discussed how pictures of snow do not have to be beautiful. However, I did not offer any pointers about technique or technical settings.

Both are very important in this scenario, because shooting in the snow is tough for many reasons:

1) It's cold, so batteries deplete more quickly

2) Reflections on the snow can yield pictures that are too bright

3) White balance issues can cause your pictures to look blue (difficult to correct unless shooting in RAW)

4) If it's too sunny, your subject will look too dark

Corresponding Remedies:

1) Make sure your batteries are fully charged, carry an extra pack, and dress warmly. Protect your camera, too - especially if snow is falling. A simple way to do so is to use a plastic bag.

2) If your camera allows you to, play with the exposure compensation. Point-and-shoots have this feature as well. By "play", I mean go to this setting and decrease it in .5 increments. Start at -.5, and keep going until you have what you like. It's easier to correct underexposure than overexposure, so don't stress too much about this.

3) It's best to adjust the white balance manually, but I don't - everything else is enough work as it is. Depending on the amount of sunlight, try several of the white balance settings that are already programmed.

4) Two tips: Don't shoot into direct sunlight (unless you want to create this effect), and use your fill flash.

What about subjects? Here are some suggestions:

Convert to black and white (post-processing) for a dramatic effect:



In the second picture, it was actually snowing - that's why there were streaks.

Shoot at night, instead of the day:



Shoot ice instead of snow:



Or a few others:

Footprints in the snow, wildlife, children playing (preferably wearing bright-colored clothes for contrast), and anything that adds more dimension than just a white picture. Here's what I mean:



I admit I took this, but it's not my favorite.

I hope these tips are helpful! Please "like" my facebook page (Beauty Through Photography), and feel free to post here or there with questions. Till tomorrow!