Winter/snow photography
Living in the part of Virginia that seldom, if ever, sees any significant snowfall, I have been asked by several of my regular photo walkers to give some of my tips for shooting in the snow. What follows are some tips for making better snow pictures and dealing with the effects of cold weather on your gear.
If your photo has more than 3/4 of the image taken up by snow, OVERexpose your image by 1 to 2 f/stops. Use the exposure compensation button if you are shooting in the auto or semi-automatic exposure modes or simply open the lens to let more light in if shooting manual. Even with the modern exposure algorithms, most snow shots made following the camera’s meter will result in gray snow. The compensation I suggest will at least get you in the ball park. Thankfully, digital photography has allowed us to see our images immediately after exposure…allowing any changes to be made on the spot. Keep in mind here that you only need to compensate if you have a lot of snow in your photos. If you’re shooting a tight portrait out in the snow, you probably don’t need to compensate for the snow (the meter isn’t seeing it).
Try not to change lenses if the snow is flurrying around you. For some reason, changing lenses when snow is in the air can attract stray flakes onto your camera’s imaging sensor. Shooting in the cold is difficult enough and the last thing you want is a stray flake coming to rest on your sensor! So, if you do have to change a lens, bend over the camera and use your body to shield it as you make the change.
Keep your batteries warm! Cold batteries are less efficient than warm ones and will not last as long as a set that has been warming in a pocket close to the body. Don’t shoot with cold batteries, they’ll drain faster. Warm them first before inserting in your camera. Carry an extra battery pack and keep it warm in a pocket.
Another exposure tip for those using point-and-shoot cameras: if your camera has an auto setting for beach or snow, use it! That setting will do the exposure compensation I mentioned earlier for you. By the way, sand will give your camera the same exposure challenges as snow…both are bright lighting conditions that need similar exposure adjustments.
When finished with your shooting (and this is more important the longer you’ve been outside in the cold), but your cold camera and lenses into a large plastic ziploc bag BEFORE coming in where it’s warm. This will prevent moisture from collecting on the outside of your camera and potentially shorting out the camera’s electronic innards. The plastic bag will get cold and cause condensation on the outside of the bag instead. When the bag is warm, you can remove your camera.
Speaking as one who has fallen in the snow, don’t take more gear than you really need. A camera body and a couple lenses are easier to protect if you slip on an icy patch.
Take plenty of memory cards with you to keep from running out of storage space when things get interesting.
Rely on your histogram view to guide your exposure (if your camera allows you to view it). Remember, your histogram will tend to have less info in the middle and more on the left side and right since your snow shots will contain a lot of highlights (the snow!) and shadows. Look at a histogram of a well-exposed snow scene and us it as a guide for other similar scenes.
So, keep warm and try my tips the next time you have a chance to go play in the snow!
