Simple tutorials for photographing snow

Photographing Snow: the simple way to nail exposure

Modern digital cameras are equipped with very accurate exposure meters, but they still have to be used properly 
to get well-exposed pictures.

Your camera’s meter works by measuring reflected light and then calculating what the best exposure should be. 
The problem when photographing snow is that the light reflected from a light subject is very different from that reflected from a dark subject, and this can cause the camera’s meter to get the exposure wrong.

53 essential photo ideas for winter

Just because it’s miserable outside doesn’t mean you can’t take great winter photos. With a bit of imagination and perhaps some warm clothes, there is no reason your photography has to hibernate for the winter.

Winter offers some wonderful picture-taking opportunities, both outdoors and in, and we hope this list of 53 photo ideas inspires you to crawl out from under your duvet. Whatever weather you’re photographing, snow, rain and frost make great subjects, and the constantly changing light can be both a challenge and a revelation.

Winter photography: professional tips for working with seasonal light and textures

Winter light. Just look at it. Makes it all worthwhile, doesn’t it? Winter photography may have you fumbling with frozen fingers as you work through your camera’s custom functions.

Photographing snow may leave you waiting around, stamping your feet as the sun slowly rises in between anxious glances at the battery charge indicator… But being there for The Moment makes winter photography certainly worth all its rigid demands.

The light, colours and textures make photos come alive at this time of year. In this tutorial we’ll show you how to make the most of the light and textures that are prevalent in winter, with inspirational images and photography tips from professional photographers who make their living standing in the cold.

Winter landscape photography: how to compose and expose any scene

Winter landscape photography offers a particular set of challenges that can spoil the efforts of even the most seasoned of photographers.

Even the best landscape photography tips often can’t prepare you for photographing snow and how to deal with extreme contrast and highly reflective surfaces. We’re hoping our latest photography cheat sheet can change all that.

Our winter landscape photography cheat sheet presents four handy flowcharts which take you step-by-step through how to compose for winter landscapes, and then how to fine tune your exposure for snow, extreme contrast and bright skies.

Take pictures of snow that sell: plan your snow photography from field to computer

Just because it’s bitterly cold outside there’s no need to hang up your DSLR until the spring. Admittedly it’s hard to be enthusiastic about heading out to photographing snow when the temperature dips below zero, especially when you know you’re going to be standing still for long periods of time.

But the visual delights of beautiful frost-covered landscapes and snow photography are sure to make your efforts worthwhile – in fact, you might find that you’re inspired to take your best shots yet.

Low light photography: tips for winter seascape pictures

With the nights drawing in, photographers can make the most of the low light conditions by getting out with your camera to capture glowing sunsets, inky blue moonlit skies and atmospheric stormy scenes. Below we’ve offered our best low-light photography tips for capturing beautiful winter seascapes.

Image by Mark Hamblin

Winter wildlife photography: tips for taking amazing pictures at home

Want to shoot winter wildlife photography but not leave the comfort of home? Find out how to stay warm – and well hidden – and hone your bird photography skills on the many birds that are active in your garden this time of year.

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1. Winter can be great for night photography: often the atmosphere is crisp and clear, resulting in clean night skies. Using moonlight helps fill what can otherwise be a deep, dark sky – but expose too long and your shot may look like daylight. At night you need as much light on your EOS sensor as possible; combine slow shutter speeds with wide apertures and high ISO settings.

2. The essential skill for sunset photography is to ‘read’ the sky – thin clouds above a clear horizon will usually produce great colour. The best time is around 30 minutes after sunset, so make sure you’re in position.

The Auto White Balance setting on your DSLR should give good results, but you can warm up the colours by setting the White Balance to Cloudy or setting it manually to around 6500k to 7000k.

If shooting in raw format you can adjust the colour temperature in Adobe Camera Raw (ACR) or using other Raw processing software. You can also intensify the colours using the Vibrancy and Saturation sliders found in ACR.

3. Knowing where the sun will appear in your scene can be very useful when planning a shoot. Tools such as Flight Logistics’ Photographer’s Sun Compass (£21, www.flight-logistics.com) show where the sun will set in a given location at any time of the year.

4. ND grad filters balance bright skies and darker landscapes in one shot. They come in degrees of density and transition – a soft edge for use with irregular horizons and a hard edge for straight lines. You can stack filters to get a stronger effect.

5. Capturing a sense of movement from water can really help to bring your landscape photos to life. Look for rivers, streams and waterfalls, and shoot after the sun has set, to benefit from the low light levels.

This will enable you to use a long exposure time to record movement in seas, rivers and waterfalls too – without fear of exposing your shots. Experiment to find the best exposure time to suit the speed of the water. Try 1/8 sec for fast flowing water and up to 30 seconds for slow moving water. If you require even longer exposures to get a particular effect you can use a straight ND filter.

6. It’s sometimes the case that there is only one ideal composition for a particular scene. However, it’s always worth experimenting to see what else could work. Try to incorporate interesting foreground elements, switch between horizontal and vertical formats – or even try creating a panorama by stitching several frames together.

You’ll often find that the panoramic format will work in situations where other formats fail due to lack of foreground interest or a boring sky. Careful setup is essential, and remember to overlap each image by at least 25% to enable the stitching software (such as Photomerge in Photoshop) to blend the sequence of images seamlessly.

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Set up your EOS camera to shoot handheld night photography

With winter well on its way, soon our landscape photography ideas will be shifting from autumn towards winter landscape photography.

Our new winter landscape photography cheat sheet presents four handy flowcharts which take you step-by-step through how to compose for winter landscapes, and then how to fine tune your exposure for snow, extreme contrast and bright skies.

To see the larger version of our winter landscape photography cheat sheet, click the infographic below to expand the file. Otherwise drag and drop it to your desktop.

READ MORE

53 essential photo ideas for winter
The 10 Commandments of Landscape Photography (and how to break them)
Outdoor portrait photography made easy: tips for pro-quality results
Creative landscape photography: master the dark art of shadows and shade

Just because it’s miserable outside doesn’t mean you can’t take great winter photos. With a bit of imagination and perhaps some warm clothes, there is no reason your photography has to hibernate for the winter.

Winter offers some wonderful picture-taking opportunities, both outdoors and in, and we hope this list of 53 photo ideas inspires you to crawl out from under your duvet. Snow, rain and frost make great subjects, and the constantly changing light can be both a challenge and a revelation.

Of course, the short winter days mean you might only have a few precious hours of light to work with, but there are just as many photo opportunities after dark, whether you’re out in the city streets or in the comfort of your own home.

With our collection of winter photo ideas, shooting tips and gear guides, you’ll soon be wishing that this cold spell will last forever… OK, maybe not!

BRAVE THE OUTDOORS: CELEBRATE WINTRY WEATHER!

Bad weather can often lead to great photography. We can’t always rely on picture-postcard snow, but storms, rain and fog can be just as good.

Tip 1: Fog, Mist and Frosty Mornings
Your best chance to catch mist and fog is early in the morning, before the sun as had time to burn it off. You could check the forecast the day before, but it’s difficult to predict the best conditions. Get into the habit of carrying a camera with you everywhere, if you can, and set off for work a few minutes early just in case you see the perfect scene on the way in. Use a telephoto lens to flatten perspective and reduce objects to simple shapes. To preserve the pale, misty tones, apply a little exposure compensation, starting at +0.7EV and adding more if necessary. If you don’t, the camera’s system will make the mist come out a muddy grey.

Tip 2: Sunrise and sunset
Whether you’re fetching the paper or taking the dog for a walk, take your camera. Sunsets can be disappointing, but winter dawns often bring the most spectacular red and pink tones, captured here in this picture by David Queenan. You have to shoot quickly, though, as the effect can disappear in minutes. If you have time to plan, look up sunrise and sunset times, and make sure you’re in a good location.

Tip 3: Protect your camera
Sea spray can leave gritty deposits on your lens, so consider fitting a UV filter. It won’t affect the pictures, but will protect the lens. Strong winds off the sea can carry sand into your camera’s crevices so put your camera in a plastic bag and fix the opening around the lens barrel with a rubber band. Always use a shoulder strap in case the camera slips out of your hands, and keep spare batteries in an inside pocket – extreme cold reduces their capacity.

Tip 4: Blue skies and snow
Sometimes, the contrast between colour and no-colour is really effective – the combination of blue skies and snow in this shot by David Queenan is a classic example. Look for simple compositions, and be careful with the exposure. You’ll need to apply positive EV compensation to make the snow come out white and not grey.

Tip 5: Stormy winter skies
This shot, by Sebastian Kraus, gets its power partly from the composition and partly from that dramatic, leaden sky. To capture this effect you’ll need to use a graduated filter and, maybe, do a little work in Photoshop. Remember to treat the sky as part of the composition, not just an empty space. The shapes of the clouds are compositional elements too, and the extent to which you darken (or ‘burn in’) the sky will affect the balance of the picture too. Dodging and burning is normally considered to be a black-and-white technique, but it’s every bit as effective in colour photography too.

Tip 6: ND filters
The movement in these waves has been captured with a shutter speed of 1/2sec. If the light is too bright, use an ND (neutral density) filter. To control the bright skies, Jon Sargisson used a graduated ND filter.

Quick tips for using filters

Tip 7: Square filters
Square, not circular, filter systems let you use the same holder and filters with  all your lenses. All you need are different adaptor rings.

Tip 8: Get a polariser
Polarising filters intensify blue skies and cut down glare and reflections from water.

Tip 9: Grads are great
Graduated filters tone down bright skies on overcast or stormy days.

Tip 10: NDs for blur
Neutral density filters let you use longer exposure times to create blurry effects.