Snow Photography Tips from 42nd Street Photo

One of the hardest situations to photograph can be snowy landscapes. The exposure and white balance settings can easily be fooled by the bright lighting conditions. The very bright snow acts as a second light source by reflecting sunlight shining on the ground.

Snow Photography Basics

A few cameras offer a snow or Winter setting, and this feature can be very helpful. It usually corrects the Auto white balance calculation of the camera and lowers the exposure value to avoid over-exposing the image. This mode will usually deliver more than acceptable results but its not always dependable.

Dress Warm

Dress comfortably warm and you will enjoy your winter photography experience. Proper clothing will help stay longer
when these unique photo opportunities occur.

Protect your Camera

Try keeping your camera as warm as possible as most malfunctions occur due to cold batteries. If you can, keep your camera inside your coat and always use alkaline batteries whenever it is possible. Take along as many extra batteries as you feel you might need based on the temperature. If it is snowing, protect your camera with a zip-lock bag. Cut an opening for the camera lens and viewfinder.

– When snow is falling, use a slow shutter speed to capture the movement of the snowflakes. This is more efficient if there is a light source in your image.

– When photographing wildlife in snow, the best way to reduce contrast is to use a fill flash.

– If you have access to a strobe lamp, use it with a slow shutter speed to capture the movement of the snowflakes in sequence and create very interesting effects.

– Look for the contrasting lines and objects that appear when the snow does not completely cover the landscape. Place yourself in multiple positions to find the most dynamic photograph.

– A trick for good composition is to include a single colored subject in an otherwise monochrome snow landscape. This can produce very effective results.

We hope this helps you get those beautiful photographs during snowy conditions.

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