As I look out my window this morning, the first big winter storm of the new year is packing a big punch. Many people have the day off but, for others, no such luck. With schools closed, it’s time to get outdoors and have fun in the snow, sliding on a favorite hill or heading to the Snow Bowl for a rare day of powder skiing. Getting outdoors to take a few pictures can produce some fun photos and there are a few tricks you can try to make sure you get nice, white snow.
If you are using an all automatic camera or an SLR on auto mode, then your results will be at the mercy of the camera setting. Often times the snow in a selected scene tends to be in the grayish blue part of the light spectrum and a bit too dark. Why is this you ask? The light meter in your camera tends to do a bit of averaging in order to compensate for all the light falling on your cameras digital sensor and this averaging produces a scene that may not look the way you hoped. So, how do you remedy the problem?
The easiest way is to change the camera mode from automatic to manual. This often scares some people because taking pictures in manual mode may seem too difficult. It really isn’t difficult and can make your results that much better. Once on manual mode, select your scene and then adjust your light meter for a proper exposure. Remember, your light meter is still doing an average of all the light in the frame and you must then make an adjustment before you snap the picture.
That adjustment is very easy. Your camera has f stops that control the aperture or amount of light falling on the sensor. To make sure the snow in your photo is nice and white, open up the aperture by one or two f stops. This will allow more light to fall on the sensor and produce beautiful results. This adjustment will work best on days after a snow storm and the skies have cleared. The fresh snow, bright blue sky and brilliant sunshine will be waiting for you to take that perfect winter picture. Have fun!