Wednesday, December 16, 2020

WINTER PHOTOGRAPHY 


Winter photography can be fun, tricky, and, yes, cold. It's fun because I love the outdoors and love to exercise. It's tricky because bright reflective snow can cause the built-in light meter to mistakenly give me exposures I don't want--it is not engineered to give me white snow.

Aside from the technical or artistic aspects, the first thing I take care of is my comfort. If I'm cold, get my socks wet, freeze my fingers, or don't have my head covered, it will be extremely difficult to focus on my photography. During my winter workshops, I have had students either walk back to their cars and wait for us or take very few photos because they were either tired or uncomfortable in the cold.

So, my overall advice is to dress appropriately, make sure you are in average-to-good shape, and know how to handle difficult camera challenges. The most difficult camera challenge is that, whether you have a $400 or $4000 camera, the built-in light meter is designed to give us "gray" snow. Not good. My rule of thumb is this: If the scene in your viewfinder has roughly 70% to 80% snow, take those shots at a +1 to a +2 overexposure. You might need to take some test shots to get what looks right to you. 

So, with that introduction, lete me share some examples from my winter walks and hikes.


Sprague Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park is one of my favorite lakes in the park. For one, it has a great backdrop, including the middle peak, Hallett Peak, at 12,713 feet.

There was a fairly equal distribution of bright, dark, and mid-tone areas in the scene, so not much need to go a +1 or +2. This was shot at -1/3 stop.




This beautiful old barn also had a great backdrop, in the middle of Steamboat Springs, Colorado. I don't have the metadata on this one, but I estimate a +1 overexposure.




No exposure compensation needed for this scene. There was an even distribution of midtone and light areas. This is beautiful Lake Isabelle in the Indian Peaks Wilderness of Colorado.




I closed in on these large aluminum flower decorations in Santa Fe, New Mexico to get more of an abstract, as opposed to the whole flower. I overexposed the scene to a  +2/3. 




This is also in Santa Fe--San Miguel Mission. I went with a +1 stop overexposure on this one. The building to left of the church is considered to be the oldest house in the U.S. 




Balanced Rock in Arches National Park in Utah is a great subject anytime of year. However, it takes on a different look in winter. I took a more artistic composition that day, rather than simply photograph Balanced Rock. This composition gives a sense of its context within the park. I went with a +2/3 on this one.




In Taos, New Mexico I found this composition. I included this one because, unlike the others, for which I overexposed the shot, on this one I underexposed the scene by a -1 1/3. Why? Just because it's winter doesn't automatically mean we will need to overexpose all scenes. It's a matter of the percentage of dark areas, medium-lit areas, and brightly lit areas in the scene.

In this scene, there is a big chunk of building, in the shade. When the built-in light meter sees this, it thinks it needs to overexpose the scene. One more time: it thinks it needs to overexpose the scene--that's what it's designed to do! And it applies whether you're shooting Aperture Priority or Manual. So, technically, I didn't underexpose the scene per se, but I underexposed from the point that the meter took me. It thought all that medium lit area needed to be overexposed. Does that make sense?




I left this one for last to show that shooting in winter is not just a matter of thinking with the left brain, i.e., it's not about only thinking of the technical know-how side of the brain. Sometimes it's fun to apply some right brain, or the creative aesthetics side of photography. The best photography, as I mention in my book, Right Brain Photography, is found where technical know-how and creative aesthetics meet. 

For this shot, a 25-second image, I chose December to photograph southern Utah's Mesa Arch at twilight, after the sun went down. I wanted the La Sal Mountains in the background snow-capped. Once I got my composition, I "painted" the underside of the arch with a large off-road emergency light. 




I hope I've given you enough to spark your interest, and motivation to bundle up and just go out there on a cold and not so cozy day and see what you can come back with.....

Have fun out there. And remember, never, never, put your brain on Auto Pilot--you will be disappointed when you see your images on your screen.

Let me know if you'd like a 1-on-1 one ZOOM lesson. They're only $35/hr. 







  

 

    






 




   


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