Don't Shelve Your Camera Just Because It's Cold Outside.

Cattails in a small pond take on an entirely different aesthetic when photographed in the middle of winter.

Once the holidays are past, winter tends to be a time when many people leave their cameras on the shelf or in the closet. The cold, snowy weather tends to discourage some people from venturing out to take photos. Sometimes this is because they have tried taking photos in snowy conditions and the results have been unsatisfactory. Winter conditions can be challenging to those who don't have some basic understanding of how to shoot in either cloudy, dreary weather or with lots of snow around.

There are two primary things to remember when shooting in snowy conditions. First is that you will almost always have to increase exposure by 1 to 2 stops (EV) in order to have snow that actually looks like snow. This is because even the most sophisticated camera metering system is designed to expose a scene relative to 18% grey. Years ago, camera makers decided that the majority of scenes average out to 18% grey, and so programmed reflected light meters to expose for that tonality.

The problem is, snow is white, not grey. But the meter in your camera doesn't know whether you are photographing snow or a nice, warm meadow on a summer afternoon. I see lots of winter photos what are dreary and grey because the person didn't know about increasing the EV to “overexpose” the scene (according to the meter) in order to make sure snow turns out white. Adjusting the exposure to +1 to +2 EV is pretty easy with most cameras, with either a dial or a menu setting being easily accessed to do so. Experiment a bit to find the results you like.

The other area of concern is white balance. Most cameras do a pretty good job of adjusting white balance automatically, but snowy conditions are problematic because snow reflects so much more light than other surfaces (including “blue” wavelengths). What happens is that reflected light fills in shadows more than usual, and the blue portion of the light, normally absorbed by things like grass or other less reflective surfaces, causes things in the shadows to take on a blue color cast.

One way of dealing with this is to set white balance to shade or cloudy rather than daylight. This tends to warm things up just a bit. Sometimes, a camera's automatic white balance is good enough this isn't necessary. Whatever the case, again you should experiment with settings to find what works best and gets the results you want with your camera. Keep in mind, you can always make minor adjustments with most editors in post processing.

Now that the main technical issues are out of the way, what if all that coldness just keeps you from being inspired enough to take your camera out? That's a reasonable point of view, as not everyone appreciates the photographic potential of a “winter wonderland”. The potential for some unique and interesting photos is certainly there, but as with anything photographic, it takes determination on the part of the photographer to pull it all together.

Of course, simply recording the weather for the sake of remembrance is enough for some, but I want to encourage even “keepsake shooters” to stretch yourselves and find ways of making photos that show you've stretched your creative boundaries and made photos, rather than simply recording what is in front of you.

The photo above is an example. We were out in some nice, icy weather (temps in the low 20s and falling as the sun went down). I'd looked at a lot of possible photos through my viewfinder, and nothing really stood out as worth taking. Then I stopped looking for “obvious” photos and thought on a more basic level. Once I did that, I saw the wonderful abstract patterns in the ice and snow covering the lake we were by. (In this particular case, the blue cast issue snow presents actually worked in favor of good images.)

In fact, winter is an especially good time for abstract photos because of the high level of contrast so often found as well as the fact that snow blankets surfaces and removes details. Even the fact that most trees are leafless contributes to excellent abstract potential. This same chair on a deck is a pretty boring subject during the summer months, but with a covering of new-fallen snow it takes on a different aura.

Then there is something simple and challenging like capturing a drop of water falling from a melting ice cycle. Getting the timimg right along with decent lighting makes the photo doubly attractive.

Don't let cold, snowy conditions discourage you from getting out with your camera and making images that satisfy your creative urges and you enjoy sharing.