Tips for Photography in Snowy Conditions
The “Praying Hands” in Glen Lyon
Imagine the scenario…you are just back in from an epic day out in the snow with your camera, excited to see the fruits of your labours and then you find when you bring the photos up on your computer that they aren’t looking as spectacular as you remember. Instead, they are all looking a bit grey and it all looks a bit drab or dark 🥴. Don’t despair, for all is not lost! Read on for some tips on how to help you to take great photographs in snowy conditions.
Caledonian Pines on Kenmore Hill
Solution 1 - Adjust the White Balance in your camera
Taking pictures of snowy landscapes using the default or automatic settings on your camera can often turn out grey because of what the camera does to the exposure if the White Balance settings aren’t quite right..
The camera gets confused in the bright snow because your camera thinks of the world as grey and adjusts the settings accordingly so when it sees a bright snowy image, it will automatically try and adjust the picture to make your image look grey.
Try setting your white balance to the cloudy setting or you can manually set your white balance to around 6,500 kelvin before shooting..
Solution 2 - Adjust the White Balance in Post
It’s always best to change the white balance at the time in camera before you take the shot but If you forget to do this when you take the photo, remember it is easily sorted afterwards on your computer with some simple tweaks in Lightroom or other similar post production software programmes. If you’re not familiar with Lightroom and want to explore how post production processing of your RAW files can give you a correctly exposed photo that looks just as it did to your eyes on location, then you can sign up for my Post Processing in Lightroom Course.
The Roman Bridge in Glen Lyon
Solution 3 - Shoot in Black and White
Maybe consider shooting in Black and White instead of colour to add drama and make key parts of the scene stand out. You can change the settings on your camera before you take the shot or instead can opt to shoot in colour and convert it to B&W in post; both work equally well. If you do decide to shoot in colour and convert in post, though, remember to compose and frame the scene with a “B&W eye” and identify the changes in tonal values across your composition as these are what will have the biggest effect when you later convert the photo.
Finally, even with your white balance setting adjusted, don’t forget your composition rules and always remember to ask yourself “What caught my eye just now? What made me stop and take a second look? How can I make that the focus of my frame?
Good luck in the snow and please feel free to share your photos on my FB page!