Winter Photography Tips

Ohhh Baby it is cold outside, and snowy, and you might think miserable.  Ah, but you would be wrong.  Winter is a great time to be outside, especially if you like outdoor photography.  Because we have had a wonderful winter thus far, and looks like more is yet to come, here are some things to consider when trekking outside to do winter photography.  First and foremost, you can't do good work if you are miserable and cold and wet.  Dress appropriately and wear layers of clothing.  Good gloves (I like mine to have GORE-TEX fabric to add some waterproofing and like mine lined for extra warmth.  Good waterproof boots are a must.  Don't forget the hat either, especially one that covers your ears.  The next thing to consider is you equipment, especially your batteries.  Cold batteries are like dead batteries.  Charge the batteries prior to going out and have at least one back up battery than can be switched out during the photo shoot.  Keep the other battery close to your body inside the layers of clothing to keep it warm.  Now, about those snow photographs?  One of the biggest issues I see with winter photography is that when snow is included in the scene it is either gray or blue.

Notice in the photo of the deer the snow is white, not gray or blue yet the white-tailed doe is the proper exposure. This does not happen by chance and the reason snow is gray or white has to do with proper exposure and white balance, both easily correctable with today's digital cameras.  Because your camera's light meter wants to make everything 18% gray it means when something is white you need to make an exposure compensation.  Adjust your exposure settings to anywhere from +2/3 to +2 and look at the histogram on the back of the camera in the LCD to see what settings work best for that particular situation.  Then you can make any minor adjustments in your post processing software.  Look at the histogram to make sure the whites aren't blown out because you will not see any details in the white snow.  Now take your white balance off auto and dial in light temperature values (looking at the LCD) to make sure the images appear white (if shooting in the shade the cloudy setting might work pretty well to get rid of the blue).  Then you can make minor adjustments with your post processing software. These are just a few tips and pointers on photographing in the winter.  Now go outside and have some fun.