Photography and Snow!

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Overexposed

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Mark
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I'm not sure if this is the right section to post this in.
I'm looking for some help for basic technique for taking pictures in the snow. I originally bought my DSLR after relising the shortcomings of a compact for skiing. I get to see some stunning scenery but my photos nrver seem to reflect it , so its time to mug up on this before my next ski trip in Feb.
I'd like some pointers on technique please, I have a 500d and a 17-40l and may consider buying another lens - i bought the 500d because of its features and relatively compact size. the majority of pics will be landscape and people and maybe some action shots. Most of the shots will be hand held as a tripod is a bit of a no no with amount of kit i carry anyway plus the fact i'd have the p*ss taken out of me by the rest of the party
So does anyone fancy giving me some basic pointers and an aide memoire for some of the dos and donts, it would be nice to come back with some good shots
Thanks in advance Mark
 
I'm sure you can get ski poles with a built in screw to take a camera, monopod style. If not, why not try attaching your own? Then no extra gear!
 
Be carefull where you meter due to the stupidly light conditions in snow, im going to france on friday but im a snowboarder but i have a similar setup, i have my d200 and 28-70 in my pack wrapped up in a scarf.

I do have a 70-200 2.8 but i cant see that being used much as i prefer to be up close and personal for the action shots.

Im not an expert with canons so i dont know what series yours is from and if its weatherproofed, if it isnt do be carefull not to drop it etc. I carry a fair few microfibre cloths and the cleaning fluid with me as if the camera is being moved from a bag that warmer out into the open you can get problems with the lens misting up.

Technique wise i cant see anything different than a normal shoot, for the action shots i tend to find the spots *the edge of a rail for example* pre focus there and shoot or pan in with the skier/boarder constantly on the AF point i want them to be in and snap a few seconds before they hit the edge as id rather not miss the shot.
 
You quite often get flat pale sky in winter so consider a ND Grad filter to retain clouds / balance out the sky.

With so much being bright, the camera’s exposure meter will tend to give you the wrong reading, resulting in underexposed shot where white snow appears grey. Good practice to overexpose by one stop.

Most white balance settings struggle with snow. If it's overcast the 'cloudy' setting is OK but if it's sunny you tend to get a blue hue so best to set your own custom white balance from a nice clean patch of snow.

Shoot in RAW mode so you've still more options to mess about with your white balance afterwards if it's not right.

When it's way below zero you will find that your lens gets fogged up each time you get outside or take the camera out of the bag. It will clear after a few mins on it's own - I find if I wipe it off it then smears every time it fogs up.

Keep your batteries (worth getting spares) in an inner pocket.

Some folk use a polarizing filter too.

You can use fill flash to reduce contrast between the subject and the bright snowy backround.
 
by default the camera metering tries to render everything 18% grey
so if you want white snow you need to
a) increase exposure by a couple of stops
OR
b) meter off a grey card
 
mmcp42 said:
by default the camera metering tries to render everything 18% grey
so if you want white snow you need to
a) increase exposure by a couple of stops
OR
b) meter off a grey card
Click to expand...


:thumbs: Spot on

Your camera will try to pull the exposure "down" to grey so a couple of stops over will be required to counterbalance the inherent underexposure.
 
im in the same situation here, im new to my DSLR and im going snowboarding at the end of Jan. my old point+click camera worked fine when i went in feb this year, but thats part of the reason I bought my DSLR. I've just read the above replies, but im not sure what metering is, or what overexposing by "one stop" is??
 
Peter-T said:
im in the same situation here, im new to my DSLR and im going snowboarding at the end of Jan. my old point+click camera worked fine when i went in feb this year, but thats part of the reason I bought my DSLR. I've just read the above replies, but im not sure what metering is, or what overexposing by "one stop" is??
Click to expand...

Your camera should have an EV +/- button.

This is exposure compensation...

Basically, the camera exposes everything on an average of a reasonably light grey colour, unless it is told otherwise. Because white is lighter than grey, you need to tell the camera to over expose, therefore, making the grey lighter, sufficiently compensating till the camera records the white correctly as white.

Conversely, if you want to tell the camera to record something as darker than what it would take it as (a lightish grey), then you would dial in -EV (negative exposure compensation (under exposed)).

If you take a subject and point the camera towards it, the camera will assume the subject is the same tone as the 18% grey and record the exposure based on that reading..

Hope that helps and makes sense! :)
 
take spare batteries and keep them under your jacket, so that they are warm next to your body...cold kills the charge sometimes
and give your lens chance to cool otherwise it'll be condensation city!
the main thing is the metering as said above..good advice
 
You might like to try taking a shot of the snow and tell your camera to WB to this as Canon like to see white to set it and if you shoot in RAW you can still adjust it a bit after as well if needed. And do it if the light changes may need to each day or even different times of the day, its easy to do.
Spot on for exposure you need about 1.5 to 2stops over exposed.
Have a good time
 
Thanks guys this is just what i was after -
Are Polarising filters worth using?
if I use a Polarising filter will this effect the exposure compensation required?
preumably its best to make all the settings including white balance with the CPL in place
 
Overexposed said:
Thanks guys this is just what i was after -
Are Polarising filters worth using?
if I use a Polarising filter will this effect the exposure compensation required?
preumably its best to make all the settings including white balance with the CPL in place
Click to expand...

I think a polarising filter is a very good idea. It will darken blue skies and reduce reflections. Rotate it for best effect. Sky can go black when it's very clear blue! Make sure you get a high quality multi-coated filter or you'll get flare all over the place (Hoya HD or Pro-1).

Set white balance to bright sun.

The camera will take care of the exposure compensation for the filter, but may well get fooled if there is too much white around, and tend to render the snow grey. Dial in some + exposure compensation and check the LCD image, though it might be hard to see in very bright light - get a bit of practise in so you know what level of adjustment works best.

Learn the histogram and enable the highlight over-exposure warning. Shoot Raw and you'll have a bit more headroom to adjust errors in exposure and colour balance.
 
How do you fill flash with so much ambient light and 1/200 max shutter speed. Is it just a cased of making the aperature really small and nuking the person with a few flashes?
 
GeForce Junky said:
How do you fill flash with so much ambient light and 1/200 max shutter speed. Is it just a cased of making the aperature really small and nuking the person with a few flashes?
Click to expand...

You need a flash gun with high-speed sync capability, which works right up to max shutter speed. It works really well, but it uses a lot of power so range is reduced.
 
mmcp42 said:
by default the camera metering tries to render everything 18% grey
so if you want white snow you need to
a) increase exposure by a couple of stops
OR
b) meter off a grey card
Click to expand...

Or c if you have blue sky meter off of that. :thumbs:
 
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