As I write this blog, the Beast from East meets Storm Emma and the result is a blizzard that reminds me of my time working in the ski resort of St Anton many moons ago! Only then I was working as a chef and not a photographer, which now seems a little gutting given the amount of beauty surrounding me on a daily basis!
So, how do you get well-exposed, eye-catching images of snow on your doorstep? It can be a bit tricky so here are a few tips to help you on your way.
Snowy scenes can take your breath away but finding little splashes of colour or contrast can just lift your image and make it more interesting. Coloured sleds, fun hats and colourful scarves and even colourful dog coats can add a bit of fun to an otherwise plain white image.
If there really isn’t much colour going on, you can try converting your images to black and white for more dramatic effect. Snow on branches, a wooded treeline, and spider webs, anything that stands out in the foreground of your photo will work nicely.
Whilst most of the adult UK population grumble about snow because the country comes to a grinding halt, it can be quite fun to take advantage of the situation and capture the glee on the faces of kids and animals playing in the snow. I don’t have a dog myself but for some fantastic snow images of animals, I’d highly recommend following Sally Mason Photography, her dogs and fox images are just a delight! She also does stunning snowy family shoots if you’re interested! Here is the link to her Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/sallyMphoto/
Beware of underexposed images or images, in other words, images that appear too dark. Because there is so much white in the photo, your camera thinks it’s looking at a brighter scene than it really is so it compensates by making the image darker, which can result in dull grey snow rather than the bright white you are looking at.
So in order to expose correctly, you may need to increase your exposure by one or two f-stops or if shooting in automatic mode, you can do this by using the exposure compensation button. With a smart phone, take the photo then go into your phone camera’s editing software and increase the exposure or research how to increase the exposure whilst taking the images for your particular smart phone.
