Winter brings out the toughest elements in our climate, with many people putting away their camera bags ’till early spring. But, should you do put away your camera you’re missing out on the raw beauty that this magical season brings.
Here are a few ideas to make the trip more enjoyable.
1. Wear the right clothes: It’s extremely essential to wrap up warm when out shooting winter images. The winter season brings the toughest elements, so if you’re planning to invest a couple of days out and about usually be well prepared.
2. Watch the weather: It’s extremely crucial to know what the weather is going to be like. You do not want to travel for a couple of hours and then hear a weather report that tells you that: the weather is wet for the next few days. During the winter months the weather can dramatically change in a matter of hours.
It’s always advisable to let a person know where you’re going and which route you’re planning to take. Should you do get injured or ever caught in a storm someone might have the ability to aid.
3. Carry only what you need: Carry only the essentials. You do not need to upload your camera bag with each piece of equipment you own. If you are going to be out taking pictures all day you are much much better off going as light as achievable. Carrying a light load will also help preserve energy. You might be climbing icy rocks or crossing snow filled hills; a warm flask would serve you a great deal much better than a third camera.
4. Look for detail: Snow, ice and frost bring out texture and atmosphere in most subjects. The early frosty morning is an ideal time for close-up photography. The frosty morning also brings out patterns in our landscapes.
Take care where you place your camera: if you are taking pictures early in the morning try placing it at oblique angles to the sun – this will give your images strong shadows. This will also add mood to your landscape images. Once you’ve discovered the ideal spot pay extra attention to foreground interest as this will add depth to your image.
5. Expose carefully: Snow and ice are extremely difficult to expose correctly. Snow usually confuses your cameras metering system or your hand held light meter. When you take a light reading from snow you will automatically get an underexposed image. The meter will record the snow as grey.
Now is the time to start bracketing your shots. If you bracket your shots add 1 – 2 stops of light to compensate for your light meter reading. Using an 18% grey card, which I described in a previous article, should also give you a perfect light reading.