The Concept:
After a long hiatus, Brian Osborne from The Photo Classroom is back with a timely topic sharing a few tips for photographing snow scenes. In the video we share some camera settings that you might want to work with specifically for capturing great snow photos.
Below are some examples of how changing the exposure compensation and the white balance can affect the final result of your snow images.
The image on the left was done at 0 exposure compensation while the image on the right was brighter due to adding +.7 exposure comp. The amount will vary based on the scene, your metering system, etc. but the getting the correct exposure in the field is a common challenge in these situations.
While cameras may have varying results in Auto WB, the image on the left was shot in Direct Sunlight WB on my camera (to illustrate how a standard WB setting can be wrong) and you can see how blue it came out. The photo on the right is much warmer due to me not only trying Cloudy (or Overcast) WB but ultimately using Shade WB to get corrected warmth in the image
Conclusion:
While the exact amount of exposure compensation and white balance adjustment will vary on your particular situation, camera and lighting; working hard at getting well-exposed and accurately-colored images in the winter is important to produceing excellent photographs. Also, as was mentioned in the video, snow images in bright sunny conditions, may or may not need the same exposure and white balance adjustments. However remember that especially in the Charlotte area, any white stuff that does fall does not last long so being out when it is overcast and maybe even snowing is often the best opportunity. Here is hoping for snow in 2021!