Sunday, February 13, 2011

Winter Photography

Winter is in full effect where I am at and I wanted to share some great tips for winter shots.

 MAKING THE SNOW WHITE.
The biggest mistake people make when photographing snowy scenes is having them turn out gray in the final photograph. It happens because camera meters average out exposer to middle tonality, turning white into gray. The easiest way to get the white of the snow perfect is to check your histogram after. The histogram represents the amount specific tonalities in a scene, with the left side showing dark tones and the right showing bright tones. So when you shoot you want to make sure the histogram is pushed to the right side. Best way to do this is to open your aperture  or slowing your shutter speed.

 USE POCKET HAND WARMERS
The one trouble I always had when i first started shooting in the cold was my hands would lose dexterity, and your batteries lose power faster. After I got a few hand warmers I would leave one in my pocket and leave one near my spare battery so it doesn't get drained as fast as the one I was using at the moment. Tip for hand warmers, keep and airflow to them, if they don't get air they don't work.

AND JUST FOR GENERAL SAFETY
 Please when you do go out into the cold, either on a walk or hike in the woods, bring supplies like hand warmers. Also dress for the weather don't act like the tough guy and wear a hoodie in 30 below weather. 

19 comments:

  1. Good ideas. The dexterity loss can be troublesome.

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  2. These are GREAT tips, looking into a new camera myself.

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  3. Thanks for the tips. I've never really been able to make the snow white except after the fact in photoshop.

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  4. Pocket hand warmers are an excellent idea! I'm really going to have to pick some of those up.

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  5. Winter is just the best time of the year! best pictures in my opinion come from winter

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  6. I like winter, but i live in florida. damn

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  7. Good ground rules, I've never been much of an artistic person even though I tried somewhat.

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  8. Winter is the most beautifull season there is.

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  9. I saw the handwarmers advertised on some gadget website a while back. Might consider purchasing after this. Thanks.

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  10. Ahh I see, now i understand, thanks friend!

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  11. Awesome tips. Have like 3 feet of snow so if I want to take pictures I'll take your advice to heart.

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  12. these are some great tips. I was actually wondering how to make the snow white without photoshop.

    thanks!

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  13. Nice picture, I dislike this cold weather.

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  14. always dress for the occasion. unfortunately i never get snow in my location so a can never get any wonderful shots.

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  15. Love the photo! I would totally be that guy getting hypothermia in his hoodie trying to be tough xD

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  16. That's a great idea with the hand warmers. I never considered getting them for that reason.

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