Waking up to the sight of early morning snow, shimmering trees and yards filled with snow angels. Capturing that perfect moment is all that you wish for. All of this sounds easy, Right? But for an amateur photographer this can sound laborious and challenging. You’ll have to remember a few things as winter photography is much different from shooting in the summer or fall. It can be downright tricky.
Another big challenge with winter photography is attitude. If you are thinking that it is cold outside and you would rather stay inside with hot chocolate and curl up in front of the fireplace, you photographs will reflect that. You need to get excited as you would with any other photo opportunity and enjoy tackling the winter full-hearted. Everyone will be able to see your enthusiasm in your photographs and they will turn out much better.
Winter photography requires imagination, technical skills and some good luck (we all know that winter scenery is not that diverse). The main difficulty with winter photography is exposure. One thing that we can do to account for the bright snow is to set our cameras to beach/snow mode if available. Otherwise, you will need to use manual settings (read my previous post to learn how to account for different settings). Using a flash can also help, as it will bring out the highlights and details that might not be captured without it. However avoid using a flash if you are shooting close shots as the possible reflection may greatly reduce the detail in your photo.
Remember it is winter time you need to protect yourself as well. Tell someone where you are going and when you are to return, you will be glad if anything happens. Also, keep warm winter weather can be extremely cold and frostbite is not worth that million dollar photo. Most of all have fun winter is a challenging time to take photographs and if keep at it, you will find yours photos most rewarding.
Tags: Winter