Cool Tips for Snow Canvases!

by Jonathan Warner Print

With Australia heading into winter and expecting its first snowfall of the winter, many fair-weather photographers will be snuggling up in front of the fire keeping warm... but the more adventurous among you will want to get out and capture this winter wonderland on camera. This week we share our top tips for shooting great snow pictures. These snow pictures can be put on elegant canvases in a cheap and effective manner and be made the center pieces of attraction of your home!

1. Early to Rise and Early to Shoot!

Part of the magic of shooting in the snow is capturing those untouched shots before anyone has walked through it. Wrap up warm and head out as soon as the snow has finished falling, because you can guarantee that it won’t stay fresh for long!

Early mornings many times are the best times to be out and about shooting beautiful pictures!

2. Lighting is the key - Get your exposure right!

Winter and Snow means – lots of dark and white! Our camera generally do a pretty good job of exposing our images correctly for us - but, when it comes to scenes with lots of black or white it can struggle.

Every camera is designed to expose as close to medium grey as possible, which is fine for an evenly lit scene, but in a situation like a snowy day with lots of sunshine, your camera sees all that bright white and tries to balance it by underexposing the entire scene. The answer is to dial in between +1 and +2 stops of exposure compensation.

You should be able to do this with any reasonable spec camera from a compact through to a DSLR. Try it and see how white your snow becomes!

3. Shoot raw OR with a warmer white balance

Shooting raw rather than jpeg gives you the opportunity to recover a lot of detail from any blown highlights in post-production, should you overdo the exposure compensation. You’ll also have a chance to deal with any white balance issues that might occur because your camera will probably make your snow look a little blue. If your camera doesn’t have the ability to shoot raw don’t worry! Choosing a warmer white balance – either cloudy or flash – should get you in the right ballpark.

4. Do not forget spare batteries

Because batteries drain much quicker in cold conditions it’s a good idea to have a couple of spares with you. Instead of leaving them in your bag you can keep them warm by putting them in a pocket close to your skin.

5. Click without waiting to check

Click…click..click – follow the basic digital photography rule to avoid losing the important moment. Winter and snow can be tough time to do family portraits outside when everyone will want to quickly get into warmer insides OR to even hold camera with your fingers and nose freezing – so, do not wait for the perfect moment but keep clicking! You are bound to capture many beautiful moments.

Hope the above tips help you shoot some winter classics and we can help them put them on beautiful canvas prints!