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11/17/2002 06:42:51 PM · #1 |
Hello folks.
I'm from Eastern Canada and we just got half a foot of snow today. Joy!
I'd like to hear your tips for taking photos during winter. I have only been getting serious about photography since I got my G2 in July, so I haven't taken a camera outside when it's bellow the freezing point. I noticed today that I had to increase the exposure by about one full EV to get a proper image; otherwise the snow was too grey. I also noticed that my lens fogged up when I came back inside. So let's hear it from you veterans. Give us your best winter tips.
Thanks in advance for any information. It might make my winters a bit more bearable.
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11/17/2002 07:00:16 PM · #2 |
Originally posted by Jacko:
Hello folks.
I'm from Eastern Canada and we just got half a foot of snow today. Joy!
I'd like to hear your tips for taking photos during winter. I have only been getting serious about photography since I got my G2 in July, so I haven't taken a camera outside when it's bellow the freezing point. I noticed today that I had to increase the exposure by about one full EV to get a proper image; otherwise the snow was too grey. I also noticed that my lens fogged up when I came back inside. So let's hear it from you veterans. Give us your best winter tips.
Thanks in advance for any information. It might make my winters a bit more bearable.
My tips would relate to the two issues you mentioned:
EV +1 or +2 to get white snow, rather than grey.
Keep your camera in a ziplock bag. Keep it in the bag until after it has warmed up a bit when
you bring it back inside. (about an hour or so.
Keep your camera inside your coat/ jacket when you are out shooting,
to keep it from getting too cold. The lens can freeze up if you're
not careful.
I took
these pictures in Canada last
winter, when it got down to about -30F. Camera worked great - no problems.
* This message has been edited by the author on 11/17/2002 7:01:06 PM. |
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11/17/2002 07:08:44 PM · #3 |
I just said a similar thing in the other identicle post. One of these posts should be removed.
T
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11/17/2002 07:13:06 PM · #4 |
Originally posted by timj351:
I just said a similar thing in the other identicle post. One of these posts should be removed.
T
OK Tim -- here's the text from the other thread. I'll try and hide it now. -- Paul
11/17/2002 at 7:07:05 PM
We do not get a lot of snow in Seattle so I do not have nearly as much experience with it as I wish. However, I would guess that most techniques of good photography are the same for photographing in the snow. Snow is often very good for close ups, macro work, and abstract type shots of ice crystals, water drops, tecture of the snow and the contrast of dark branches and other objects against the bright white snow.
One trick that I read about is to put your camera in a plastic bag like a large plastic ziplock bag that is cold also so when you bring it indoors the condensation will be on the bag instead of the camera. Then when the camera has warmed up to room temperature remove it from the bag. It is only what I have read but it makes sense to me.
T
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11/19/2002 05:23:40 AM · #5 |
Thanks for the great tips guys. I think that using a ziplock bag will work great.
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11/19/2002 11:04:21 AM · #6 |
You want to be careful than to just use arbitrary +1 EV or +2 EV, the reason is that it all depends on what is in the background. If there are enough of other colors other than white, most metering system can figure out the correct exposure even in snow conditions, so doing that will result in an overexposed photo, unless you're photographing a snow ridden tree covered completely with snow and in cloudy condition (i.e. everything is white). If you're photographing snowy grounds but with a river running through it, chances are, doing a +2 EV will result in overexposure.
The easiest way to check for exposure is to click on the SPOT meter mode, measure off a patch of snow, get that reading, compared with the evaluative metering. If there is a difference, use the SPOT metering reading and adjust for +2 EV in manual mode.
Originally posted by Gordon:
Originally posted by Jacko:
[i]Hello folks.
I'm from Eastern Canada and we just got half a foot of snow today. Joy!
I'd like to hear your tips for taking photos during winter. I have only been getting serious about photography since I got my G2 in July, so I haven't taken a camera outside when it's bellow the freezing point. I noticed today that I had to increase the exposure by about one full EV to get a proper image; otherwise the snow was too grey. I also noticed that my lens fogged up when I came back inside. So let's hear it from you veterans. Give us your best winter tips.
Thanks in advance for any information. It might make my winters a bit more bearable.
My tips would relate to the two issues you mentioned:
EV +1 or +2 to get white snow, rather than grey.
Keep your camera in a ziplock bag. Keep it in the bag until after it has warmed up a bit when
you bring it back inside. (about an hour or so.
Keep your camera inside your coat/ jacket when you are out shooting,
to keep it from getting too cold. The lens can freeze up if you're
not careful.
I took
these pictures in Canada last
winter, when it got down to about -30F. Camera worked great - no problems[/i]
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11/19/2002 11:54:16 AM · #7 |
One of the best features of digital film over analogue is development doesn't cost. As the G2 has auto bracketing take an image at 0 +1 and +2 in snow and pick the best one when you are snug and warm back at base.
Spirit |
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11/19/2002 12:48:36 PM · #8 |
Keep your batteries warm... battery life is significantly reduced in the cold...
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11/19/2002 12:52:37 PM · #9 |
Originally posted by jmsetzler:
Keep your batteries warm... battery life is significantly reduced in the cold...
Beat me to it. You can often cheat this a little bit by switching batteries out every now and then for a set you've kept warm (inside coat pocket or whatever). I've revived batteries that my camera thought were "dead" simply by putting them in a pocket for a while.
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11/19/2002 01:52:47 PM · #10 |
I have never tried this (this is the first winter I have a camera capable of doing this), but isn't it so that for snowy conditions you could use a grey card and exposure lock (AF lock on subject itself / MF) to get good metering?
The National Geographic Photography Field Guide suggests to do substitute metering by getting an exposure lock on an 18% gray card in the available light. For that metering and snow you should also decrease exposure by a half stop (-0.5).
Have not tried it myself yet and have the book for only a week now, but is seems to be a very good read and guide. The book's inner covers are both 18% grey cards btw. :-)
(ISBN 0-7922-7498-9)
* This message has been edited by the author on 11/19/2002 2:00:42 PM. |
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11/19/2002 02:05:36 PM · #11 |
Originally posted by Azrifel:
I have never tried this (this is the first winter I have a camera of doing this), but isn't it so that for snowy conditions you could use a grey card and exposure lock (AF lock on subject itself / MF) to get good metering?
The National Geographic Photography Field Guide suggests to do substitute metering by getting an exposure lock on an 18% gray card in the available light. For that metering and snow you should also decrease exposure by a half stop (-0.5).
Decrease or increase ? The one thing I'd worry about doing this method
is the amount of reflected light from snow - would your grey card be
in that light ?
The other useful feature of digital cameras and the G2 in particular is
that it provides a histogram straight after you've taken the shot.
A snowy scene should be pretty high -key (most of the highlights on the
right hand side of the histogram) but not blown out (picture will
flash for blown highlights, and the histogram will look clipped on
the right edge, as everything is over exposed.
Pag's comments are correct - if you aren't shooting a picture that doesn't have much snow in it, don't expose for snow. But I kinda assumed we were talking about snow scenes as a given.
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11/19/2002 02:07:15 PM · #12 |
Originally posted by Patella:
Originally posted by jmsetzler:
[i]Keep your batteries warm... battery life is significantly reduced in the cold...
Beat me to it. You can often cheat this a little bit by switching batteries out every now and then for a set you've kept warm (inside coat pocket or whatever). I've revived batteries that my camera thought were "dead" simply by putting them in a pocket for a while.
[/i]
Ah - you reminded me - that was the motivation behind keeping the camera
inside my jacket most of the time. I could remember doing it, I just
couldn't remember why! |
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11/19/2002 02:15:39 PM · #13 |
I would definitely suggest using a polarizer in the snow... You may even want to try a combination of a polarizer and a warming filter. I'm not sure if the warming filter would give the snow a muddy effect or not... if so, some manual white balancing in conjunction with that could help...
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11/20/2002 04:05:23 AM · #14 |
Originally posted by Gordon:
Originally posted by Azrifel:
The National Geographic Photography Field Guide suggests to do substitute metering by getting an exposure lock on an 18% gray card in the available light. For that metering and snow you should also decrease exposure by a half stop (-0.5).
Decrease or increase ? The one thing I'd worry about doing this method is the amount of reflected light from snow - would your grey card be in that light ?
Decrease the exposure when you shoot snow. But I'd suggest to use autobracketing and /or:
The other useful feature of digital cameras and the G2 in particular is that it provides a histogram straight after you've taken the shot.
Yup, great feature. The 602 has it too when you use the Preview mode and hit the Info button. Unfortunately it doesn't work with the preview of autobracketed shots. :-(
And when you use the grey card option. Use spot metering, you don't wan't any bits outside the card being used in the measuring.
Here are some links about using a grey card and how it works. The first is pretty basic, but it tells exactly what it does.
//www.photography.ca/phototips/meter.html
//home.nc.rr.com/tspadaro/The_Grey_Card.html
Winter Photography
And it might be wise to also set a custom white balance.
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11/20/2002 05:16:05 AM · #15 |
By the way;
I don't think that it is necessary to use exposure lock.
Just do a spot metering on the grey card, the camera determines (Auto, Program Auto, Shutter/Aperture priority) the correct settings (aperture and shutter). Remember those settings, take the grey card out of the scene, swich the camera to manual and enter the measured aperture and shutter. Compose and take the shot.
In Manual you could do it directly if your camera has an exposure assist thingy. The 602 has an exposure indicator where you have to get the dot in the middle for example. And spot is available in manual.
The negative aspect of the 602's exposure lock is that you have to hold the button until you press the shutterbutton halfway. An on/off would be much easier. |
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11/20/2002 06:48:15 AM · #16 |
| As jmsetzler said before you may want to play around with your white balance--on a sunny day you are going to get a lot of blue in the whites. |
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11/28/2002 11:00:24 PM · #17 |
| I just use manual mode... with bracketing just in case i am off. and a polarizer. cant wait for the snow on stevens, if it ever comes!! |
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11/28/2002 11:08:17 PM · #18 |
a few winter pics I took, +1 White balance
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