Recommendations for shooting in snow

[dracore]

Earlier today I tried to shoot in the snow. The sun was out -- not too much but enough to lightly brighten up the area. When I tried to take a photo of my subject (my dog), his white fur blended into the snow. It seems like the snow was overexposed. The picture came out much brighter than it really was.

Any suggestions on the best way to maintain the correct colour of my dog's fur and not have it blend in with the snow? (yes, he does have some white fur, but it's seriously not as white as snow!)

My picture was taken on a Canon 300D. ISO200 @ f/7.1, exposure compensation 0.
I've attached a sample cropped photo. It isn't so bad here but on some of my other photos, it is much worse.

Thanks


http://img296.imageshack.us/img296/2384/dogsnowfy5.jpg

[Kasakato]

Did you meter yourself? Whats the shutter speed?

[dracore]

Did you meter yourself? Whats the shutter speed?

Nope I did not meter at all. Wouldn't metering typically be used to overexpose snow to make it white? Shutter speed was 1/125

[Kasakato]

Nope I did not meter at all. Wouldn't metering typically be used to overexpose snow to make it white? Shutter speed was 1/125

Metering as in did you use matrix, center, spot? By your description it seems your camera exposed for the snow, and not the dog. However in your picture it looks decent. Keep in mind your camera wants to expose to 15-18% gray, set your EV off that. In snow you would normally put in +0.3-2 as snow is white. You what white snow, not 15-18% gray snow.

Do you have a worse off pic?

[dracore]

Metering as in did you use matrix, center, spot? By your description it seems your camera exposed for the snow, and not the dog. However in your picture it looks decent. Keep in mind your camera wants to expose to 15-18% gray, set your EV off that. In snow you would normally put in +0.3-2 as snow is white. You what white snow, not 15-18% gray snow.

Do you have a worse off pic?

Ah. Matrix was probably used then since I did not lock my exposure on the snow. Could be that it didn't determine my shutter speed correctly?

Here is another sample picture. This was actually a test picture but as you can see everything is so overexposed except for the trees which look alright (probbaly brighter than they should be?)

http://img383.imageshack.us/img383/2055/dogsnow2gh1.jpg

[magical]

I think you guys might want to invest in a Neutral Density Filter for snow Shots, as they will limit the light you get to your lens cutting down on this glare, I'm no pro but I'm sure this would help.

[Kasakato]

The snow in the frame takes up a good percentage, with matrix active it blew it out. I would probably either set the exposure mode to manual, and set spot metering. Meter off your dog with an f/8 aperture for sharp shots, and adjust your shutter accordingly. Using a fill flash may also be a good idea.

[Sgt_Strider]

Ah. Matrix was probably used then since I did not lock my exposure on the snow. Could be that it didn't determine my shutter speed correctly?

Here is another sample picture. This was actually a test picture but as you can see everything is so overexposed except for the trees which look alright (probbaly brighter than they should be?)



Uh, Canon cameras don't have matrix metering as a feature. That's a Nikon thing.

[Kasakato]

Uh, Canon cameras don't have matrix metering as a feature. That's a Nikon thing.

Totally missed the Canon 300D part. :lol: Guess I shouldn't post at 4am. I think Canon calls it evaluative metering?

[dracore]

Thanks everyone.

I set my camera to manual which uses the center-weighted average. When I meter the snow the exposure level goes to the far right of +2. How does one determine what shutter speed to use in this situation? Do I increase shutter speed until exposure level drops to 0? Or should I meter my dog instead?

[THINKPADT61]

Try shooting with CPL or ND filter! Or use smaller aperture...

Metering is probably the issue, so try adjusting EV accordingly! You do have a dslr that show you histogram after every shoot!

[Kasakato]

Thanks everyone.

I set my camera to manual which uses the center-weighted average. When I meter the snow the exposure level goes to the far right of +2. How does one determine what shutter speed to use in this situation? Do I increase shutter speed until exposure level drops to 0? Or should I meter my dog instead?
Excellent, your right where you want to be. You now have to decide on aperture and shutter speed. In general, I use the following rules:
Aperture- adjust when DOF or sharpness is important. In the case of your dog, unless you want a low DOF, use something around f/8 if possible. This will yeild the sharpest possible result with your lens.
Shutter speed- adjust when motion is a factor. I assume your dog will be moving, so keep it above 1/80. Since you will likely be using an aperture of f/8, raise it as necessary to bring the needle back to 0.
If the shot ends up too bight (histogram mostly to the left, and spiking off the chart on the left), dial in a negative EV (say -0.7), readjust your shutter speed to set 0 again, and re shoot. If its underexposed, set a positive EV. Continue until your happy with the shot.

[dracore]

Excellent, your right where you want to be. You now have to decide on aperture and shutter speed. In general, I use the following rules:
Aperture- adjust when DOF or sharpness is important. In the case of your dog, unless you want a low DOF, use something around f/8 if possible. This will yeild the sharpest possible result with your lens.
Shutter speed- adjust when motion is a factor. I assume your dog will be moving, so keep it above 1/80. Since you will likely be using an aperture of f/8, raise it as necessary to bring the needle back to 0.
If the shot ends up too bight (histogram mostly to the left, and spiking off the chart on the left), dial in a negative EV (say -0.7), readjust your shutter speed to set 0 again, and re shoot. If its underexposed, set a positive EV. Continue until your happy with the shot.

Thanks Kasakato! I'll need to play around with this some more but at least I am starting to understand how the manual mode works.

[boneca]

I can't offer much in terms of the topic..just wanted to say really nice dog!! :-)

[dracore]

I can't offer much in terms of the topic..just wanted to say really nice dog!! :-)

Thanks :-)

All of my shots were taken with aperture priority. Not using the stock lens so I can get away with opening up the aperture larger than f/7.

Most of my shots came out a tad overexposed. A few, luckily managed to turn out better like the one below. There are still some areas of the snow that are overexposed. This is what my dog should have looked like -- his fur is an off-white. I guess it's similar to trying to take pictures of a polar bear on ice!


http://img118.imageshack.us/img118/7472/dogsnow3ch2.jpg

[OliverSacks]

If your shots are overexposed, then dial down the exposure compensation.

Do not use an ND filter because your camera's metering system will automatically adjust for it...

[Sgt_Strider]

Thanks :-)

All of my shots were taken with aperture priority. Not using the stock lens so I can get away with opening up the aperture larger than f/7.

Most of my shots came out a tad overexposed. A few, luckily managed to turn out better like the one below. There are still some areas of the snow that are overexposed. This is what my dog should have looked like -- his fur is an off-white. I guess it's similar to trying to take pictures of a polar bear on ice!




Dude, that picture is really bright. I wouldn't say it's a tad overexposed. I think you need to dial down the exposure compensation.

[mark11]

Earlier today I tried to shoot in the snow. The sun was out -- not too much but enough to lightly brighten up the area. When I tried to take a photo of my subject (my dog), his white fur blended into the snow. It seems like the snow was overexposed. The picture came out much brighter than it really was.

Any suggestions on the best way to maintain the correct colour of my dog's fur and not have it blend in with the snow? (yes, he does have some white fur, but it's seriously not as white as snow!)

My picture was taken on a Canon 300D. ISO200 @ f/7.1, exposure compensation 0.
I've attached a sample cropped photo. It isn't so bad here but on some of my other photos, it is much worse.

Thanks


http://img296.imageshack.us/img296/2384/dogsnowfy5.jpgnot sure what shutter speed you used but needs to be slower ..lower the iso t0 at least 100, 50 if your camera is equipped and polarizing filters would help

[jackwest]

Your picture is clearly overexposed. The snow and your dog are blown out. Just dial down the exposure on your camera to improve this.

Another problem is the lighting and the time of day...the snow is acting like a mirror and produces the same effect as shooting into the sun. I would avoid shooting at snow that is that bright.

Try going into lightroom and playing around with exposure, recovery,

[ah_long]

here's one

http://www.me.com/ro/longlong/Galleries/100009/IMG_1603/web.jpg?ver=12311715800001

[hdom]

Try metering to the sky first, check the readings and use them when you point the camera back down for shoot. Learned this trick from Bryan Peterson's Understanding Exposure (http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Exposure-Photographs-Digital-Updated/dp/0817463003/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1231803773&sr=1-1), a great book btw.

[CameraBill]

If you're shooting jpg, dial down the contrast all the way. If you don't mind the processing, I'ld shoot in raw and push the contrast up back in post. Getting those highlights back in is a very delicate process and I wouldn't trust consumer grade metering to get it right.