It's Snow Time.

Jerry Spette

Winter is here folks, but that is no excuse for putting your camera into hibernation. When some snow arrives and there is a lovely blanket covering the ground, there will be many gorgeous images to be discovered out in Westchester's winter wonderland. There are dozens of locations throughout our county offering wonderful opportunities to capture a myriad of winter images. Various county parks and wooded areas offer countless unique subjects to photograph. Streams, rock walls, lone trees on golf courses, wrought iron gates, pine trees and marsh areas with cattails all present artistic opportunities to entice creative visions. On sunny days, shadows on the snow tend to attract a photographer's imagination and will inspire the foundation for marvelous artistic creations.

I prefer to get outside early after a storm before the snow is swept off tree branches by wind or melted by the sun. I have found that photographing, even as the flakes are still falling, can present a unique perspective typifying winter scenes.

Exposures can be tricky on these snowy days. What we want is to see texture in the snow, but at the same time, keeping the snow white. That little meter gremlin in our cameras want all exposures to end up medium gray, so when shooting a scene where the snow fills most of the frame, we should remember to open up 1.5 to 2 stops of light above the meter’s reading to keep the snow white. Use the camera's EV compensation setting. In other words, overexpose the snow to render it white instead of gray. In addition, to get a more accurate reading from our camera's meter we can measure the light reflected off a gray card or similar object ie: pavement, rock, building, or something similar. We must further insure that the light we are metering is the same quality of light that is falling on the snowy area being photographed. During the late daylight hours when the light turns nice and warm, the snow takes on a magical look and can probably be metered accurately with little or no compensation. Of course, bracketing is the way to insure proper exposures. To capture some dynamic contrast remember to convert some of the images to black and white. This may be accomplished either in the camera or back at the computer via an image-editing program. Further, a beneficial add-on is a PL (polarizer) filter for those bright blue cloud filled winter skies. This filter will darken the blue sky while keeping the clouds a nice white. With overcast days, it will have no effect.

Camera batteries can quickly run out of power in the colder temperatures. Keep an extra battery in a pocket near your warm body. It is also a good idea to keep your camera and lens inside your coat to keep them warm until shooting time. Further, when coming in from the bitter cold, it is best to let the camera and lens(s) warm up slowly to prevent condensation from forming. Keep them in the cold camera bag and then let the car slowly warm them up.

Pristine snow, crisp fresh air and an artistic imagination all combine to make a winter’s day a pleasurable artistic experience. Dress warm, grab a camera and venture out to embrace what Mother Nature has provided for a pleasing photographic subject. Happy shooting.

Jerry Spette, a Pleasantville resident, is a Salon photographer and Membership Host with the Color Camera Club of Westchester. He is a gallery exhibitor with the Ossining Arts Council and the Croton Council on the Arts. Jerry's images can be viewed at http://photo.net/photos/BigJerry.

<< Back to Club Data