How to take pictures of snow scenes? Reprint

When the entire land is covered with white snow, please pick up your camera and turn this rare scenery into eternity. However, in such a shooting environment, photography enthusiasts have to withstand more tests. They need to always pay attention to maintaining the flexibility of their fingers, and the cold climate may also affect the camera itself. If the temperature is too low, the battery used by the camera may be greatly affected. You must also try to protect the camera lens from being "bathed" by snowflakes and ice particles. It is also quite difficult to find the subject because the heavy snow will deeply cover everything. , it is difficult to highlight the detailed beauty of the scenery. In a snowy environment, the camera's exposure is very difficult to control. Shiny background colors often result in underexposed images. If you want to handle these problems well, the photographer must be able to use the camera skillfully and have enough patience and meticulous professionalism. Like a traditional 35mm camera or media camera, the exposure control of the camera is always based on the light reflected by the scene. However, it is not competent when shooting snow scenes. The snow scenes shot are no longer the white snow that everyone admires, but the whiteness that everyone admires. A kind of off-white color, which greatly affects the image effect. At this time, you have to adjust it slowly, such as opening the lens aperture (you can also adjust the shutter speed), and carefully adjust the settings. As the settings continue to improve, you will find that the snow scene you shot It will gradually return to its original color. But these operations are easier said than done, because it is difficult for photographers to accurately grasp the intensity of light, and the reflective intensity of the same snow scene on cloudy and sunny days is also very different. When shooting snow scenes, there are no universal exposure rules, and we cannot look at them from a static perspective. How can we master the best exposure control when shooting snow scenes? Generally speaking, there are two ways to ensure that we can achieve the best exposure when shooting. One is to use some objects as reference, such as a gray camera bag, jeans, tree trunks or rocks that are not covered in snow, because they can receive the same intensity of light as the scene. After selecting the reference object, you can manually set the lens aperture and shutter speed to achieve the best shooting effect. Remember not to use automatic exposure mode. If you don’t have a dark reference nearby, I suggest you consider this solution: buy a piece of fabric the same size as a Kodak gray card and sew it onto your camera bag so you can use it as a reference no matter where you are. It’s a great thing, economical and convenient. The second method is to use an included light meter to test the light intensity, because this light meter can determine the light intensity based on the light shining from the sky without taking into account the reflectivity of the scene to the light, so The snow scene will not affect it. The method is very simple, just point the hemispherical part of the light meter towards the camera lens, push the button, and the correct light intensity will be displayed on the display. However, be careful to ensure that the light falling on the light meter must be the same as the light falling on the scene, so be sure not to stand in the shadow when testing. Electronic and optical equipment to protect cameras Many cameras are now equipped with electronic and optical equipment. Although the camera functions have been greatly improved, the camera's battery may "shut down" at any time at low temperatures, affecting operation. When not taking images, it is best to cover the camera under your coat to keep the temperature of the camera from getting too low. In order to ensure the normal temperature of the battery, this strategy has to be taken. When it is necessary to use a tripod, since it is difficult to disassemble, some chemical heating equipment is usually placed at the bottom of the camera. In order to protect the camera lens from being damaged by wind, snow and ice particles, it is recommended that you use a lens shade. The camera filter can also be well protected. (2) The area of ??snow determines the exposure: Snow photography exposure mainly depends on the proportion of snow in the picture. The picture is full of snow. Using center-weighted average metering, the exposure compensation amount increases, and vice versa. The in-camera light meter determines exposure based on 18% standard gray. If the picture is full of bright snow, you must add 2EV exposure, otherwise the effect seen by the naked eye cannot be reproduced. If you increase the exposure by 2EV when there is a blue sky in the picture, it will be overexposed, so you should increase the exposure by lEV at this time. If the sky is very blue, there is no need to do exposure compensation. When the blue sky and white snow occupy half of the picture, you can increase the exposure by 1.5EV. The snow surface reflects the color of the sky, and exposure compensation controls the color: Although the snow is white, under different times, weather and light conditions, the snow surface will show different colors due to changes in light. In the morning and evening, the light is warm and the snow surface will be orange-red; on sunny and cloudy days, the light is cold and the snow surface will be blue-green. After sunrise, sometimes the snow surface will still be tinged with lavender. In order to express the color of the snow, the exposure must be appropriately compensated. To express the same snow color as seen with the naked eye, under warm light conditions in the morning and evening, the exposure compensation amount is based on adding 1EV. Generally, 0.5EV is sufficient. On sunny or cloudy days, under cyan-blue light conditions, 1EV can be added. . Expressing large-area reflections on the snow surface: The "expression" of the snow scene is ever-changing. When deciding the exposure, you should not just consider the snow surface alone, but also consider all surrounding factors. Under backlight conditions, in addition to the strips of strong reflected light mentioned above, there will also be a large area of ??silver light. If the camera measures the light in this area, the snow surface will be photographed gray and the exposure will need to be increased. When the picture is full of white snow and the silver light area is large, add 2EV exposure. If there is ice in the picture, since the ice surface is brighter than the snow surface, the camera will measure the light based on the brightness of the ice surface, so the compensation amount should be increased a little. It is best to take into account the texture of the ice surface and snow, so that the two aspect balance.

The snow surface illuminated by warm light in the morning and evening will flash golden light, especially when strong sunlight shines on the snow surface, the contrast is large, the snow surface appears harder and brighter, and the dark parts are slightly darker. In order to make the snow softer and the dark areas richer, the compensation amount can be controlled between 1.5-2EV. Baseline exposure compensation metering + experience = appropriate exposure: When shooting snow scenes, you can refer to the above-mentioned base exposure compensation amount, and generally you can get the appropriate exposure. However, the climate, snow amount, light and other conditions vary from place to place, and the specific occasion and surrounding environmental conditions The dryness varies greatly and may increase or decrease during actual shooting. Photographers must be good at accumulating data and experience in this area in order to be able to shoot snow scenes with ease. Center-weighted average metering: Best for snow photography: In multi-frame metering mode, the camera performs complex calculations on each area of ??the frame to calculate the exposure. Although there are some errors, it is relatively accurate. In other words, when using multi-frame metering, the exposure compensation range is very small and difficult to master, while center-weighted average metering uses the center of the frame as the weighted metering area. The exposure compensation range is relatively large, easy to master, and obviously more practical.