 Jody Grigg |
Winter Sports Photography Taking action winter sports photos such as ski racing is it still necessary to open 1 to 2 stops for the snow as you would do for a landscape shot? What speed film would you recommend?
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Jeff S. Kennedy |
If you know how to meter it is not always necessary to open up 2 stops when shooting in snow. If you spot meter and meter off of something that is a midtone then no compensation is required. That being said, a mid tone is not always simple to identify. White snow is. So to keep things simple, I find it's best to meter off of the snow and open up 2 stops. Whether you're shooting landscapes or sports makes no difference in the light. You would meter them the same. As far as film speed, it depends upon the conditions and how fast your lenses are. If it's a bright sunny day, ISO100-200 should be fine. If it's overcast, then you might want 400. Maybe you want to introduce a little blur so you might stick with a slower film.
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John A. Lind |
Jeff's suggestion is one method. In general, snow (especially in direct sun) makes the scene about one stop brighter because of its high reflectance. I set the shutter speed one stop faster or stop the lens down by a stop more than I would without the snow. The "Sunny f/16" rule becomes the "Sunny f/22" rule. This works for estimating exposures when working without any metering, a situation I've encountered in severe cold weather below the reliable operating temperature for the meter batteries (the camera bodies used are manual wind with mechanical shutters). How you set exposure depends on what you want for texture and subtle shadowing of snow (to show its shape). Overexposure can "blow out" the snow losing the glitter of the water crystals in the light, surface texture, and subtle shading that reveals the shape of drifts. Don't be afraid to experiment and bracket exposures until you gain some experience with what works for you. -- John
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