Photography tips
Cold snaps
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Whether you’re skiing on the slopes or sledging
with the kids, there are a few basic rules which will help you get great
pictures in the snow. Tom Cavalieri gives us some great tips before we set
off for the slopes...
It may seem obvious, but the first thing you should consider before heading
off into the snow is the temperature. You may have wrapped up warm, but
what about your camera? Batteries don’t react well to the cold as
it reduces their output, so keep them warm by carrying the camera under
your coat to share your body heat. And carry extra sets of batteries in
a warm place too!
Communication is key
When
it comes to shooting action on the slopes, the golden rule is in the timing.
The starting point is to know where to position yourself so that you’ll
be in the right location when your skier or snowboarder flies by.
Before you set up for the shot, agree on exactly where you will set up,
where they will pass you, and – most important – agree on a
signal from you to indicate when the skier should start.
Make sure they know how long it will take you to set up: you have to get
to the agreed location, set your poles or detach your board, take off your
gloves, get out the camera, get it ready, and set yourself and the camera
for the shot. Only then are you ready!
Tell the skier not to budge until you give the signal – for example,
wave your arms over your head.
Snow scene
Many compact digital cameras feature a specific Beach and Snow scene setting.
When selected, this automatically controls the exposure for this specific
type of setting.
Bright light
Good
exposure is the real key to good skiing pictures. On the slopes, you’ll
typically be shooting where the snow and the sky are very bright. Your built-in
meter interprets brightness to mean that you don’t need much exposure.
The result is that most pictures taken on the slopes are underexposed.
The snow looks great, and so does the sky, but the skier is all-too-often
a dark silhouette.
Make sure that if your subject is the skier, you set your exposure for
them, not for the snow. To get the right exposure, take a close-up reading
of the skier’s face before they set off, and set your exposure accordingly.
Use that exposure setting when you later take the shot.
If you can’t take a close-up reading, take a ‘substitute reading
on your own skin. If your skin tone is approximately the same as the skier’s,
the setting you get should be close enough. Remember that you must make
certain the area you read is in the same lighting and same angle relative
to the light as your subject.
You could also take an incident reading with a light meter. The incident
reading will read the light, not the subject matter. It should place the
brightness of the snow, the sky and the skier exactly where you want them.
If you are trying to freeze a skier coming towards you, try using fill-in
flash. The light of the flash compensates for the brightness of the snow
and sky behind the skier. On the other hand, realise the limitation of your
flash unit. It probably has a range of 10 to 15 feet. Don’t expect
it to light up the mountain.
Getting rid of glare
Unfortunately, the bright sun and pure white snow also causes glare and
can make it difficult to frame your shot in the camera’s LCD display.
If you can’t use an optical viewfinder or attach a hood to shade
the screen, you need to call on every photographer’s best friend –
duct tape. You can make an improvised hood from the tape, just large enough
to shade the display and allow you to see what you are shooting!
The need for speed
Panning is a great method of getting a great action shot.
Set up so the skier will move past you on the perpendicular. If you freeze
the action by using a very fast shutter speed (1/1000 sec), you may end
up with a picture in which nothing appears to move. The skier would be frozen
motionless. The trees would be frozen motionless too and the entire picture
would look static.
Create the illusion of motion and speed by panning with the skier. The
reason for doing this is to capture the image of the skier in sharp focus
against a blurred background.
The key to good panning is twofold: first, use a slow shutter speed (1/30
sec), follow the subject in your viewfinder as they approach you, keep them
there as you shoot, and keep following them after the shot has been taken.
Your objective is to take the picture during a smooth, steady motion.
TopTips
A few things to consider before setting off...
1 Digital cameras automatically white-balance and therefore
the snow in your images should appear to be white. If they don’t,
check your camera’s instruction book to find out how to manually white-balance
the scene.
2 On grey, overcast days, use a graduated filter to colour
the sky while leaving the foreground natural.
3 The sunlight during the early morning and late afternoon
offers unique photography opportunities due to reflections and colours.
This is particularly true in the snow. At a low angle the sun casts long
shadows and adds contrast to your subject that otherwise might not be there
if it were directly overhead. Knowing where the sun is in relation to your
subject is important, any time of day. Keep the sun at a right angle to
your shot early or late in the day and behind you when it’s high in
the sky.
4 Try out a variety of vantage points to discover the
most dynamic viewpoint. Don’t forget to add some colour to the photograph
as it will create a dramatic effect with the white snow.
Thanks to Olympus User for these great tips – and we’ll
have some more for you next month. To subscribe to Olympus User, contact
01952 214040 or send an e-mail to membership@olympuscameraclub.co.uk
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