taking snow photos: What settings on a SONY DSC-HX80 camera would you use to capture the glint coming off snow?

great8hiker

What settings on a SONY DSC-HX80 camera would you use to capture the glint coming off snow?

Ob1 Loc: Utah

I don’t know about that particular camera but on my Sony I overexpose by +1. That gets me very close to white snow. The glint will require the correct angle to the sun. My only suggestion is small aperture and correct angle found by experimenting. That’s all I’ve got. Sorry

rgrenaderphoto Loc: Hollywood, CA

great8hiker wrote:

What settings on a SONY DSC-HX80 camera would you use to capture the glint coming off snow?

Do it in Lightroom with the WB dropper.

ORpilot Loc: Prineville, Or

You HX-80 has a scene for snow. Select the Snow scene as a starting point. Then adjust the +/- exposure compensation to lighten or darken as necessary. By slecting snow scene in the camera Scene Mode, the camera automatically justs the white balance and exposure for white snow conditions. I will also select Snow scene when I am shooting white sandy beaches.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

Ob1 wrote:

...The glint will require the correct angle to the sun. My only suggestion is small aperture and correct angle found by experimenting...

My advice also. Early morning has always been best for me

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Some tips -

http://digital-photography-school.com/tips-for-photographing-snow/
https://digital-photography-school.com/13-snow-photography-tips-beginners-guide/
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/photography/tips-and-solutions/7-tips-taking-photographs-snow
https://photographycourse.net/10-snow-photography-tips/
https://www.diyphotography.net/15-beginner-tips-winter-and-snow-photography/

John Howard Loc: SW Florida and Blue Ridge Mountains of NC.

If you use aperture priority then you will need to use exposure compensation to raise the exposure a stop or two to avoid getting gray or blue snow. I am wondering is a circular polarizing filter could reduce glare like on water.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

John Howard wrote:

... I am wondering is a circular polarizing filter could reduce glare like on water.

I think it's the glare that produces what the OP desires ("sparkles")

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

great8hiker wrote:

What settings on a SONY DSC-HX80 camera would you use to capture the glint coming off snow?

In SCN mode, there is a SNOW selection. And it says, Shoots white scenes brightly. That is the scene mode you should use.
Look at the top wheel of your camera, one says SCN, select that, push the center of the wheel on the back of the camera then pick SNOW, it has the picture of a snowman on it. Your welcome.

BlackRipleyDog

I am not sure what the Sony gives you for exposure options but I experienced this first hand last weekend shooting snowmobile races on a track plowed out on a frozen lake.
As I was taking some preliminary shots of people standing around with a D850, I noticed that they were very underexposed and essentially sillouettes against a bright background. I changed the metering from Matrix to Spot and suddenly all my exposures were spot-on (pardon the pun). The Matrix metering was averaging everything in the scene which included bright sunlight and snow everywhere and raised the shutter speed so high that anything in a shadow was black. I shot this way all morning into the afternoon even as the sun changed position in the sky.

Wasabi

Follow the advice above regarding exposure and time of day and also zoom in. There are many small sparkies that will show up on the larger image.

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

John Howard wrote:

If you use aperture priority then you will need to use exposure compensation to raise the exposure a stop or two to avoid getting gray or blue snow. I am wondering is a circular polarizing filter could reduce glare like on water.

It depends on what is wanted. "White", "gray" and "black" are all 'neutral' colors - they differ only by exposure, so changing exposure compensation really will turn "gray" into white if that if what is wanted. Truly "blue" snow results from shading, and really is a thing in photography. This all comes from my bracketing exposure using Kodachrome film to photograph scenes involving snowy scenes 'back in the day'.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

rehess wrote:

It depends on what is wanted. "White", "gray" and "black" are all 'neutral' colors - they differ only by exposure, so changing exposure compensation really will turn "gray" into white if that if what is wanted. Truly "blue" snow results from shading, and really is a thing in photography. This all comes from my bracketing exposure using Kodachrome film to photograph scenes involving snowy scenes 'back in the day'.

Good catch on the gray vs. blue. Exposure is one thing; the reality of the color of light at the moment is something else entirely: https://digital-photography-school.com/understanding-natural-light-part-2-color-of-light/

This is the reason the camera (and post processing editors) have white balance settings: daylight, cloudy, etc.

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

Linda From Maine wrote:

Good catch on the gray vs. blue. Exposure is one thing; the reality of the color of light at the moment is something else entirely: https://digital-photography-school.com/understanding-natural-light-part-2-color-of-light/

In my case, understanding came slowly of taking slides Winter after Winter, and only after time understanding where the blue came from.

Retrobug

Personally, I use a spot meter to meter the glare, figure that’s about zone 5, add 3 or 4 stops, set the camera for that and bracket. That should give you a choice of exactly how bright you want the glare. Either spot metering with your camera or an external one will do. I’ve done this a lot with a digispot and lf camera, this works fine for digitals too.