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

When shooting snow I use my exposure compensation. I usually set it anywhere from +1 to +2. I will check my first couple exposures and adjust my exposure compensation accordingly and then shoot away. As you move you camera around and the light (the sun) is coming from different directions you may need to tweak you Exposure Compensation.

camerapapi Loc: Miami, Fl.

There are so many ways to cope with the snow! Bill gave you very good tips and I would suggest that you learn how to expose the subjects. There are plenty of excellent tutorials in the Internet.
All exposure meters are designed to average the light to a middle tonality (middle gray) and that means that dark or bright subjects will fool the meter. Meter a bright subject and do not do any correction and it will become gray, do the same thing with a dark subject without metering correction and the subject will end up gray also.
Because the meter makes bright subjects gray all we do is to use exposure compensation on the plus side to bring back the brightness and usually 1 stop is enough using some brightness during editing if necessary. Dark subjects require minus compensation. If using "sunny 16" I like to close one stop in which case we can talk about "sunny 22" or equivalent exposure.
The palm of the hand in the same light as the snow can be metered with spot metering and open 1 stop from meter recommendation. The incident exposure meter is 100% accurate and in the past, when I regularly used one with film my tendency was to close a little bit because an incident reading takes me to middle tones.
My best advise is that you learn how to expose the subject.

mstuhr Loc: Oregon

thanks again Gene51. Beautiful shots too!

mstuhr Loc: Oregon

Thanks Jerryc41. I have printed all of these.

tombackman Loc: RHODE ISLAND

When it is sunny out, I just meter off the blue sky, and the exposure is right for me.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

Thanks!
And you're welcome.

marty wild Loc: England

I am surprised that no one has said to recorde your own white balance. The only problem is, when you move or there's a change in the ambience light you will have to recorde a new one. Ok there's a bit a faffing ( it's uk huma for finger thumbs)😮 about but if you have the time try it. Also it may help the keep an eye on the histogram as a second reference point. If the shot has no speed Impact ND filters or polarised filters my help you

mstuhr Loc: Oregon

thanks much.

Hal81 Loc: Bucks County, Pa.

All I know is that it is much better to photograph snow than to shovel it.

Hal81 Loc: Bucks County, Pa.

All I know is that it is much better to photograph snow than to shovel it.

marty wild Loc: England

I shifted hundreds of tones in a gritter/plough lorry and did not get cold ot wet feet

I did a snow theme that's on my flickr page check the setting I used have a great new year and keep clicking

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

jimvanells Loc: Augusta, GA

Go to YOUTUBE and look for Adorama Learning Center. Look for a video that explains the "Sunny 16" rule. Set your ISO to 100 or 200 and match the shutter speed to the ISO. Set the f stop to f16 and this should work for any front or side lit snow or beach photo. Her is the like to the video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPDlD1ekFUg

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

The problem with Sunny 16 in brightly lit snow is that it will result in images that are too bright, and possible highlight detail loss. Most "rule of thumb" exposure guides suggest that you use F22 in bright snow or sand. These are old rules that worked brilliantly with film, but with digital it is even more important to protect the highlights.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunny_16_rule

Better than a guide, learning what your camera's specific tolerance to highlight exposure is the best insurance against blown features. Many current cameras at base ISO can go up to 1 2/3 stops, some like the Fuji DSLRs can go a bit more. This comparison between a D800E, Canon 5D and a Fuji S5 was an eye opener for me:

http://www.colda.com/?p=963