Bullfrog Bill Loc: CT

F8 and be there!!!

windshoppe Loc: Arizona

windshoppe Loc: Arizona

IBM

On a sunlit day , your snow will have a blue cast in your photo or tinge to it ,some think that is a wrong setting in camera , but that is true ,it is blue, from the reflection of the sky , the mistake is in your brain you see it as white , and the camera is telling the truth in this case as it will pick up the blue hewe . And your senses are fooled , so if you don't want the real colour of a sunlit snow , you can adjust to make it
White but untrue . On that day any way.

Kuzano

Then you must first study and accept what it is that a light meter (hand held or in the camera) does.

The meter is really a stupid, one minded device. The ONLY thing the meter chip does is see everything you point it at and render that object as Neutral Grey. Point at snow... snow becomes grey. Point it from a meadow into a dark object.... dark object become neutral Grey.

Most people say Neutral 18% Grey, but that's already "junking" it up too much. There's a lot of individual controversy on the percentage of Grey rendered.

I encourage you to get a SIMPLE hand held meter. There are very expensive meters that are even more computerized than your camera.... $500-$750. They will screw with your mind even more....

I said Simple... something like a Gossen or like. Spend under $100, even less, and get batterydriven. Used will do fine.

Now get a Grey Card (most ARE listed as 18% commercially)

Now find some good articles or youtube video on Exposure Compensation. NOT metering. Just compensation. Exposure compensation is a result of what YOU see about the varied color field in front of you. No cameras automatically read compensation into the scene.

Your eyes and Your brain do that, and it's based on how YOU see the scene relative to what YOU NOW KNOW about how a simple light meter works. After all the basis for the metering in your camera is done first with a stupid simple light meter chip that does ONLY one thing... render the subject it is pointed at neutral grey. All else is the computerization of the camera. BUT that comes after you make an eye/brain judgement about the scene in front of you and it's makeup.

That's one of the reasons I don't subscribe to the automation of digital as a way to learn photography.

The best camera's for learning the light physics of photography, were the Pentax K-1000's and other student camera's of the early 70's. No programs built in... Shutter Speed, Aperture, Set the film ISO, and a simple match needle meter. You learned everything else and, yes, you burned some film in the process.

No winning race driver ever won any trophies without a number of accidents in the process. And you can ruin so many more pictures without cost with a digital camera. So the learning process is considerably slower with digital than film, because you can ruin so many more shots without consequences cementing what's right into your brain.

Charge yourself (keep a jar) one dollar for every shot you ruin digitally. You'll get rich. Or get a handheld meter, a Grey Card, and a very simple fully mechanical film camera. Use one film, one emulsion and one ASA (200) for a bit.

Armadillo Loc: Ventura, CA

Bullfrog,

Experience has taught that the f/8 rule works well under ideal conditions. It will not perform well where the sunlight on snow blows out the white snow, or the shadows under the trees go into under-exposed black holes. Which will become the exposure will be determined by the point at which the camera meters the scene.

Michael G

IBM

No program built in!! , that was the program built in , those three is all you get , like it or lump it

tomc601 Loc: Gilbert, AZ

Your best option is to use an incident light meter. They read the light hitting the subject, not the light reflecting from it. Your camera meeter is trying to make everything 18% gray and the snow will fool it everytime. If you have to use the meter in your camera take a reading off the palm of your hand. It has about the same reflectance of a grey card and should give you a good starting point. Make sure your palm is in the same light as your subject.

JeffDavidson Loc: Originally Detroit Now Los Angeles

Bump up your EV by about 2 to 3 stops (always experiment a little). The exact outcome depends on the general light. Exposing for a subject with snow tells your camera meter that it is too bright and so it looks underexposed.

oregon don

I read years ago that the back of your hand is 18% grey. meter the back of your hand, worked well for me in Alaska 30 years ago

DaveO Loc: Northeast CT

My cousin's wife backhanded him last week when he improperly exposed himself doing something in the snow and now he sees the light. He's a lot more focused too.

Armadillo Loc: Ventura, CA

Did he write the name of a former girlfriend in the snow?

boberic Loc: Quiet Corner, Connecticut. Ex long Islander

Actually it's the palm. The history is interesting. This metering standard was invented by kodak, so as to meter white skin correctly.

DaveO Loc: Northeast CT

Did you ever meet Shirley Page,lol? http://www.npr.org/2014/11/13/363517842/for-decades-kodak-s-shirley-cards-set-photography-s-skin-tone-standard

Golden Rule Loc: Washington State

Fun article.