mikedent Loc: Florida

So we are lucky enough to go to Antarctica next Jan. I know it's important to bracket or overexpose some amount to account for ice/snow glare. Since there's no snow here in FL, could I go to the sunny sandy beach and do trial photos at different settings to see what settings are best? Is the sand a good enough substitute for the ice and snow and sunlight? Thanks for your help.

PixelStan77 Loc: Vermont/Chicago

Written by a pro. Have fun.

https://iso.500px.com/photographing-antarctica-tips/

RWR Loc: La Mesa, CA

If you’ve had your camera more than a day or so, you ought to know how much you can overexpose from the meter reading and still preserve highlight detail.

Doc Barry Loc: Huntsville, Alabama USA

Great reference. Thanks.

mikedent Loc: Florida

So is sandy beach a good substitute for practice?

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Yes, although 'beach' isn't the requirement for practicing with your camera. You should be using your camera meter in the viewfinder and highlight alerts on the LCD display to recognize and adjust the exposure to the specifics of the situation, indoors, outdoors, winter, summer, etc. Set your exposure in Manual and / or the controlling exposure parameter in the semi-auto settings and take a test exposure. In the histogram view of this test image, where are the blinking highlight alerts, if any?

Next, look in the view finder and judge the position of the meter relative to the 0-mark. Far to the right? Some to the right? At the 0-mark or to the left?

Assuming over-exposure warnings, aka blinkies, what adjustment is needed to move the meter to the left? In Manual mode, you control whether a Faster shutter and / or smaller aperture and / or lower ISO (or some combination) are the proper adjustment. Make that adjustment and take another test image. When you get the blinkies removed, or to a minimum, note the meter position in the view finder. If you're working in Manual, keep this mental note of the meter position for any ongoing changes you make to the exposure parameters in the same light. In the semi-auto modes, the camera will maintain this same exposure as you adjust the controlling exposure parameter, you may instead need EC (Exposure Compensation) to force the camera to expose to the right or left of the 0-mark.

If the 'test image' taken above from the initial exposure setting doesn't have any blinking highlight warnings, again note the meter position in the view finder. Consider and make / test the adjustments needed to move the exposure to the right. Continue with test images and adjustments until the blinking highlight warnings are achieved.

pmorin Loc: Huntington Beach, Palm Springs

In a nutshell......no. Two different textures and reflectivity. The best way to practice is to get to know your cameras white balance settings and learning how to use the metering display to get your desired result. I went there in January and it only took a few practice shots to get the desired white levels. I would practice more with a set of gloves on as you will be wearing them often and especially when on a Zodiac. It’s amazing how the settings can change with them on without you knowing it.
Also, the link sent by PixelStan77 gives you some really great insights. I wish I had read it before we went on our trip.

mikedent Loc: Florida

Great tips to start with, thank you!

boberic Loc: Quiet Corner, Connecticut. Ex long Islander

I don't have the slightest idea if this will work. Lay out a stark white bed sheet. And in various sun angles or time, practice various settings and see how they work. You might get better results if the sheet is a little shiny, But the wife won't like you ruining the silk sheets

a6k Loc: Detroit & Sanibel

A different approach, not the only good one:

● Take a tightly bracketed set of shots of a pure white target on your monitor, close up and defocused. You can look at some of "selmslie's" recent posts for details on how to do this. Use 1/3 stop increments if you can.

● Examine the results in FastRawViewer (best) or anything that will show you which one gets as close to perfect middle gray as possible (you decide what middle gray is and how to determine that but you can PM me for suggestions on that).

● View the one you selected in whatever post processor you like OR in FastRawViewer. Increment the exposure until the over exposure warning shows. In FRV this will only work for raw; it can view JPG's but it won't increment the exposure for them.

● Now you know how many stops to correct to get to where white subjects look white. You may be surprised at the result. It would not surprise me if you get 3.33 stops, not 2.5 or 3.0.

● When you take a picture of a white target in real life the camera will try to do the same thing as it did with your monitor. It will make it darker. Add exposure in the amount you determined above.

● If you are fortunate enough to have actual live view such as with a Sony mirrorless, you can just do it visually but the visual in the camera is based on the JPG and if you are using raw then this is not as good an approach as knowing.

PS - an iceberg or a glacier is not necessarily as reflective as you might assume and won't be pure white, either. The sun in the far north (or far south) is not at the angles you are accustomed to thus not as bright. That is one of several reasons why practicing in FL is likely to lead you astray.

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

You've received some good answers here. Others are more complicated than they need to be. One thing I will add is that you will do better at this if you change your thinking just a little bit. Specifically, you are not looking to overexpose anything in your photographs of snow and ice. What you are looking to do is to prevent your metering and exposure system from improperly underexposing the images because of the brightness of the snow.

Exactly what will need to be done depends on what metering modes are available on your camera. If you have one of the newer cameras with Highlighted Weighted Metering, all you need to do is switch to that mode and let the camera handle the rest. Otherwise, you will need to learn to use Exposure Compensation to let the camera set shutter speed and aperture to allow additional exposure beyond what the meter calls for. I've learned that if there is quite a bit of snow in my frame, I can use matrix metering and +2 f/stops of exposure compensation with good results. Some adjustment may be necessary as the amount of snow cover varies.

This topic is made a lot harder than it needs to be. There is nothing wrong with practicing at the beach to get the idea. The principle will be exactly the same. It's just that the amount of adjustment will be different, because most snow reflects more sunlight than most sand. If you learn how to compensate for sand, you will be able to figure out very quickly how to compensate for snow and ice.

Folks who have learned to compensate for snow and ice within the US are many times surprised when they get to Antarctica and find that because the sun stays so low in the sky, the problem almost always has a different solution than they one they are accustomed to dealing with.

Have fun on your trip.

Hip Coyote

I’d follow the pro recommendations. And I’d bracket the heck out of my shots, get down low on penguin shots to their eye level, shoot in raw, watch your histogram and set up display to show blinkies, 2 cameras, lots of batteries, and once in a while out the camera down and simply BE there.

As an avid long range fisherman, prep for bad sea conditions. Get patches from your doc. The seas there can be awful.

Finally there are going to be people there. It might get be interesting to shoot them once in a while.

a6k Loc: Detroit & Sanibel

Well said and correct!

mikegreenwald Loc: Illinois

Having been there thrice, for my next trip if I take one, I'd take two bodies, my 24-105 Mkii zoom, a wider zoom (15-35 in my case), and a very long lens to use only from the big boat. I'm pretty immune to seasickness, but I've seen waves as high as 35'. However you will be taken ashore only in relatively calm water. Spray on the Zodiacs has to be planned for, but you will use your camera there frequently. A dry bag is needed, but so is a well sealed camera or camera cover.
There will not be as many bright white scenes as you might expect, but there will be many with extreme brights and darks. I found both HDR and bracketing very useful, but HDR not always available if you are on moving water. I also make frequent use of panoramas, hand-held, camera vertical, and awareness of keeping the horizon in the same place in the viewfinder throughout all the shots.
These are wonderful trips, wonderful scenery, great wildlife including big birds at sea and ashore, and I"m sure you'll enjoy it.

Tomfl101 Loc: Mount Airy, MD

My starting point when pointing my camera toward snow or light sand is to overexpose 1 full stop. Check for blinkies and bracket from there as needed.