dpackard67 Loc: Wisconsin

Soon I will be taking my daughters engagement photos. She wants some of them outside in the snow. I desperately need any info I can get to make sure the white snow doesn't overcome the photos. I really need these photos to turn out, I don't want to disapoint her... Also, another set will be taken infront of a fireplace, any other interesting ideas of where we can go to take them up here in the frozen tundra?? Thanks for your help..

.Alisha. Loc: Idaho, US

I'm not a pro...
White balance, exposure and bracketing photos. If you use auto white balance, the camera will leave your subjects very dark because of the bright reflection off of the snow. Depending on what you use to shoot with, see if the possibility exists to bracket photos. Each picture you take will produce 3. One will be the setting you shot with, one will be overexposed, one will be underexposed according to the settings you put in.
With couples zoom in close to their faces or don't include large amounts of snow in the frame. Lots of options.

.Alisha. Loc: Idaho, US

Good luck! Make it fun and capture the emotion :)

dpackard67 Loc: Wisconsin

Thanks for the info....

robert-photos Loc: Chicago

When using the AE (auto-exposure) function of your camera often times the snow turns an ugly gray. The “gray snow problem” is very common, and happens because your camera’s light meter sees everything as neutral gray. When it looks at the bright white snow, it just thinks you’re trying to photograph a gray subject in brighter light, so it underexposes your shot.
Usually, setting exposure compensation between +1 and +2 will give you a good exposure for snow covered scenes.

A quick, but fairly comprehensive discussion of exposure and white balance for snow scenes can be found here:
http://www.learn.usa.canon.com/resources/articles/2011/qt_photograph_snow_article.shtml

Good luck :thumbup:

Peter Boyd Loc: Blyth nr. Newcastle U.K.

Auto white balance does not affect the exposure of the picture, so will not result in the subject being dark. It may however result in an unwanted colour cast, usually blue, so you may need to experiment with different W.B. settings depending on the quality of the ambient light. Using auto exposure will generally result in an underexposed subject and you will need to dial in some exposure compensation to corect this. Anything from plus one to two stops should be okay.

R.G. Loc: Scotland

Are there any trees where you are? I can envisage the bride and groom standing under snow-clad trees (which always look good).

For the fireside shots, I think it would be a good idea to keep the fireplace away from the centre of the shot since it would probably mess with the exposure. I don't think you'll have to worry too much about the fireplace, because if it did saturate, it would not be a disaster - in fact it might turn out looking quite good if it did.

jimmya Loc: Phoenix

One thing that immediately comes to mind is outdoor flash. If you can be within say 6 to 8 feet of the couple (no real wide shots) outdoors you should be able to light them enough to overcome the snow. Another consideration is getting them near a tree or other large plant to partially obscure the snow from your frame.

As to the fire place the first thing I'd try would be, especially in a darker situation, what I've come to know as "long night". That's a technique that uses flash and perhaps a 1-second exposure. You can do this manually or if your camera has that feature use it. All it does is fire the flash and the shutter stays open for a second. However, if you do this make sure the couple understands about keeping still until you say they can move. If this doesn't happen you'll a blurry shot.

Bottom line, the flash lights your subjects while the long exposure allows the darker background to be lit as well. I've included an example of this.
I shot this of my grand daughter at about 9pm. It was stone dark except for the carnival lights. This technique also requires a tripod and the use of your camera's 10-second timer to prevent camera movement when the shutter release is pressed. Best of luck and have fun.
Good luck.

Canon XS, 1-second, ISO 400, Flash, tripod, 10-second timer.

lhdiver Loc: Midwest

If you can shoot on an overcast day or in open shade you will eliminate the harsh shadows you will get with bright sun. If you do need to shoot in the sun use a fill flash to lighten the shadows if you are close enough. Do some wide shots to include the scene, maybe with them being playful. Get close on some for a little romance.
Practice by having a friend stand in for them ahead of time so you have a good idea what works & what doesn't. If you shoot RAW this is definitely the time for it as you can do a lot to even out shadows etc. in pp. Search wedding photographer's sites for ideas, they usually show some engagement photos. Most important is to relax & make it fun for them, real smiles always come through better! Good luck!!

Drigby1 Loc: American Fork, UT

My Bridge Camera: Canon SX40 has a scenery mode. One of those is for Snow- it helps clear up the snow problem quite a bit.

saichiez Loc: Beautiful Central Oregon

If you are letting the camera meter, and NOT using a snow "scene" mode, use your compensation button. "scene" modes are great for people who are just starting out. They do the things that you should learn how to do eventually and understand them. However, scene modes can also trick you in the wrong direction. For instance if you use a "snow scene" mode and the snow only appears in 10-15% of the frame..... Bazinga... you done wrong!!!

Snow scenes (and water/lake scenes) meter to turn snow to 18% neutral grey, and in fact, actually stop the scene down one or two stops.

YOU must compensate for this. For a predominantly snow background you should open up one to two stops go get the snow to look white. The other subjects will generally be OK. If you are doing a close up and the snow is filling around 25% of the frame. Let the camera meter the subject.

However, when at the lake or in a snow scene where the snow/water is 75% of the frame, compensation to the plus side (up) is necessary.

In this scenario, bracketing with exposure compensation is your friend.

Operating on the hypothesis that the snow will be there before the wedding(?), test this out ahead of time... day before perhaps...

Pick a subject (or take along a friend) in an snowy back ground scene, and shoot some frames (log them or look at the exif info afterward, recording the settings for the best frames)
1) shoot the first frame as the camera meters it (no compensation change)... (the snow should cause the scene to be dark.)
2) open the exposure compensation to the plus side a half stop. (better but still overpowered a bit by the snow)
3) open the exposure compensation to the plus side one full stop.
4) open the exposure compensation to the plus side TWO full stops. Don't be surprised if it takes two full stops open to compensate for a "snow field".

Keep all these shots to examine them for best when you get home and get them on the computer.

This is considering evaluative metering. If other darker subjects, including trees, houses and the people subjects fill half or more of the frame, don't be surprised if 1/2 to one stop compensate properly.

Don't be afraid to get very comfortable with your camera's exposure compensation settings. Believe it or not, fumbling with those settings AND actually getting "keeper" shots can make you look like a real photographer. Have you ever seen a real photographer at work. They either become very nimble at hiding the fumbling, or they just go ahead and fumble a bit. Getting the shot is the goal, not looking nimble.

dpackard67 Loc: Wisconsin

Thanks so much for the link, it was very helpful.....

robert-photos Loc: Chicago

You're welcome.

Poke Loc: West Virginia

Bryan Peterson explains this well in his book "exposure". A scene with a lot of white (snow) will trick the exposure of the camera. A digital camera will attempt to avg. the scene to a typical 18 to 21 percent gray. This causes the white snow to be underexposed by about 1 stop. Therefore, the person who said to set the exposure compensation to be overexposed by 1 stop is correct. If shooting in manual mode I typically just make sure the meter is showing that the image is overexposed by about 1 stop. The opposite is true when shooting in a very blank area such as a coal field. The sensor sees all black and will attempt to avg the scene to the 18% gray which overexposes the scene. Now you do the opposite of the snow scene and underexpose the shot by a stop.

dpackard67 Loc: Wisconsin

I am looking for an area with some sort of greenary for a back ground.....