For those sporting a new camera for Christmas, and for those of you who already have one - let the snow begin to fall for a chance to snap a bit of white magic! But here’s the bad news snowball: snow pictures are notoriously difficult to catch and tend to come out flat and dull - (read more on ‘why’ here). The good news is there is a very simple way to fix this. John Barwood - one of our professional photographer moonlighters - explains how…

THE FIX

To get your snow 'snowy white’, you must tell the camera that the scene is very bright by adding 1-2 stops of exposure compensation. How much is dependent on how bright what you are looking at is - by bright I mean just how white it is.

Take the image of our snowy footprints below, a nearly entirely white scene. The image on the left is what the camera wants to do, making it dull and grey; alternatively, the image on the right, with an added +1.5 stops of exposure compensation, now looks like snow!

If however you have a subject in your frame and other non white elements, the exposure compensation will be slightly less. Take Mr. Robin below; the image on the left is with the camera on its normal setting; the image on the right has around +1 stop of exposure compensation.

THE OPPOSITE IS TRUE

Once you understand this concept remember it works just as well the other way around. If you are taking a picture that you would like to be dark and moody, just tell the camera exactly that. In the image below I wanted the trees to remain dark and show the sunlight bursting through, so I dialled in -1 stop exposure compensation for an added bit of drama.

Still have questions? Read more about 'going manual’ - a continuation of this blog post on John Barwood’s site here.

John Barwood is a brilliant Bristol based Wedding Photographer who very occasionally moonlights as one of our professional photographers. To see more of his portfolio or ask him any questions, visit John Barwood Photography.