Snow day!

I was out in the snow photographing with a friend today and he was wondering why his shots were coming out slightly dark and under exposed even though he was using an automatic mode on his camera. The reason is because there are certain situations that 'fool' the metering system within our cameras. Our cameras meter so we get an exposure which suits mid grey - this usually makes for a spot on exposure but when what you're trying to photograph is white, then you're going to run into problems.


It's the same for black too - ever photographed something black and wondered why it came out grey? That will be down to metering. 


The solution for white? Over expose! I over exposed my snow shots by a couple or even 3 stops. I always shoot in manual, using my inbuilt light meter to get an exposure reading. If you don't know where your light meter is, look it up in your cameras manual and play about with it a little. Maybe even try photographing something black and something white, playing with your aperture and shutter speed to achieve a good exposure. Remember, if you're photographing black, under expose. 


Also, you can buy a grey card which is made for metering, hold this in front of your camera and set your exposure accordingly. The grey card measures the light falling on to it, therefore giving you a correct exposure. 








Does that make sense? I hope so! If not, let me know and I'll explain further. Post snow shooting hot toddies recommended.