Questions On Snow

Hello

I am going skiing for a week starting this sat and will bring my 400d plus lenses along for the ride. I know ive seen some talk here about snow tricking your light meter.

Am i right in saying that a photo with a lot of snow in it will cause my camera to underexpose?

If this is the case would an overcast day in the snow cause more underexposure than a bright sunny day in the snow? (does this question make any sense!??)

How about bright days at sunset?

Thanks in advance for any help
Tighearnach

Thanks for all the help everyone.

Nice pics Val, id be very happy with similar results. We shall see.......

I just returned from skiing a week ago. I think i mainly used matrix with straight metering at the subject. Sometimes adjusted compensation maybe +0.7. Camera was D80.

In sunny days pics came out very good. In overcast they were a little dull, but i dont think it was possible to do any better, otherwise everything would turn white.

I think biggest problem is finding correct light to give subject and background some depth.

i would meter the main subjects of the scene, manually set aperture and shutter speed accordingly, and then autofocus where you want.

you could also test-meter on the sky to see if it gets blown our with the settings you chose, then you could consider stopping down a bit.

What I mean is, I see people say "meter the sky, then shoot the subject" for example. My camera meters and focuses both on the shutter being pushed halfway down. How do I meter the sky by pushing and holding the shutter, then bring the camera back to my subject and focus it? That is impossible.

They take the meter reading from the sky in manual mode or use exposure lock, so the reading is locked in until the choose otherwise, then they recompose on to the subject, then shoot.

Seriously get the book Understanding Exposure (http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FUnderstandi ng-Exposure-Photographs-Digital-Updated%2Fdp%2F0817463003%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Dbooks% 26qid%3D1193836941%26sr%3D8-1&tag=rayswebsite&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325).

i think one key issue is not to do any integral metering, but to really do spot metering on the subject.

those two images above are well exposed I'd say. they could do a little brighter though without anything bad happening.

meter off the snow and open up 1 to 2 fstops which will correct the exposure.

how much one opens is equipment driven , so test it out.
Thanks for that. It looks like more reading for me:study:

The problem isn't with gray snow. It's with underexposed subjects. Correct the issue by ignoring your light meter.

Somebody please correct me if I'm wrong here but wouldn't metering off of the sky correct the gray snow issue?

Your camera wants to turn the white snow into middle gray. This will cause your subjects to be underexposed. If you want to solve this the easy way, bring a flash. Otherwise, be prepared to do a lot of metering.

meter off the snow and open up 1 to 2 fstops which will correct the exposure.

how much one opens is equipment driven , so test it out.

no, i do not think you have :) you just inspired some discussion.

there is always more than one solution to a problem.

i think ive opened a can of worms here!!!

Here are two examples of sunny and overcast days (some very light PS)

http://www.lotusclub.org/images/photo/skiing1.jpghttp://www.lotusclub.org/images/photo/skiing2.jpg

I agree. And spot metering would probably do the trick :thumbup:

Meter off a gray card, and put it in manual...the same meter reading will work for hours if you don't shoot into the shade or inside.

Meter off a gray card, and put it in manual...the same meter reading will work for hours if you don't shoot into the shade or inside.
Passing thickness of clouds can mess this up very easily.

All this "meter here and meter there" talk, am I to guess that with a dSLR you can meter and focus seperate? Or do most manual focus so that they can meter, then set their focus manually?

My camera (non-dSLR) meters and autofocuses with the shutter button. I can manual focus, but it either takes a contortionist when looking into the view finder, or you have hold the camera out and use 2 hands, thus the camera is not in shooting position when focusing.

Yes you can meter and focus seperately on any dSLR but really they're two seperate jobs anyway. In general terms metering has to do with the amount of light coming into the camera. Focusing has more to do with the sharpness of the subject. All dSLR today will auto focus for you when you press the shutter button half way down assuming the lens will allow it and is turned on too. The camera will also take a meter reading and set the shutter speed or the aperature at the same time depending on the camera's current mode [shutter priority / aperature priority]. In manual mode you can over ride this, or you can set the camera to over or under expose too.

Here's a book called Understanding Exposure (http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FUnderstandi ng-Exposure-Photographs-Digital-Updated%2Fdp%2F0817463003%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Dbooks% 26qid%3D1193836941%26sr%3D8-1&tag=rayswebsite&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325). Buy it in confidence, it's the short cut to all your questions answered.

All this "meter here and meter there" talk, am I to guess that with a dSLR you can meter and focus seperate? Or do most manual focus so that they can meter, then set their focus manually?

My camera (non-dSLR) meters and autofocuses with the shutter button. I can manual focus, but it either takes a contortionist when looking into the view finder, or you have hold the camera out and use 2 hands, thus the camera is not in shooting position when focusing.

#If you have any other info about this subject , Please add it free.#

7 January 2009 | cameltoepants.com | edit