The Roving Photographer's Snow Photos

Shooting Away From the Sun

Morning "golden hour" light warms subjects against the snow's cool blue shadows

In Snow Photos: Backyard Fence, you read about golden hour photography in terms of how early morning light colors the snow with warm sunlit areas contrasted against deep blue shadows.

In addition to the colors reflected by the snow, much of the allure of shooting in the golden hour comes from the warmth with which the sun paints your subjects. The low angle also creates pockets of brightness and shadow that make for strong contrast in your snow photos. This can work in your favor, as in the first photo below, by putting a bright subject against a dark background.

A Trellis

Here is an image of a small (3-foot / 1-meter) trellis I accidentally left out for the winter. In the original version of the photograph, the snow and trellis take on the a bit of the golden hour warmth.

Depending upon the color balance of your monitor, this warmth may not be evident. But, if you roll your mouse over the image, you'll see a color-adjusted version that removes the golden cast. That should convince you of the warmth, even if you didn't notice it at first.

Nikon D300, 18-200mm VR @ 170mm
ISO 200, 1/400s, f/5.6
The low angle of light creates pockets of brightness and shadow to provide strong contrast. Mouse over the images to see how image-editing software kills the golden hour effect by removing the warmth.

To create that "cooler" version, I used image processing software (ACDSee) to remove the warm cast.

When I see the warm original and the color-corrected versions of the same photograph either side-by-side or in quick succession (as at right), I am initially tempted to think the color-corrected one is best. But, when I look just at the original, with its warm tones, I find it does a better job of meeting my goals - and making it worth my while to get up early!

Treasure the Low Angle

Ted's Digital Photography Tip

Tools for going low

When striving for a low angle in your photographs, two items are essential:

Knee pads. We often think of coats and rain gear to protect us in inclement weather. But, we often overlook our legs, especially our knees, which can get wet and dirty when striving for that ideal low angle.

Knee pads are the answer. You can get them from your local hardware store. For best protection, look for ones that cover your shins as well as your knees.

Oh, and there is a special trick for taking snow photos - be sure to pack down the snow with your feet before kneeling. Otherwise, the loose snow will pour over the edges of the pads and soak your knees anyway!

Right angle viewfinder. For those shots where the camera is only a foot or 30 cm off the ground, you'll be much more comfortable if you don't have to lie on the ground to compose and focus your image.

If your camera has a rotating LCD screen, you'll be in great shape. But, if you have a DSLR, odds are that you'll need a right-angle viewfinder attachment. I use one from Hoodman that attaches to my viewfinder and rotates to accommodate both portrait and landscape orientations

Another topic I introduced in Snow Photos: Backyard Fence was that of shooting from a low angle. I'm talking about golden retriever low, not dachshund low - I'll save those really low angles for a different day, as they are usually for more dramatic effect.

What I am talking about here is using a lower point of view to put your photo subjects at their best advantage.

For example, in the trellis photo, had I stood at full height, there would have been several changes that detract from the picture:

The trellis would have appeared shorter and smaller, and would have lost its dominance in the picture, as the camera would be looking down on its frame.
The trellis would be seen entirely against bright snow, rather than against the dark tree trunk that accentuates the finial at the top.
The image would have lost the contrast between foreground and background snow.
The textures of the foreground snow would be less pronounced from the higher angle, lending less visual interest.
Put another way, from a higher angle, the image would lose its sense of depth that comes about from the combination of snow in the foreground, trellis in the middle ground, and tree and fence beyond.
You would see messy dog prints in the snow beyond the trellis (not to mention snow whose yellow did not come from the morning sun!).

Of course, I wasn't thinking all those negative thoughts. Instead, I was just looking to take a few good snow photos. When I saw the trellis, I was thinking about how to fill the frame with the trellis and have it stand out from its surroundings, while bringing in the snowy foreground to add depth.

Critical eye

Still, there is one thing I would change in this photo. I'd use a lens with a wider maximum aperture. If I had owned one at the time, that would have enabled me to blur the background more, helping the fence pickets to dissolve into more of a band of color than a pattern that competes with the geometry of the trellis.

Not Quite as Low

For the picture of the playhouse below, instead of going for golden retriever eye height, I was thinking more like the six-year-old child for whom I built the house. The camera was maybe 3-1/2 to four feet (1-1/4 meters) above the snow.

I was also interested in the reflections from the windows on either side of the door. One of the nice things about snow photos is how the snow picks up reflections. You can see these in the light strip in the foreground, and part of one above and to the left of the first. Just like the long shadows in Snow Photos: Backyard Fence, these reflections stretch a long distance.

Snow photos: Playhouse in golden hour sun

Nikon D300, 18-200mm VR @ 112mm, ISO 200, 1/640s, f/5.6
In the low light of golden hour photography, shadows are deep and highlights warm.

This photo is a study in contrast. While the low sun has cast its warm, bright glow on the playhouse, the rest of the yard is mostly in shadow. Unlike in the trellis photo, even the details of the fence fade into the shadows. As a result, your eye is drawn right to the subject, and that motion is reinforced by the lines of reflection in the foreground.

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