Portraits in Snow

[Justine87]

I'm a bit of a beginner when it comes to photography, and one of my friends has asked me if I'll take her family pictures for her and she wants to pay me. I do pretty well most of the time when taking pictures, but I've never done it for money before and I want to make sure that she is happy with the result. That said, it looks like we'll be taking the pictures outside in the snow. I don't have a lot of experience with those kinds of photos, so I'm looking for any tips, any help I can get. Thank you!

[zona5101]

Hi!
Without flash, you are going to want to use your exposure compensation to increse the exposure. Your camera will "see" all that snow and thinking it gray will underexpose your people. Adding + exposure compensation will correct for that. How much to add?? maybe start with +1.5 stops and check your image and adjust. You can get a closer approximation by using your cameras spot meter...you may need to add a little exposure comp to that as well depending on where/what you spot meter.
Fill flash is another animal but if you're planning on using flash then tell us about what you have...

[Justine87]

I probably won't use flash unless I absolutely have to. The only flash I have is the one that is built in to my Canon Rebel XS. I have a few filters, would they help with the brightness on the snow? When I say I'm a beginner, I mean I'm really a beginner - what is exposure compensation? I know about ISO, aperture, shutter speed, but I don't think I know what that is...

[autofocus]

Originally Posted by Justine87

I probably won't use flash unless I absolutely have to. The only flash I have is the one that is built in to my Canon Rebel XS. I have a few filters, would they help with the brightness on the snow? When I say I'm a beginner, I mean I'm really a beginner - what is exposure compensation? I know about ISO, aperture, shutter speed, but I don't think I know what that is...

As Bruce mentioned above, your camera's meter will see all the bright snow and adjust the exposure based on that. In trying to get the exposure right for all that bright snow it'll wind up underexposing your images. So, you have to trick the camera's meter by intentionally over exposing those shots. Start by shooting in one of the creative modes like "M," see how the camera is metering for what it thinks the correct exposure should be (meter centered on your meter scale in your viewfinder) then take your main dial and turn up the exposure so that the meter now shows toward the right by 4-6 hash marks...you are now over exposing that image.

[OsmosisStudios]

Use spot metering, meter off the face or an article of clothing that you want to emphasize.

[Justine87]

Thanks for the tips, everyone. The other thing I should probably mention, though, is that they won't be sitting for pictures, they'll be building a snowman and I'll be photographing them. I'm worried that in trying to overexpose the pictures, the shutter speed will slow and I'll end up with blurry pictures. Is that going to be a problem? I've never done partial metering before, would that help?

[zona5101]

It shouldn't be that slow unless your shooting at dusk or something. So assume the sunny 16 rule: 1/iso f16... at iso=200 your exposure would be 1/200 at f16...you don't need that much dof so well move it to f8 and 1/400... add +2 stops exposure comp and your at any of these: 1/400 @ f4; 1/200 @ f5.6; 1/125@f8; 1/60@f11...the center two would be the sweet spot with a shutter to stop all but the fastest action and a decent fstop to have some depth of field.
And I think +2 exposure comp may be too much...more like +1 1/3 or +1 2/3...

[autofocus]

Originally Posted by Justine87

Thanks for the tips, everyone. The other thing I should probably mention, though, is that they won't be sitting for pictures, they'll be building a snowman and I'll be photographing them. I'm worried that in trying to overexpose the pictures, the shutter speed will slow and I'll end up with blurry pictures. Is that going to be a problem? I've never done partial metering before, would that help?

Buon Natale Justine...you are faced with a few issues here. Obviously, you can overexpose your image by either opening up your lens to a wider setting, or using a slower shutter speed. Both of these adjustments can create a problem for you in what you are trying to do. A too wide aperture equates to too shallow DOF for all your subjects...a slow shutter equates to motion blur of your images. Like you're damned if you do, and damned if you don't. Me thinks shooting with fill flash may be your best bet..it'll do a pretty good job of stopping action and give you the light you need on your subjects. Maybe the best bet will be to put your camera in "P" mode, check out your histograms as you go, and adjust your flash output accordingly. I hope this helps

Vinnie

[Partsrept]

Originally Posted by zona5101

Hi!
Without flash, you are going to want to use your exposure compensation to increse the exposure. Your camera will "see" all that snow and thinking it gray will underexpose your people. Adding + exposure compensation will correct for that. How much to add?? maybe start with +1.5 stops and check your image and adjust. You can get a closer approximation by using your cameras spot meter...you may need to add a little exposure comp to that as well depending on where/what you spot meter.
Fill flash is another animal but if you're planning on using flash then tell us about what you have...

I would like to ask one question, too. Exposure meter (not compensation) in camera - place where that small line go left or right and stays in the center automatically bases on light -do i always need it to be in the center to have right exposure ? To make it in center i have to adjust Aperture or Shutter. If i see it is in center does it mean exposure is right ?

[zona5101]

Originally Posted by Partsrept

I would like to ask one question, too. Exposure meter (not compensation) in camera - place where that small line go left or right and stays in the center automatically bases on light -do i always need it to be in the center to have right exposure ? To make it in center i have to adjust Aperture or Shutter. If i see it is in center does it mean exposure is right ?

having the indicator in the center means the CAMERA thinks it's the right exposure. You have to be smarter than the camera and understand when to override....but for the most part, in most normal situations, the camera will do a fine job of getting the exposure correct.