Adrift on a snowy mountaintop

Wicked_Dark

Went hiking today and not much of what I shot came out well, but I am reasonably happy with these little plants waiting for the warmth of spring on a mountaintop.



Yeah...it's windy up there.

DeeCajun

Wicked cool shot...

I loved living in New England.. the winters were a wicked pissah though!

I love that you can see the granules of snow in the snow...

Dogdots

I love looking at the plants that stick out in the snow. Tried many times to get a good photo of them, but just can't seem to. You did a good job

Wicked_Dark

thanks ladies. It's sometimes tough to shoot in winter, but this year I've really thrown myself into it and when it doesn't snow I get crabby. Plants in snow is hard. This next one is probably the best I've done so far. I put it into another thread, but it got buried.



I find that the light has to be angled enough to provide some texture detail in the snow...shadows really help. Early morning or late afternoon...luckily the sun doesn't get all that high in winter so shadows abound.

Dogdots

I like your 2nd posted photo -- the frost is so nice in it

DeeCajun

I LOVE this one.. the snow looks like sand and the frost is amazing.. Great great shot

Wicked_Dark wrote:

thanks ladies. It's sometimes tough to shoot in winter, but this year I've really thrown myself into it and when it doesn't snow I get crabby. Plants in snow is hard. This next one is probably the best I've done so far. I put it into another thread, but it got buried.



I find that the light has to be angled enough to provide some texture detail in the snow...shadows really help. Early morning or late afternoon...luckily the sun doesn't get all that high in winter so shadows abound.

Wicked_Dark

Thanks again, girlies (I hope you don't mind being called girlies, I do that to everyone eventually). I think they convey very different things about winter. It can be cold, harsh and unforgiving or it can be warm, gentle and soft. Some of it is post-process, but most of it is light. The first one was taken at about 2-2:30pm yesterday, the other at about 8-8:30am last week. The first one is on a wind-swept mountain top, the second in a slightly-sheltered forest pond. I really want it to snow again since the rain destroyed stuff like in the 2nd shot. It's cold enough, but no clouds. Ah well.

DeeCajun

Wicked_Dark wrote:

Thanks again, girlies (I hope you don't mind being called girlies, I do that to everyone eventually). I think they convey very different things about winter. It can be cold, harsh and unforgiving or it can be warm, gentle and soft. Some of it is post-process, but most of it is light. The first one was taken at about 2-2:30pm yesterday, the other at about 8-8:30am last week. The first one is on a wind-swept mountain top, the second in a slightly-sheltered forest pond. I really want it to snow again since the rain destroyed stuff like in the 2nd shot. It's cold enough, but no clouds. Ah well.

I live on top of a mountain and it's very hard to find new subjects to shoot.. I am drawn to the dead stuff sticking up out of the snow, it's hard to capture without the gray or blue tones.. you've captured a bright sunny day there..

Wicked_Dark

The secret is white balance and +1 over exposure. A polarizer helps, too. I find the best snow wb to be the shade setting. It preserves the chilly aspect of snow, but isn't so cool as to render everything overly blue. If I still think it's too blue, I'll warm it up in PP. The best whites come with 1 stop over exposure...sometimes a bit over or under that depending on light conditions, but it's a good rule to work from. My first shot was taken with a polarizer and EVP +1. If you're 90 degrees to the sun it acts as a polarizer anyway, so sometimes it's redundant depending on the shadow angles you want. The second shot was taken without a polarizer and basically looking into the sun, so the effect is null.

DeeCajun

Wicked_Dark wrote:

The secret is white balance and +1 over exposure. A polarizer helps, too. I find the best snow wb to be the shade setting. It preserves the chilly aspect of snow, but isn't so cool as to render everything overly blue. If I still think it's too blue, I'll warm it up in PP. The best whites come with 1 stop over exposure...sometimes a bit over or under that depending on light conditions, but it's a good rule to work from. My first shot was taken with a polarizer and EVP +1. If you're 90 degrees to the sun it acts as a polarizer anyway, so sometimes it's redundant depending on the shadow angles you want. The second shot was taken without a polarizer and basically looking into the sun, so the effect is null.

I need to start working with the wb, I almost always leave it on auto ( I am very green), so thank you I will try the shade setting next ( I have a ton of snow to shoot around here) ...I am color blind so seeing the hue is a challenge... I stopped using my Polarizer a while back but after this I think I will start using it again, I have always liked using it! I want to learn all the settings but feel so inadequate when I get out there and start to shoot!

Wicked_Dark

I was overwhelmed with my first DSLR, too. After 20 years using all manual 35mm cameras, the sudden switch to a million buttons and settings took some getting used to. And batteries...what do you mean I NEED batteries??!!

Anyway...don't sweat trying to get used to all of your controls at once. Go out with the idea that you're going to experiment with one or two of them. Say white balance and EVP settings (the +/- button or wheel on your particular camera). Put the camera in AP or Program and play. Now you can just focus on those aspects of the photo making process without getting all flustered about having to manage everything else, too. Then next time, when you're comfortable with how to apply those controls, move onto something else you're curious about like maybe metering mode or shutter priority. Pretty soon, you'll understand how everything affects picture outcome and you'll know what to apply when. Most of all, have fun.

DeeCajun

Yup I still miss my 35mm !!

I like the idea of only taking on a couple of settings.. I've been on M trying to learn all these things but it is just so overwhelming..I just cannot believe I will have to learn all of this before I can take a decent picture.. But...I will tackle it this way, thank you!

Wicked_Dark wrote:

I was overwhelmed with my first DSLR, too. After 20 years using all manual 35mm cameras, the sudden switch to a million buttons and settings took some getting used to. And batteries...what do you mean I NEED batteries??!!

Anyway...don't sweat trying to get used to all of your controls at once. Go out with the idea that you're going to experiment with one or two of them. Say white balance and EVP settings (the +/- button or wheel on your particular camera). Put the camera in AP or Program and play. Now you can just focus on those aspects of the photo making process without getting all flustered about having to manage everything else, too. Then next time, when you're comfortable with how to apply those controls, move onto something else you're curious about like maybe metering mode or shutter priority. Pretty soon, you'll understand how everything affects picture outcome and you'll know what to apply when. Most of all, have fun.

Dogdots

Your so right about over exposing snow. I wasn't doing that, but towards the end of last winter I noticed it helps out so much.

As for the blue in the winter snow. I like it..its natural. Some say it shouldn't be there, but if you live where there's snow all the time its the beauty and color of winter.

Thanks for all your advice