Shooting Techniques - November in Churchill

eenusa

If this question does not belong here, would appreciate being directed to the right place.

Anyway, we're heading to Churchill, Canada in November to spend time with the polar bears (we hope). I'm wondering if anyone can direct me to some books/resources about photographing these spectacular animals in the wild, and about photography in a mostly white landscape. Just starting my research on this topic, so any guidance at all would be appreciated.

(I thought I would check out the websites of photographers like Nicklen and Rosing - although the latter shoots film only, so not sure I'll get anything helpful there since I am a DSLR user.)

Thanks in advance.

pathfinder

Learn to shoot in manual mode. Shoot RAW of course.

Do not trust your light meter, unless you understand Exposure Compensation thoroughly.

Scott_Quier

I have to with PF.

The white of the snow will totally confuse the light meter. You will need to adjust exposure to compensate, usually at least 1 stop and many times as much as 1 2/3 or 2 stops.

Shoot RAW - this will give you much more latitude to correct for exposure errors and for correcting WB.

Shooting in Manual mode will give you much more control over the photos than letting the camera do your thinking for you.

If you have access to one, using an incident light meter will go a long way to mitigating the errors that are likely to be introduced by the camera light meter. Just be aware that if you are shooting a snow-filled scene and set your camera to the settings recommended by the incident light meter that your camera will almost always indicate that you are over-exposing the shot. But that's because the camera light meter doesn't know about snow and is trying to turn the white snow to a nice 18% gray.

Glenn NK

You have one thing going for you - the bears are white too. Aren't you glad that the bears aren't black?

On the other hand, there is an expression about "finding a polar bear in a snowstorm", which suggests it's not all that simple.

May I suggest that your RGB histogram may be your best friend?

And Scott's advice on metering is very sound - reflective meters are useless or nearly so. An incident LM will work.

eenusa

Thank you all - appreciate the tips.

Cohiba

If you're in a hurry, meter off the back of your hand and add one stop. If you have more time, the sky at the horizon point, particularly if it's sunny, is very effective.

Van Isle

if possible, if allowed, use fill flash. CP filters if you have the light. Better-quality filters won't crack as easily in the temp. changes. Keep a spare battery close to your heart to keep it warm and fresh if you need to swap out. Read up on combating moisture and condensation in cameras.

Pls. post pics and let us know how it goes!

VI

eenusa

Thanks for the additional tips; will post photos when we return.