Wanted: Tips on shooting during a blizzard

flyingdutchie · February 11, 2006

Tomorrow they expect a blizzard here in Boston. I've shot plenty of pics after a snowstorm, but not many at all during a snowstorm.

I'll be taking my D50 out, with its 'raincoat' (so it's protected agains wind and snow/moisture) tomorrow morning/afternoon.

Has anyone tips on how to shoot during a snowstorm in a city, some hints, neat tricks, etc.?

Thanks!
-- Anton.

Shay Stephens · February 11, 2006

It's really no different than shooting in the rain. Just be mindful of taking care of the camera *after* the shoot. The will be quite cold, and going back into a warm moist house will make it fog up something fierce. So put it into a ziplock bag or something to allow it to warm up without condensing all that water on and in itself.

flyingdutchie wrote:

Tomorrow they expect a blizzard here in Boston. I've shot plenty of pics after a snowstorm, but not many at all during a snowstorm.

I'll be taking my D50 out, with its 'raincoat' (so it's protected agains wind and snow/moisture) tomorrow morning/afternoon.

Has anyone tips on how to shoot during a snowstorm in a city, some hints, neat tricks, etc.?

Thanks!
-- Anton.

wxwax · February 11, 2006

If you use a flash, it will light up the snow near the lens

and those bright flakes will becomes a distraction. Unless, of course, you planed it that way.

flyingdutchie · February 11, 2006

Shay Stephens wrote:

It's really no different than shooting in the rain. Just be mindful of taking care of the camera *after* the shoot. The will be quite cold, and going back into a warm moist house will make it fog up something fierce. So put it into a ziplock bag or something to allow it to warm up without condensing all that water on and in itself.

Thanks Shay!
About bringing it from the cold into the house again: My apartment is bone dry. Evey other step i take :tiptoe i zap myself (static electricity)

. I think that's because i have electric heating (dry warm air). But I will be careful about it.

gus · February 11, 2006

How much would i love to join you FD. Its 5 am here atm & about 75f with a tropical downpour outside. I dont know the humidity but everything i touch is wet.

Good luck & post the shots !

flyingdutchie · February 11, 2006

wxwax wrote:

If you use a flash, it will light up the snow near the lens and those bright flakes will becomes a distraction. Unless, of course, you planed it that way.

I don't think i want to have those bright flakes there

I have these questions that i'm mulling over:
In general for shooting during snow, is it better to use longer shutter times or shorter ones?
And what about the aperture? If it needs to be small (big number), should i use higher ISO?
Should i over- or under-expose a little?

Thanks again!
-- Anton.

flyingdutchie · February 11, 2006

Humungus wrote:

How much would i love to join you FD. Its 5 am here atm & about 75f with a tropical downpour outside. I dont know the humidity but everything i touch is wet.

Good luck & post the shots !

Thanks!

I guess it's already sunday where you are!
Even if you'd take a plane now, you would not be able to land... too much snow they're expecting.

:

I hate humidity. When the 'dog days' are here, around July, i hate that! Not as bad as Florida, but still... sweating my b*tt off!

Shay Stephens · February 11, 2006

In general for shooting during snow, is it better to use longer shutter times or shorter ones?

Depends on if you want to freeze action or highlight it. If you want to freeze action, then use a faster shutter speed. If you want the action to be blured, then use a slower shutter speed.

And what about the aperture? If it needs to be small (big number), should i use higher ISO?

When deciding on the "three big ones" aperture, shutter, and ISO, decide which one will have the biggest visual impact on the photo. Usually that is either aperture (DOF) or shutter speed (motion blur). Once you decide which one will take precedence, then choose the next one down the list, and then that just leaves the last one (usually ISO (noise)) to do whatever is needed to get the exposure right.

And the aperture value is easy to understand. It is a fraction. When you see f/2, just substitute the f/ with a 1/. So f/8 means the aperture is 1/8, f/16 is 1/16. And what is the bigger number, 1/2 or 1/16? 1/2 is larger than 1/16 by quite a lot. So an aperture of f/2 is wider than an aperture of f/16

Should i over- or under-expose a little?

Getting the right exposure is always preferable to having one that is under or over exposed. If in doubt, bracket.

Think of it like cooking, would you ask if you should undercook or overcook a turkey? The answer of course is to cook it just right :-) same with exposure, you will get better quality and have to work less on the photo afterwards if you expose correctly from the camera.

So, pay attention to the meter if you are using one, dial in exposure compensation if needed, and verify with the histogram that you are getting a good exposure. On the histogram, be mindful of the far left and right sides. The far left is the shadows (pure black), and the far right is the highlights (pure white).

Check out the exposure related info at the top of this post:
http://www.digitalgrin.com/showthread.php?t=22482

flyingdutchie · February 11, 2006

Shay Stephens wrote:

Depends on if you want to freeze action or highlight it. If you want to freeze action, then use a faster shutter speed. If you want the action to be blured, then use a slower shutter speed.

When deciding on the "three big ones" aperture, shutter, and ISO, decide which one will have the biggest visual impact on the photo. Usually that is either aperture (DOF) or shutter speed (motion blur). Once you decide which one will take precedence, then choose the next one down the list, and then that just leaves the last one (usually ISO (noise)) to do whatever is needed to get the exposure right.

And the aperture value is easy to understand. It is a fraction. When you see f/2, just substitute the f/ with a 1/. So f/8 means the aperture is 1/8, f/16 is 1/16. And what is the bigger number, 1/2 or 1/16? 1/2 is larger than 1/16 by quite a lot. So an aperture of f/2 is wider than an aperture of f/16

Getting the right exposure is always preferable to having one that is under or over exposed. If in doubt, bracket.

Think of it like cooking, would you ask if you should undercook or overcook a turkey? The answer of course is to cook it just right :-) same with exposure, you will get better quality and have to work less on the photo afterwards if you expose correctly from the camera.

So, pay attention to the meter if you are using one, dial in exposure compensation if needed, and verify with the histogram that you are getting a good exposure. On the histogram, be mindful of the far left and right sides. The far left is the shadows (pure black), and the far right is the highlights (pure white).

Check out the exposure related info at the top of this post:
http://www.digitalgrin.com/showthread.php?t=22482

Shay,

Thanks for your answers

But i was asking for shooting during a snowstorm. I know all that stuff about when to use what shutter-speed, aperture(DOF), histograms, overexpose when shooting snow by +1 or even +2EV (after a storm hit), etc. Last shooting trip was in china town here, and my D70's light meter broke and i needed to do it all manually only using educated guesses and the histogram on test-shots. That gave me some good practice

:. I was looking for people that may have some experience shooting during a snowstorm specifically and what to look out for (pitfalls, neat tips, etc).

Thanks again

-- Anton.

Shay Stephens · February 11, 2006

Sorry for the confusion. However, just because it is snowing, that does not change anything other than the need to dress warmly and maybe bring a blower bulb with you when you need to blow snow out of the front of the lens.

Things to look out for, snow plows, roving packs of wolves looking for human flesh, ginger bread igloos that look warm and inviting, you know, the standard stuff

flyingdutchie wrote:

I was looking for people that may have some experience shooting during a snowstorm specifically and what to look out for (pitfalls, neat tips, etc).

flyingdutchie · February 11, 2006

Shay Stephens wrote:

Sorry for the confusion. However, just because it is snowing, that does not change anything other than the need to dress warmly and maybe bring a blower bulb with you when you need to blow snow out of the front of the lens.

Things to look out for, snow plows, roving packs of wolves looking for human flesh, ginger bread igloos that look warm and inviting, you know, the standard stuff

D

flyingdutchie · February 12, 2006

Pics from the blizzard are posted
I went outside this morning and some of the pics are posted in this thread:
http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=27854

Shay Stephens · February 12, 2006

Nice work
So what did you learn? Was the experience very different from shooting normally? Other than of course keeping the camera dry and yourself warm, well, and avoiding those roving packs of wolves

flyingdutchie wrote:

I went outside this morning and some of the pics are posted in this thread:
http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=27854

flyingdutchie · February 12, 2006

Shay Stephens wrote:

So what did you learn? Was the experience very different from shooting normally? Other than of course keeping the camera dry and yourself warm, well, and avoiding those roving packs of wolves

Most of the time you need to overexpose a little (+0.3 -- +0.7EV). But sometimes the 3d matrix metering gets it right (no overexposing).

Even during a blizzard there is plenty of light (for a fast lens). It is not necessary to up your ISO to more than 200. This light allows for shorter shutter times, which is nice to freeze (no pun intended) some of the snow-fall. Problem is to focus during heavy snow-fall. Sometimes the autofocus focuses on the nearest snowflakes.

The 'raincoat' thingy worked really well. It kept the camera somewhat warmer ('cause my hands were in it too) and it kept it quite dry.

So, how do you think i did?

Shay Stephens · February 12, 2006

Awesome!

flyingdutchie wrote:

So, how do you think i did?

cyoung · February 16, 2006

So say I want to go shoot out in the bittercold Chicago weather thats expected this weekend, I should bring a ziplock bag with me, and put the camera in the bag before i go inside. The air cold air thats in the bag with the camera is dry?

and the ziplock bag will keep the moist indoor air away from the camera? Im trying to get the logic down so I can avoid moisture on my camera.

Thanks!

Shay Stephens wrote:

Sorry for the confusion. However, just because it is snowing, that does not change anything other than the need to dress warmly and maybe bring a blower bulb with you when you need to blow snow out of the front of the lens.

Things to look out for, snow plows, roving packs of wolves looking for human flesh, ginger bread igloos that look warm and inviting, you know, the standard stuff

Shay Stephens · February 16, 2006

Here is what happens. I was down in Central Park on Valentines day shooting a wedding portrait session for a couple that came from Ireland to get married in the big apple.

We were in the park for about an hour, and during that time, the camera/lens cooled to the ambient temperature. Upon entering a cab to go to Grand Central Station, the lens immediately fogged up. The warmer moister air condensed on the cold surface of the lens. I had to have the heater turned on and point the camera in the warm air stream.

Had I put the camera in the big ziplock bag I carry with me, it would have still been cold, but no warm circulating air could deposit its moisture on the lens. Worst case is that the moisture already in the air that is now trapped in the bag would condense, but since the amount of moisture is limited to what is in the bag, the problem is usually nothing to worry about.

cyoung wrote:

So say I want to go shoot out in the bittercold Chicago weather thats expected this weekend, I should bring a ziplock bag with me, and put the camera in the bag before i go inside. The air cold air thats in the bag with the camera is dry? and the ziplock bag will keep the moist indoor air away from the camera? Im trying to get the logic down so I can avoid moisture on my camera.

Thanks!

cyoung · February 16, 2006

I got it now, thanks Shay!

Now time to brave temps in the teens this weekend in Chicago:eek1

Shay Stephens wrote:

Here is what happens. I was down in Central Park on Valentines day shooting a wedding portrait session for a couple that came from Ireland to get married in the big apple.

We were in the park for about an hour, and during that time, the camera/lens cooled to the ambient temperature. Upon entering a cab to go to Grand Central Station, the lens immediately fogged up. The warmer moister air condensed on the cold surface of the lens. I had to have the heater turned on and point the camera in the warm air stream.

Had I put the camera in the big ziplock bag I carry with me, it would have still been cold, but no warm circulating air could deposit its moisture on the lens. Worst case is that the moisture already in the air that is now trapped in the bag would condense, but since the amount of moisture is limited to what is in the bag, the problem is usually nothing to worry about.

Wanted: Tips on shooting *during* a blizzard

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Wanted: Tips on shooting during a blizzard