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The winter landscape, beautiful as it may be, is quite tricky. It’s just like shooting
high-key studio portrait. Majority of
landscape is white,
background and foreground are bright and
camera’s exposure meter will tend to give you
wrong reading, resulting in underexposed shot. In order to avoid this problem it is a good idea to switch to
manual program and take
picture by overexposing it by one stop.
Sometimes
winter will serve up some gray skies and you may think that your pictures will look equally gray and sad. That may not be
case; you have several options in this case. The first would be to use
gray sky to your advantage, that moody color may add more character to your image. You will have a grater opportunity to showcase
full spectrum of
gray scale, visible in
winter sky. When you are finally tired of
gray, try to shoot from such an angle that
sky area is not as visible. Another option is to use a gradual coloring filter to visually change
sky color. Besides shooting
grey sky, you may consider other choices for your winter photography project.
If you have a dog, take it with you on your shooting trip. It may surprise you how playful dogs can be in
powdery snow. The picture of
friendly mutt’s face covered with
white fluffy stuff will make your heart melt.
If you lucky enough to be by
water somewhere, make sure to take some shots of
frozen surfaces if it’s a lake or maybe
spectacular frozen river scene with just a trickle of water coming through onto
cascading stones.
The country scene with a crooked, old barn surrounded by sparkly branches of low growing bushes covered with ice. Make sure that your scene composition is done in your viewfinder, so it is balanced and perfect, not on your computer.
With Digital cameras, and
flexibility of processing that they offer, you have
greater ability to choose
finished format of your photograph. The winter scenery may work well in
wide landscape format.
Other options for outdoor winter photography may include horses in
pasture, colorful birds at
feeder, wild animals in
forest.
Your children will provide
endless array of images that you can work with. Just remember to dress them in layers and let them have fun. Make sure to get down to their level, and get in close. If you are afraid to spoil their fun, or you know that they will be camera shy, step back, use a telephoto lens and a tripod for stability. The final results will be well worth
hassle.
If you are lost for choices in winter photography themes, you can always try
close-up shots. The beauty of
frozen patch of grass, sparkling in
sun on
background of glistening snow, may be discovered only through
viewfinder of your camera.
So be brave, dress warmly, get out there and shoot,
world of winter photography awaits you!

Polish born-Canadian, Joanna Gerber is a professional photographer, alpine skiing enthusiast and editor of www.winter-vacations-ontario.com, comprehensive guide to Winter travel, resorts and family oriented activities in Ontario, Canada.