Snow

NforceSFF · 22 Jul 2007 at 00:36

Hi guys/Girls

Hope this makes sense ive had a few! but wanted to ask this so there were replies in the morning

Basicly got a 400D and looking to take it to canada at crimbo, for abit of snowboarding! what settings would someone recomend in these conditions?
i haven't ever taken a camera while snowboarding or for that matter shot in the snow?

Im worried as i wont be taking a laptop (cant afford 1) that my pictures might not come out correct with the setting i think may work!

robertgilbert86 · 22 Jul 2007 at 00:39

I took my camera skiing in Easter and it was great. The light will likely be stupidly bright on a sunny day so lowest ISO and aperture priorty on whatever gives you 1/1000ish.

Make sure you have a polariser too. Anyone without one is a noob.

Howski · 22 Jul 2007 at 01:12

I've never shot with my 400D in snow but I would have thought that the white balance might be off in some shots so make sure you either shoot in RAW or take a proper reading (Try a grey card or something) and maybe even both. Exposure might be a problem too I guess if your not careful to get a reading from the correct spot.
-How.

Amp34 · 22 Jul 2007 at 02:33

It will always under expose so you need to set the exposure about 1.5 -2 fstops above what it tells you to. Use the exposure compensation thing on the 400D as it is probably the easiest way (hold down Av and spin twisty thing).

i don't think white balance is really affected, it just underexposes everything.

Johnny|lucidcomposure · 22 Jul 2007 at 03:45

Light entering the camera will be a lot brighter due to the pure white reflection of the sun on the snow. As mentioned, use + exposure or try your hand at some fill in flash (works great)

robertgilbert86 · 22 Jul 2007 at 09:26

Oh yes, and ALWAYS shoot RAW!

Felix · 27 Jul 2007 at 17:11

Wish I had known this. Just spent a week in the alps and a lot of my snow shots with people in are over exposed in places. Anything I can do?

Arsey · 27 Jul 2007 at 18:19

Felix said:
Wish I had known this. Just spent a week in the alps and a lot of my snow shots with people in are over exposed in places. Anything I can do?

Do you have photoshop? If so you could try changing the levels, colour and contrast.

Felix · 27 Jul 2007 at 18:20

Yup I have access to it. What levels should I be looking at?

Arsey · 27 Jul 2007 at 18:46

Try going to:

Image-Adjustments-Auto Color/Auto Levels/Auto Contrast.

This tries to change it to what it thinks is best for the picture. Others will be able to tell you about manually changing it.

olv · 28 Jul 2007 at 23:06

where abouts in canada are you going?

I pretty much just shoot av and keep an eye on the histogram and dial in a suitable amount of exposure compensation for the situation. the light can change so quickly you just need to experiment.

D.P. · 29 Jul 2007 at 21:16

polariser is a must.
Exposing people and snow at the same time is tricky., try using spot metering (if the 400d suppports that).
SHoot raw so you can correct

Dom't bother taking your camer out on bad weather days.

Camera should be fine in a good back pack wrapped up in some spare clothing, if you are a reasonable skier and don't fall much.

Be careful if it is very col. The camer should still operate, but if you tke a cold camer into a warm room condensation can destroy the sensor.

Aod · 30 Jul 2007 at 00:25

D.P. said:
polariser is a must.
Exposing people and snow at the same time is tricky., try using spot metering (if the 400d suppports that).
SHoot raw so you can correct

Dom't bother taking your camer out on bad weather days.

Camera should be fine in a good back pack wrapped up in some spare clothing, if you are a reasonable skier and don't fall much.

Be careful if it is very col. The camer should still operate, but if you tke a cold camer into a warm room condensation can destroy the sensor.

you can't even get at the sensor on a 400D.

its behind a nice layer of glass

however, the Lens can be ruined by condensation very easily.

Nicos Rex · 30 Jul 2007 at 13:48

Snowscapes are technically difficullt as they often have a massive contrast range. Add to this the fact that they will almost invariably be underexposed due to the way that all cameras meters work and you have a bit of a problem.

The most reliable option is an incident light reading using a hand held exposure meter. This is not always possible or convenient and the next best thing is to meter on the palm of your hand and bracket quite widely - tending towards higher exposure.

Extremes of teperature are also a problem as has been mentioned - battery power can be very seriously impaired as well as the possibility of expensive damage caused by condensation.