Taking Pictures in Snow

In the weekend we had plenty of snow in Switzerland, in fact we had far more than usual. Snow is a great opportunity for photography, just walk around with a camera in the village.

Snowy conditions can be a challenge for the camera as the light estimator gets the scenary wrong and images come out as gray and dull without adjustments.

Camera light meters assume that objects reflect 18% of the light that hits them, which corresponds to a neutral gray. However, snow reflects much more light, about 90% if it’s clean down to about 50% if it’s littered or dusty.

Couple of things to keep in mind:

1. The fix is simple, just overexpose 1-2 stops of light and you will be mostly done. For some this may feel counter intuitive. Check the histogram on the camera that everything fits in.
2. Check the white balance, a good starting point outdoors, the colour temperature will usually be anything from 5000K (normal daylight) to 9000K (dark shade). For overcast conditions, select around 6000-6500K, while shade is in the region of 7500K. Around 8000K is a good starting point for snow; if it's still too blue, go a bit higher, while if it's looking a touch pink, dial it down slightly.
3. In general I do not do much postprocessing but snowy images may need attention so save raw files. I usually find myself adjusting the black point and shadows.

Here are a few quick shots using a Canon R6 mkii and Canon RF 35mm f/1.8 Macro IS. The images have received minimal postprocssing, mainly black level.