Snow Pictures

[jwstewar]

The camera didn't capture the sun like it actually look but still turned out OK.

[jwstewar]

Another Shot

[jwstewar]

Last one.

[DocHeb]

The problem with cameras is that they try to capture the picture at a value of 18% light reflectance (I'm pulling this out of my head from a photography class from 30 years ago - so cut me some slack here [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] ). Snow pictures have a much higher amount of light. This means the white snow gets underexposed to try and decrease the photo to the 18% level. Attatched is your first picture corrected by my Camedia Software "Instant Fix". This takes the lightest pixel in the photo and sets it at absolute white, and then adjusts all the other pixels from there. This makes for a brighter snow scene.

[jwstewar]

That sure did make an improvement. Still wish it could've captured the true reflective light the snow was doing right at that particular moment. It looked really cool and I wanted to share. [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Thanks for the correction and the photo lesson.

[GaryM]

100% correct DocHerb! For snow, or beach pictures for that mater, you need to force your camera to provide more exposure than it would normally provide. 1.5 to 2 stops will usually do the trick.

Some cameras cannot do this, but most can. How you do it varies from model to model. Was the picture taken with a digital camera?

[jwstewar]

Yes, it was. It is an older Sony Mavica. Will only do 1024X768. Need to play with the settings more.

[JohnMiller3]

<font color="blue">...1.5 to 2 stops will usually do the trick... </font color>

Hi Gary,

When do ya know where to set the "settings" properly?

or is most by trial and error? (or by lots of photo taking experience...[img]/forums/images/icons/blush.gif[/img])

[GaryM]

Experience mostly. 1 to 1.5 stops is a good starting point. Most cameras don't allow more adjustment than two stops anyway. If you need more than that, you need to switch to manual settings and and take control.

If the scene was all snow with one person standing in the field, you'd need more compensation than if it was a snow scene with cars and people etc. filling a lot of the area in question. Similar situation exists with what's called "backlighting". that's where a person is standing in front of say a window where it's really bright outside and dimly lit inside. Depending on how much of the scene is covered by the person vs. the bright window, more exposure is required. The camera doesn't know what you want. It thinks the total scene is 18% grey. This was mentioned in a previous posting.

For use with handheld light meters, I used to carry a Kodak 18% grey card for metering. If you meter from the card, rather than the scene, it's then OK cause that's what the meter expects to see.

Some cameras can automatically bracket the exposure with one press of the button.

[MikePA]

John, your Olympus has the ability to do Spot Metering. Spot Metering means instead of using the entire picture to determine the exposure level it uses the bracketed [ ] area in the center of the picture. So, if you are taking a picture of a person standing in front of a snow bank or a backlit scene they will not be overwhelmed by the brightness of the background.

You can also see what the picture will look like in the electronic viewfinder or on the LCD (I use the viewfinder). If it looks too dark, I move the focus point to something that's a little darker and at the same distance from me (so the focus is the same), which lightens the picture, hold this focus and take the picture. (This is a lot harder to explain than to do. [img]/forums/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img] )

I also think (didn't have time to check the Owner's Manual for my UZ-2100 this morning) your camera has AutoBracketing where the camera will automatically take multiple pictures at different f-stops.