Photo-Recipes

Photographing Snow: 4 Steps to Success

Me Ra Koh

In four easy steps, we went from “blah” snow photos to story telling snow photos!

If you are surrounded by snow, grab your camera and try these four steps to better framing and composition.  For more video photo tutorials on composition, check out our award winning DVD series!

DSLR Settings:  For Photographing Snow my ISO was 200, the Aperture/f-stop was 5.6, and my Shutter Speed was 1/320 of a second (or 320).  Using a f/5.6 is a higher f-stop choice for me, and I can’t help but take this moment to review with all of my CONFIDENCE ladies.  I was shooting with the Sony’s 70-400mm lens.  This lens can only go down to f/5.6 when I’m zoomed in, but it still works out okay if my background is far behind my subject.  I still get that blurry result because of how Depth of Field works.  Remember why this is ladies?;).

But remember to get that end of the day shot when the kids are stripped down to their long underwear and cozied up after a cold day of fun!

Head to my Facebook page and share your success with photographing snow!  I’d love to give feedback on your photos!

xo

Me Ra

Found 4 steps to success when photographing snow from Me Ra Koh, the Photo Mom!

 

Save

Save

Share:

  1. Tammy Snyder says:

    Thank you so much for thinking of us here in the northeast and not teasing us with photos of warm sunny photos or even beach photos. The first half of winter has been tough this year with some sort of snow precip every week. Here in southeastern Pennsylvania, we are ice covered. It is beautiful and I can’t wait for the sun to come out for it to become spectacular! I plan on email you a picture from this photo-recipe.

  2. Christina says:

    I love it, going to South Dakota next week and doing a family photo shoot there and it is snowing now so I am pretty sure there will be snow when I go!! This was perfect 😉
    Thanks Me Ra

  3. Me Ra says:

    yeah! Glad this is helpful to you! We LOVE our East Coast readers and feel for how crazy your winter has been! Hang in there! I hope today and tomorrow warm your creative spirits, like hot coco on a snowy day!
    xoxo,
    m

  4. Lynde says:

    I would LOVE to know how to get a shot of footprints in the snow! i was trying to get shot last week of some mountain lion prints while i was in WY and it was seemingly impossible because there was pretty much no contrast (cue counting crows song here) in white snow…a tiny bit of shadow. thoughts?? aside from spritzing some kool aid? 😀 they were sooooo awesome that i wanted to share the paw prints. you could even see the pads and claw marks!

    cheers!

  5. Rhonda says:

    I love when you post photo recipes. We don’t live in the snow but we don’t live far from it either & the kids have been begging us to take them.

  6. WHOOT WHOOT! East Coast in the house!! Hee hee.. *thinks* …East coast is in the house cuz its too snowy and cold outside!
    Thank you Me Ra, love the snow-photo hints!

  7. Pat Bresnihan says:

    How do you get the buttery background while shooting with a 5.6 apperture? I thought the apperture needs to be much lower. Do you use a portrail lense. I have the Sony Alpha camera. Love it.