The cold season creates almost extreme conditions for photography. However, the beautiful white snow and illumination on the streets of the city can literally force you to take a camera in your hands. In order for the pictures to be successful, and the camera is not damaged, you must follow a few simple rules.
Winter is a magical time. White snow, graphical landscapes around, a special pale winter sun, warm light of lanterns in the evenings, colorful decorations on the streets on holidays - all this is mesmerizing and inspiring. You always want to capture such beauty in photographs. However, many novice photographers hesitate to shoot in the cold season or do not know how to do it right to make the photos look good. There are some basic guidelines for how to photograph in winter. Observing them, you can get good pictures without harming expensive photographic equipment.
Presetting the camera
Before going to the winter photo session, it is recommended to take a few test shots under the stated conditions. This will help you figure out which camera settings are best for shooting at the moment. It is recommended to abandon automatic modes, especially automatic white balance. Otherwise, the pictures may be dominated by blues, grays or blues, which is not always appropriate. If you plan to shoot in a snowfall, then you need to take care of the appropriate aperture and shutter speed so that the snowflakes do not turn out to be completely ugly blurred. By setting the aperture, for example, to 1/8, you can get a completely blurry and boring white background, no snow will be seen. For some ideas this may be appropriate, but in most cases it is recommended to choose a different aperture value. It is worth playing with the exposure, but try not to "bully" it very much, trying to get rid of the grayish haze in the frame. It is also necessary not to raise the ISO very high to avoid noise.
Caring for technology
Any camera is very difficult to endure temperature changes, reacts negatively to cold weather. When going to a photo session in winter, you need to bring extra batteries or rechargeable batteries with you. The camera itself is recommended to be carried in a special warm bag. If this is not at hand, then the camera can be wrapped in a scarf or hidden under clothes so that it does not freeze in the cold. Be sure to use a lens hood and a protective case, even just made from a regular bag, if it's damp and snowing outside. This will keep the equipment from getting wet. Having entered the room from frost, it is necessary to let the camera "get used" to the new temperature situation. You cannot immediately turn on the camera and start a photo session in a cafe or shopping center. If you do this, the lens will fog up, and the "insides" of the camera may be damaged. It is better to give the camera at least 20-30 minutes to warm up a little.
Choosing a location in advance
The winter season assumes low subzero temperatures. In such weather, a long walk in the fresh air in order to find an interesting background for photography will not please everyone. It is necessary to work quickly and decisively in the cold. Therefore, it is worth deciding in advance where the winter photo session will take place on the street. The preliminary selection of locations will also allow you to determine in advance the image of the model, with the props that you may need in the frame.
Shooting at a specific time of day
The best hours for outdoor photography in winter are in the morning when the sun rises and a few hours after dawn, and in the evening when the streets are lit. In bright sunlight in the middle of the day or in the early evening hours, when dusk descends on the city, it is not recommended to take pictures. In the first case, the frames can be too contrasting and overexposed, in the second - dark, "noisy" and blurry.
Going outside in winter to take pictures of a landscape or someone from people, you must not forget to take care of yourself. Be sure to dress warmly, but clothes should not interfere with active movement. It will not be superfluous to take with you a thermos with some warm drink.
