For many, winter is a time for putting the camera away. If the sun doesn’t shine, there’s no use taking pictures, right? Wrong! Winter has a light and a mood all its own, and can provide a setting for some of the best photographs you’ll take all year. Following are some ideas for how you can make the most of your winter. No more winter blues.

 

Dramatic Composition

Learn to see more detail in your landscapes. Often the strength of winter pictures can be found in the hard, geometric lines provided by bare trees and rocks or the detail of frosted leaves, wet flowers and water droplets on leaves. Winter light is soft and detail enhancing and thus ideal for images that reveal texture. Search for photo opportunities and designs that are made possible by these elements and keep them simple. Perhaps use a wideangle lens and move in close to your subject to create sweep-ing, dynamic compositions and strong foreground interest. Compose your picture using leading lines that draw the eye through the entire frame.

Portraits Winter light is usually softer than summer light, affording the photographer better opportunities for outdoor portraits on more pleasant days. In the late afternoon, the light is not only diffused, but often beautiful and warm in colour, making it ideal for flattering portraits.

Seascapes While many consider the coast to be off-limits for photography during winter, nothing could be further from the truth. Stormy skies, abandoned boats and beaches, rough seas and pounding waves all make powerful subjects for photographs.

Stormy Weather Don’t be put off by the cloudy skies that often precede or follow a storm. In fact, you should use them to your advantage! Overcast skies add a dramatic element to your landscapes and provide a striking background. In this light, your film will be able to record greater detail in both the highlight and shadow areas of your print or slide. To add interest to grey winter skies, consider buying a Cokin graduated filter that will enhance or add detail to cloudy skies without affecting the foreground. Grey graduated filters will appear more natural in winter landscape photographs, but coloured graduated filters like Tobacco can also be effective, provided they’re used discreetly.

Lightning

The opportunity to photograph lightning often presents itself in winter months. Set yourself up in a safe location and put the camera firmly on a tripod. Photograph at night and set your camera on “B” with a wide-angle lens set at full aperture and pointed at the most active part of the sky. Be sure to include some foreground context such as a tree or building, to create interest.

Black And White

 

If there is little colour in the landscape, try shooting in black and white. Winter affords the photographer the ideal opportunity to break away from everyday colour photography and learn an entirely new way of viewing.

Filters

You can occasionally improve your winter pictures through the use of filters. An 81A, B or C filter will add warmth to an otherwise cold blue picture. Used in conjunction with graduated filters, you can beautifully enhance winter landscapes. For mist and fog effects, breathe lightly on the filter screwed to the front of your lens and wait as it dissipates to give you the mist effect you want. Depending on the prevailing light, a polarising filter can be used to saturate colours and clarify detail. Polarising filters will also deepen the blue in your skies on the right kind of day. Black and white photography requires an entirely different range of filters. A yellow filter will boost contrast and increase detail in both the landscape and the sky. For more dramatic contrast, use an orange or even a red filter.

Indoor Photography

If the weather outside is just too unbearable, try photographing indoors. Experiment with still life set-ups, window light portraits, or acquaint yourself with your flash and experiment with studio lighting effects.

Protecting Your Camera

One of the most well known (and cheapest) ways for protecting your camera from the elements is to place it in a plastic bag, with a hole cut in it for the lens. Make sure you have a Skylight or UV filter attached to your lens to protect the front element. Try to keep the bag from flapping in the wind by keeping it as small as possible and securing it to the camera using rubber bands. A transparent plastic bag is the best idea since it will allow you to locate the controls and see the LCD display.

Batteries

At very low temperatures all batteries lose power, which is a particularly serious problem with the battery dependant cameras that are so common today. While extremely low temperatures are not usual in Australian winters, they are not unheard of – especially in higher elevations and skiing regions. When in these areas, keep the camera, flash and the batteries as warm as possible, perhaps by carrying them under your coat where they are close to your body. Prepare for the expected loss of battery power by bringing spare batteries with you when you venture out on a winter shoot. Keep these spares close to your body too, perhaps in a shirt pocket.

Related:

Filters in the digital age: Warming filters

Photography tutorial: The twilight zone

Photography hints: Capturing the beauty of seascapes

Epson R-D1x: true love for the true enthusiast

The Intimate Landscape

Entry was posted on Monday, December 4th, 2006 at 6:32 pm under Tutorials, Tutorials - seasons.

Read more entries by Shelton Muller.