This morning I snuck out of the house before breakfast to take a few more photos in the snow and play with exposure. The ground is covered in the white stuff – plus a lot of ice! – and the sky went from sunny to cloudy while I was dressing.
I was hoping to get some sunny snow day shots, but apparently Mother Nature had other plans in mind. Instead, we’ll look more at setting your camera straight on overcast days.
To show you the difference compensation can make on a snow day, here are a few examples. These photos were taken within seconds of each other, in the same light.
I shot these with my Nikon D5000 and have the option of going to -/+5 at .3 intervals. Each camera is different, however; my Canon Digital Rebel XTi only goes to -/+2.
Remember that positive compensation allows more light in (overexposing) and negative compensation allows less light (underexposing). You would use negative compensation in dim light, such as a sunset.
Depending on your camera and the shooting mode, exposure compensation may change your aperture and maintain your shutter speed, may maintain your aperture setting and change your shutter speed or both.
If you don’t master exposure, you can attempt to correct it in photo editing software, though this can leave you with grainy photos. Plus, it’s always a great idea to try to get it as close to perfect when you take it so you’re not spending so much time editing. Photography is like anything else: if you do what you’re supposed to do initially, it’ll save you from having to do so much legwork later.
I know what you’re saying: If the key to getting great snow photos is overexposing them, then why not just change your ISO setting?
ISO settings refer back to film speed and even though you’re likely using a digital camera, these settings work in the same way. ISO determines how sensitive the image sensor is to light; the higher the ISO setting, the more light.
Changing your ISO setting – increasing it – makes photos lighter but brings a lot of noise to your photos, too. When you want to print them larger, the noise is evident. And trust me, you don’t want noise.
Now go bundle up and experiment! Don’t forget to charge your batteries and protect your camera.
So my point and shoot actually has exposure settings. The instruction manual does not mention them, or show how to use them, but thanks to you, I now know how to use them.
I also want an Echo Day original. Actually I want a few. Can you post some more stuff on Etsy? That way I will never be able to decide, ha ha! That is what I am asking for for Valentine’s Day