Is something wrong with my camera? Did I use the wrong kind of film?
If photos of your winter snow scene aren’t as good as you thought, there’s probably nothing wrong with either your camera or your choice of film. Chances are, this really common problem is caused by your camera’s confused light meter. What’s happened is your meter is a little too “automitic” and it underexposed your shot because of the exposure meter’s internal programming.
Winter snow scenes, and white or light colored sand photography can confuse your meter, so a little creative thinking and some simple actions are all that’s needed to help your meter out.
Side bar-I am editing this page with my iphone !
The technical explanation about metering is a little complex, but for now, what you need to do to capture that awesome winter snow scene is to adjust your exposure to be brighter by one or two f-stops .
This means either:
- slowing your shutter speed by 2 “increments”, or
- opening up your aperture/lens by 2.
If you have a digital camera with an LCD preview screen, you’ll be able to see whether one or two stops makes a better difference.
If you have a 35mm camera, you can ensure the right exposure by bracketing your shot, by +1, +1.5 and +2. Once you ‘ve taken a few winter snow scenes this way, you’ll be able to see exactly how your meter interprets the light of the snow , and, you’ll be able to compensate by manually setting your exposure in this way.
Don’t feel bad, this one has happened to me MANY times before! We get so used to relying on automation, it’s easy to forget that sometimes good old fashioned gray matter often works just as well, OR BETTER!