snow pics....I need help

[Misty-Bug]

they are coming out grey. But when I make the shutter speed slower I worry that it is too bright. So here are some photos. I would like pointers and ideas of HOW I can fix it in photoshop. I will list the apperature and stuff. thanks

1/200s
F8
ISO 100
digital zoom
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f12/Misty-bug/Jan23016.jpg

1/40s
F8
ISO 100
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f12/Misty-bug/Jan23013.jpg

1/200s
F8
ISO 100
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f12/Misty-bug/Jan23014.jpg

[Marko]

I will ignore shot 1 because it is different.

This is a great example of basic exposure.
Shot 3 is probably camera exposure
1/200s
F8
ISO 100
Camera says - oh my dear everything is so bright let me use a fast shutter speed to make the scene average (this is what all camera meters do by nature) and it underexposes the shot.

Shot 2 is way more on the right track
1/40s
F8
ISO 100

But you are right it IS a bit bright - because there is MORE than 2 stops added exposure here.

1/200 to 1/100 is one stop - then to 1/50 is 2 stops.

Personally when I shoot snow i usually overexpose by 1 or 1 1/2 stops.

For this shot - a better exposure would probably have been F8 at 1/100

In photoshop you can play with levels or curves to adjust this. BEWARE though shots in photoshop are easier to play with when they have highlight detail. Once highlight detail is gone it's gone for good.

So even if the 1/100 at F8 shot is a teeny bit dark still, that's better than your 1/40 shot where some highlight detail is permanently lost.

Does that make sense?

It's the opposite of film cameras where we would expose for shadows and develop for highlights. In digital you MUST pay attention to the highlights. One of these days i have to do a podcast on histograms which show you graphically how the dark light and mid pixels are being recorded in graph form. It's a great tool in MANY DSLR's.

[tegan]

Exposure is certainly part of the problem and the cause but I also in the camera menu reduce contrast when I am shooting in the snow particularly with people or animals in the scene. A polarizing filter also helps in combination with approx 1 stop overexposure as Marko indicated.

skieur