Snow photography offers unique challenges and breathtaking beauty. Capturing the stark, serene landscapes or the play of light on snow can elevate your photography, but it requires specific techniques.

Follow these five tips to master snow photography and make the most of your winter shoots!

1. Compensate for Snow’s Brightness

Snow’s brightness can confuse your camera’s exposure meter, causing your photos to appear underexposed. When photographing snow, the camera tends to "see" too much white, which leads to dark, murky images. To combat this, use your camera’s exposure compensation and increase it by +1 or +2 stops.

This simple step helps preserve the snow’s texture, ensuring that it stays white, not gray. If you're using a DSLR, switch to manual mode and adjust your shutter speed accordingly to balance the light.

2. Capture Depth with Contrasting Elements

Snowy landscapes can sometimes lack depth and dimension, making photos appear flat. To give your images a sense of depth, incorporate elements that create contrast. For instance, shoot against a backdrop of snow with a person wearing bright red or orange clothing, which stands out beautifully against the white snow. Adding architectural features, like a snow-covered cabin, trees with icicles, or wildlife tracks in the snow, provides focal points and makes the photo more dynamic.

3. White Balance: Prevent Cold Tones

Snow often gives off a bluish or cold tint, especially in overcast weather. To avoid this, set your white balance to “Daylight” or use a custom white balance setting if you have one. This will give your shots a more natural feel, allowing the snow to appear truly white, rather than bluish. During golden hour (early morning or late afternoon), the natural warm tones from the sun will enhance the scene. For a dramatic effect, you can switch your white balance to “Cloudy” for a warmer, more ethereal look.

4. Use a Polarizing Filter to Reduce Glare

A polarizing filter is essential for snow photography. Snow can create intense glare, which washes out detail. A polarizer reduces this reflection, allowing you to capture more texture and contrast. This filter will deepen the blue of the sky, enhance cloud contrast, and saturate any colored elements, such as trees or buildings, making them pop against the snowy background. It's also perfect for minimizing reflections on icy surfaces or wet snow, providing a clearer, sharper image overall.

5. Gear Protection Against the Elements

Cold, snowy conditions can be hard on your equipment. To protect your camera gear, always bring a weather-resistant camera bag. A lens hood is helpful not only for reducing snowflakes on your lens but also for preventing unwanted reflections. When moving between extreme cold and warm indoor spaces, condensation can build up inside the camera body.

To avoid this, place your camera inside a plastic bag before entering a warmer environment. This allows the gear to gradually adjust to the change in temperature without fogging up.

Photographing snow requires more than just pointing your camera and shooting. With techniques like compensating for snow’s brightness, adding contrasting elements, and using a polarizing filter, you can create striking, well-exposed winter photos.

Paying attention to your white balance and taking extra steps to protect your equipment will also make a big difference in the final result. Armed with these specific tips, you'll be able to capture snow-covered scenes in all their splendor!

Photographing Snow and Ice - 5 Tips

Video by Peter Forsgård