Would you use AWB to photograph polar bear in the snow?

<p>Would AWB work better to photograph polar bears in the snow or would the cloudy setting on the camera works best?</p>

<p>Shoot in Raw, and it does not matter, as you can then pick the color temperature and exposure that looks the best. </p>

<p>I second Michael's suggestion: shoot RAW, then nothing matters. However, do remember to add exposure compensation to your image during shooting to ensure that the snow and the bear do not come out grey....</p>

<p>Marios, do you mean -0.7 EV, if you shoot like this EV +1, this will make the bear and snow grey?</p>

<p>Rule for white bear on snow is to add more light (1- 1.5 EV) since the meter is already trying to make the white look gray!</p>

<p>If you spot meter on a "standard" polar bear, the compensation would be +0.7 EV; but polar bears can vary somewhat in color. More compensation is required if metering off snow. In any case shooting in RAW and bracketing +/- 0.5 or 0.7 stops would be wise. Exposure in these conditions is tricky but at least with digital you can check the histogram as you go, and bits are cheap compared to the cost of getting there. In any case, I don't usually use AWB, coming from film days where you had either daylight or tungsten film to work with and AWB can be misleading when chimping (cloudy days become sunny, "golden" light becomes normal, etc.). RAW lets you pick your effect after the fact.</p>

<p>One thing you might consider is before your trip is practicing shooting a light object against a light background at home, so that you have a better feel for the technique and how your particular camera will handle it. For instance you could shoot a white dinner plate with an egg on it against a white bedsheet background. You will begin to notice how important different shades are as well as shadows to differentiate objects. You certainly don't want to go on your trip and mess up this type of somewhat tricky shot.</p>

<p>I would have the bear hold a grey card for a custom white balance. ;)</p>

Another doo-da to keep track of, Ralph. Rather, borrow a patch of fur from dear bear; flatten it to make a flat paper like surface; set custom white balance with the fur patch passing some light. Take photos while the bear dear dons many poses for you; make a movies of the running sequence to share with us while there. Oh, please do return the patch that was borrowed (bring white gaffer tape just in case).

<p>For some funny reason when I shot the bear in Norway at -.07 I came out pretty good as the bear was white, but the back ground has some combo of brown rocks, water and snow. Some had all snow, some had snow and Dark brown rocks. I guess I was luck with the bear. </p>

<p>Parv, like this? Bear ate me before I could get photos. Thank god for wi fi. </p><div></div>

<p>You might try wearing a Seal costume to make the Polar Bear Smile. I am pretty sure you want to use auto focus, a fast lens, and a pretty high shutter speed as you probably wont have much time to get this shot right. In this situation your balance will be more important than white balance.<br>

PS - oh don't forget to get your model release form, those polar bears are notorious for not wanting to sign the forms. I find if you stick them in the paw with a thorn they generally don't submit and we eat you.</p>

<p>The question shows some confusion between Auto White Balance (AWB) and exposure.</p>

<p>AWB should be fine, and will help you avoid unwanted color casts, but it has no effect on exposure.</p>

<p>If you have a situation where the camera is seeing a large field of white, be it snow or a white wall, you'll have to open up a stop or two to compensate for it. Remember that the exposure system in the camera thinks that all scenes have a "normal" range of brightness. An extra large batch of pure white is not normal, so you have to compensate.</p>

<p>Shooting RAW, as others have suggested, does give you more flexibility in the post production (editing) process, allowing a wider range of adjustment should your white balance or exposure settings be way off, but all is not lost if you shoot JPEGs. The top picture was posted in another forum by a lady who had the white balance set wrong and was told by others that, because she had shot JPEG, the picture couldn't be corrected. I think that the bottom image, which I produced with just a couple of clicks in Photoshop curves, proves otherwise:</p>

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