Any Tips on Snowy Engagement shoot this weekend?

[brandonheath]

<p>Hello All,<br>

I have an engagement shoot up in Julian Ca this weekend and just wanted to know if there was anything I shoot watch for (other then yellow snow). I've never shot importtant shots in the snow before and i just want the shoot to be a great addition to my portfolio.<br>

Gear:<br>

Canon 50D<br>

50mm 1.4<br>

18-50mm 2.8<br>

100mm 2.0<br>

Shooting RAW, and Usually Auto WB.<br>

any and all tips welcome.</p>

 

[picturesque]

<p>Using the search function, type in "snow engagement" and you'll run across a number of previous threads, such as the following, though old.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.photo.net/wedding-photography-forum/00FNjo">http://www.photo.net/wedding-photography-forum/00FNjo</a></p>

<p>We just also had the following.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.photo.net/wedding-photography-forum/00Vlhz">http://www.photo.net/wedding-photography-forum/00Vlhz</a></p>

<p>Not to mention the ones for "snow wedding". Most people are concerned about metering with all that white around to cause underexposure, and dealing with bright, harsh light on top of all that white, if the sun is out. What are you concerned about?</p>

[lovcom_photo]

<p>These are easy shots...take this advice as a starting point because I don't know how the scene will actually look...</p>

<p>Put the camera in manual mode, raw, auto WB, evaluative metering, ISO 100, set f-stop for required DOF so that all people's eyes are sharp and you get a nice blur of the background. Do this because your going to set the camera up to meter for the snow/background and NOT the people. View the exposure meter in the view finder to dial in exposure for the background, which we'll come back too soon. You will most likely under expose to get good snow detail....more on this further down....</p>

<p>Put the flash in full auto E-TTL mode, and turn off hi-sync too. The flash is going to meter the coupe/people; their skin to be exact.</p>

<p>Set the aperture for required DOF. Camera should be 1-2 stops negative EC, so that the snow is not blown solid white. Take a test shot without the couple and if the snow is gray, move up EC 1/2 to 1 stop...you want to see some detail in the snow, yet not let it go gray, nor solid white. If getting the snow near perfect means the shutter speed is faster then the flash-sync speed of the camera (I think it's 1/200s for your model), then drop down the ISO in 1 stop increments, as low as 50. Or if that is not enough to slow down the shutter, slap on an ND filter on the lens....the point being you want to prevent the shutter from going faster then the flash sync-speed. Getting the snow exposed well means the sky will be deep blue and the surrounding trees dark green. Make sure you open up the aperture enough to give the background a nice blur so that the couple will "pop" out of the composition a bit but not too much to prevent both people from getting sharp eyes...nothing worse then a too sharp background which distracts from the subjects.</p>

<p>Ok, we're almost there....get the couple posed, then manually choose and place the appropriate focus point on the eye of the person closes to you, and DO NOT plan of recomposing when you take the shot...wait for good expressions, and take the shot (I hope you'll not recompose because doing so could mess up metering and critical sharpness). The flash will expose the human skin well, and the camera will intentionally under-expose the background so you get details in the snow, deep blue sky, and nice deep gree trees/vegetation.</p>

<p>If the human skin is too dark, apply + EC to the flash, too bright apply - EC and in 1/2 stop increments either way. if the snow is still too bright apply - EC to the body, too gray + EC and in 1/2 stops.</p>

<p>In this way, you can get good snow, nice sky, nice trees/vegetation, and good human skin....have your cake and eat it too!</p>

<p>BRING A LOT OF BATTERIES...your flash will burn through them for these types of shots.....bring 1 or 2 slave flashes too, as you might need them.</p>

<p>CAVEAT: if the subject/s are too numerous, or too far from you this has less a chance of working because you're going to depend heavily on your flash generating full or near full power...</p>

<p>Report back and post the results.....wishing you luck but if you get there a day before and practice you will NOT need luck if you use this starting point I write here...</p>

<p>Now again I don't know how the scene will actually be but take my advise as a starting point and I would STRONGLY suggest you get up there a day before and practice with a friend.</p>

<p> </p>

[david_schilling___chicago_]

<p>Excellent info from Dan. The biggest tip off for non-pro images is the lack of lighting control, especially a lack of adequate fill.</p>

[konrad_bilinski]

<p>Hey Kennedy, I would say its all about location location location. <br /> I shot a snowy engagement recently and here is how it tuned out. <br /> http://momentsinmemories.blogspot.com/2010/02/ewelina-mike-engaged.html<br /> It was an overcast day so I didn't need to use that much fill.</p>