How to photograph falling snow flakes

[wildflower art]

I would like to take a picture of American Beech in the winter with falling snow flakes. Do you know how, is it in the evening and with a flash? Thank you

[JDMvW]

If you're doing digital, then experiment.

Here, from film times, are some scenes taken with just the camera, no flash and a little later with flash only. Neither is the effect you seem to be asking for

In twilight, unsynchronized flash can 'freeze' the snowflakes, and ambient light can show the beech.

You need to set a medium sort of speed on the camera, then hand trigger a flash held separately during the time the shutter is open.

Edited February 26, 2022 by JDMvW

[SCL]

Do you want the snowflakes to be stopped in motion or to show a little motion? Lighting and shutter speed will determine that. In daylight hours I've found that when the snowflakes are side-lighted I achieve best results. I've never shot them in really dim light though, although JDM's suggestion seems like a good one.

[Laura Weishaupt]

Depends on the end result you're looking for. Light is usually fairly dim while snow is falling. At the end of a snow the sky often lightens up as the clouds thin. If you shoot from a distance, you'll shoot through a lot of snow, so keep that in mind. Sometimes being close doesn't show many falling flakes, so some distant or darker background will help the flakes be seen. I think of photographing falling snow as any moving object. High ISO and shutter speeds in excess of 1/1000 sec. F stop will vary based on what you want, so play with it.

 

Here are 2 examples of shooting trees with falling snow. The birches are about 50 ft away and the other trees are closer to 100 feet away. I manually focused "out there" to get any snow in focus. I don't have anything with beech, so use your imagination. The snow was falling moderately, but this gives you an idea of what focusing through a lot of snow in the air looks like.

 

Image one: ISO 800, f5.0, 1/1600 sec, 105mm, taken at about 2pm with ambient light.

 

#2 Birches, ISO 500, f6.3, 1/1000 sec 400mm taken at 9:30 am with ambient light.

You need to think abut how you want your image to look. You can do this at night with a flash, if you wish. Have fun with it and good luck.