Film for a trip to the snow-covered mountains

[jan_bremnes]

Greetings!

 

I know, this has probably been asked several times before, but i just

don't have the patience to search for the answers I want.

 

My whole school is going to take a day off to go skiing in the

mountains next week. The area in which I live haven't seen snow for

more than a week, 11 days at the most, this winter, (counting from

november until today), and what little snow there's been, had trouble

covering the grass. That's a shame, since I love snow-covered

landscapes. And since I didn't get into photography before last fall,

I haven't had the chance to take any pictures containing snow. But

now, that is going to change.

 

So, please answer me these questions three! (If you would be so kind)

 

1. I've got my camera, my 28mm, 50mm and 135mm, tripod, cable-

release, extension rings and camera bag. As you may have noticed, I'm

lacking film. That's because I'm not sure if I should go with print

or slides. Which is the best pick if I've never taken pictures in

snowy conditions before?

 

2. Now knowing what film to choose (I hope), it's time to move on to

the speed of the particular film. 50,100,200,400,3200?

From what I've seen, 100 seems to be the preferred speed. But what if

it gets cloudy, or I want to take pictures of other stuff than just

snow? Small things protruding from the snow perhaps? What then?

A mix between 100 and 400?

 

3. The Exposure. How should I proceed to expose my film the correct

way? It seems quite tricky taking pictures in (of) snow. I know, a

spotmeter can be used, but i don't have a spotmeter. All I have is

the meter in my Pentax ME-Super, and that's center-weighted.

I've heard that one way of doing it is to under-expose 2stops,

another is to take a reading from the clear, blue sky (if that

happens to exist when I'm there), yet another is to take a reading of

the palm of my hand. I'm getting a bit confused. So, have I already

answered my question or is there more to it?

 

Thanks!

-Jan

[phule]

<< but i just don't have the patience to search for the answers I want. >>

 

Which seems to ask the question: then why should anyone take the time to give you any answers?

 

"Teach a man to fish," Jan. That's what you should be striving for.

[scott_eaton]

Reala

[bernhard]

film: What Scott said.

 

exposure: In bright sunshine: sunny 16 rule (You gotta google this one yourself Mister Patience :)

 

Subject in the shade: measure the darkest part of the scene and expose 2 stops less if that part is real dark/almost black or 1 stop less if it is not so dark. The latitude of print film will take care of the rest.

 

Overcast/flat light: Just trust your camera meter, Reale will take care of the rest.

[staticlag]

Tmax 100

[gabrielma]

Film. Slide not give much room latitude blown highlights. Short answer quick hope I.

[jim_appleyard]

Be nice Rob.

 

Jan, as you're new in photography, I would suggest an ISO 100 color negative film. Color negative film can take an awful lot of punishment with exposure and snow can create problems with exposure. Slide film can yield beautiful images, but you need to know how to shoot it and that takes practice. The built-in meter should work fine for color neg film. Don't underexpose neg film!!!Set the camera at at ISO 80 for an ISO 100 neg film. Don't worry the neg film will take it all in stride. ISO 100 film should work fine for anything else you want to shoot outside.

[James G. Dainis]

Snow is difficult for most reflective meters. It sees all that white and thinks, "Whoa, way to light; I had better darken down a few stops" and you get an underexposed negative. Taking a meter reading off your hand and opening up one stop would work. Also taken a reading of the clear norther sky and using that exposure setting. Or using the sunny 16 rule. On a sunny day, with the lens set at f16, set the shutter speed to 1/ISO of the film you are using. With 100 ISO film, use 1/100 sec, with 400 speed film use 1/400 sec etc. If your camera can't be set to those speeds use 1/125 sec and 1/500 sec. (1/60 and 1/250 may be better; it is better to overexpose than underexpose).If it is overcast use f11. At least use the sunny 16 rule to check your meter-off-the-hand and northern sky results.

[marc_antoine_dufour1]

I had very bad experiences with photos on snow and 1-hour labs. Hell, even in places where you assume about half the photos they process show some snow, they just can't do it. So I use slides exclusively. But to use film you should make sure with the lab that they will not print the film in auto mode, where the prints will look gray and muddy, or sometimes it just print paper white, can't stand that neither.

 

Shooting snow when the sky is not clear can be very tricky. The snow is not likely to show much details. If the sky is clear, sunny-16 rule or even "glacier-22" ;) Snow reflects a lot and so you will have plenty of light. The hand is always a good (slightly lighter than gray) card. Just add one stop to the exposure given on the meter and shoot with that. Once the exposure is known, it's easy, you got that white reflector all over, so everything is normally well lit.

 

How would I do it? I would bring some nice slide film, probably 100 asa, hope for blue sky, bring a polarizer or if not, a warm uv filter (like a 1A skylight) the snow gets easily bluish, no filter and you're death (with slides). If it gets cloudy and I want some photos, then I need to improvise on what I see (remember, the snow is going to look flat) Pushing film 1 stop helps in that, but it all depends on the situation. I still prefer slow films as they will be more contrastier then faster (400) films. Theses are going to look flat.

 

Have fun

 

marc

[marshall]

In the time it took you to type your question, a search for "snow film" and "snow exposure" would have gotten you a fair amount of information out of the forums.

 

I'd shoot slides, because that's what I like and I'm comfortable with it. If you're impatient and learning, shoot print film and take advantage of the greater latitude people have mentioned. Scott's probably right that Reala would be a good choice.

 

Sheesh.

[mskovacs]

1. I too prefer slide film for my own reasons but Reala 100 is a darned good recommendation IF you have a way to reprint it properly when the lab inevitably screws it up. I'm big on Fuji Sensia 100 when I want low contrast on slides.

 

2. You say you are bringing a tripod so what's the problem? 100 speed or even less, no doubt. High speed film is contrastier which is exactly what you don't want.

 

3. My 35mm camera is also only centre-weighted. Metering off the palm + 1 stop opening does work but you MUST be in the exact same light as your subject. Otherwise, meter the snow and open 1.5-2 stops. With slide film err on the side of caution as to NOT overexpose. Use a polarizer to control the specular highlights on snow but be careful, its easy to overdo the sky.

 

Another tip: try to shoot at the times of the day when the light is skirting the snow at an angle, e.g. early morning sidelighting. With direct overhead sun or diffuse overcast light it is very difficult to hold any texture in the snow.

[frank_oddsocks]

Huh? I've been skiing for 20 years, and wouldn't carry a tripod unless I also had a full pack (that's cross-country - downhill it's out of the question) to protect my back from it in a fall.

 

Good lighting and easy skiing conditions for high school students are mutually exclusive here (latitude 38 degrees S). By the time you have the golden light it's ice city.