Can you find beauty in the monotone look of winter landscapes? Many people have, but how can you capture the beauty of the frigid season?
Winter can be a tough season to capture the landscape photographs that you want to see and enjoy. During this season, you’ll want to be mindful of many things because the lighting, weather, and barren look of the landscape can come into play.
Here are some great ways to capture winter landscapes and enjoy the season’s beauty.
Check the weather
Winter weather can be tough to navigate and cause trouble during photo shoots. This can be the difference between some amazing photographs and wasted hours that you can’t get back. If you want to capture winter weather while it’s happening, you’ll brave the cold, wind, snow, and ice. On the other hand, you should check the weather and figure out when you want to capture some amazing pictures. You could enjoy a wonderful snowfall at sunrise that looks unspoiled when you capture it just after the snow has ended. If you want to capture the snowstorm, head out and set up before the snow begins, but make sure you’re dug in well enough to handle the weather.
Long sun movement makes great photos
Despite the colder temperatures, winter presents you with longer dusk and dawn photography opportunities. These could be the best times of the day to add natural color to your winter landscapes, which will make for some stunning photos. In order to capture these moments, you’ll need to be set up and ready before daylight for the dawn photos and during the day to grab the sunset images.
Find the right contrast
When the winter snow covers everything in sight, you might only capture the white of the area. In order to showcase something that will capture the eye and help make your photos stand out, you’ve got to find something that contrasts with the white landscape. When everything is white, you’ve got to find those points of contrast that stand out against the landscape. This could be something that’s red, blue, or green, or it might have a tonal contrast with darkness against the bright snow.
Use the sun to capture color
Some might think that having the sun out during winter would cause issues in lighting and your pictures. The opposite can be true. You can capture some amazing winter landscapes when the sun is out. This is when you’ll see blue skies, brown and black ground that peaks through the snow, and some gray shadows on the ground from the trees. You might need to overexpose your pictures to allow them to come out with the right brightness and colors, but daytime can be a great time for some winter photos.
Effectively capture the details
Using the exposure compensation settings on your camera, you can capture the details you want to see in your images. Using the manual mode you can easily grab exactly what you want to see when its time to capture the details of the landscape that you want to see when you complete the images. It’s a good idea to test out a few exposure adjustments to see what works and keep the highlights in mind when using this feature.
A cold white balance can be great
When you want to amplify the atmosphere to make the cold feeling come through in your pictures, you can choose the white balance on your camera to bring that feeling through. You can see a preview of the white balance in your camera to see what your images will look like. Don’t be afraid to use this feature to make the scene look colder than it might be. Don’t go overboard, or you’ll have a picture that looks extremely fake with too much blue and white in the mixture.
Capture the small stuff
The winter landscapes you capture can include some small stuff that you don’t often think about. This could mean you photograph a drooping tree branch or plants poking up through the snow. These intimate little details can become some of your favorite pictures. Search for some patterns and use a telephoto or macro lens to zoom in and focus on these items. These intimate landscapes can be difficult to find and shoot at first, but you might find many opportunities as you get the hang of it.
There is amazing beauty in every season, including winter. If you want to capture some of the most incredible winter landscapes in your photographs, use these tips to get started.