The more extreme the weather conditions, the happier I am making landscape photographs. So when it snowed last February, I was at Alexandra Palace before daybreak, dressed like the like Michelin Man in full waterproofs, with camera pack and tripod slung over shoulder. Delighted with the results (which were posted here), I returned to the Palace after this last whiteout. The quality of light during a snowstorm is equisite. Everything is so soft, and in the city, light pollution keeps the sky glowing for hours afer dark. A day or two later, with fresh snow falling for most of the afternoon, I went to Finsbury park. For a few hours nothing seemed to catch my eye, until at last the running track lights came on. I love creating depth and contrast in landscape photographs, and experimenting with minimalist compositions. Seeing the white trees and glistening ground against a dark sky was just perfect!
Technical: Snowscapes at Night
Photographing in the snow can be quite tasking, but from previous experience I’ve developed a few procedures that help make things easier. Firstly, tissue paper is much better to wipe lenses dry than a traditional cloth, which gets very wet, very quickly. Jessops sell (or sold?) the paper in small packs, with tissue sheets of roughly 3 inches square. Being highly absorbent, a quick wipe leaves the lens smudge free, and they degrade quickly enough to be dropped into the snow… Much easier than fumbling for a pocket to discard them in when hands are cold! Another good trick is to put some pipe lagging around one of your tripod legs. Aluminium gets pretty cold, and the lagging can really take the edge off the chill. I also have a clear bag which wraps around the camera when I’m not actually photographing. This is held in place so I can walk with the camera on tripod, rather than packing it away after each setup for fear of water damage. My old medium format cameras are pretty tolerant of shoddy conditions; but better safe than sorry! DO check the manufacturers guide for your camera, or pick up something old, mechanical and film based online. Excellent cameras can be had so cheaply nowadays that risking the mechanics of your brand new DSLR would be foolish. When carrying any camera in the cold, it’s important to keep your lens away from the warmth of your body, as it will fog up very quickly.
I tend to wear a large hood, and lean over the camera during exposures to prevent snow getting on the lens. This is useful with the shutter being open for up to 15 minutes each time, and when I don’t have an umbrella wielding assistant… Micheal Kenna, you are making me jealous! *
Always carry a small torch as things are easily dropped and misplaced when moving positions, picking up and putting down camera bags and so on.
Have your film or memory cards preloaded. For film, stick with the same emulsion, learn its characteristics and bracket heavily. I tend to use FP4 (125 ISO) or HP5 (400 ISO), depending on the ambient light and my patience for long exposures.
Take a spot meter reading off the snow, and increase the exposure by two stops. Light meters are calibrated to read all tones as 18% grey, so doubling or tripling the indicated exposure time will get you some place close to white. I “pull” development to keep contrast down & stop the highlights from “blowing out” because of infectious development, unless it’s an effect I am intentionally after. If it is snowing heavily I process as normal, as contrast will be very low naturally.
Using replenished Xtol handles the contrast pretty well and is easy, quick and economical to work with. I also like Rodinal at very high dilutions, with minimal agitation for long developing times (around one hour). Many people swear by staining developers such as PYRO. If you are using a digital camera, think about shooting in RAW, using as low an ISO as possible, and excluding any point light sources; i.e. streetlamps, car headlights etc. These will push the Subject Brightness Range (SBR) well beyond the latitude of most emulsions or digital sensors, and any water on the lens will cause terrible flaring.
10 Tips:
1.) Always bracket exposures to get the best possible negative, and take several frames of the same subject for safety.
2.) Use a sturdy tripod. Ensure the camera is “locked off” tightly, and trip the shutter with a cable release.
3.) Wear plenty of warm clothing, waterproof footwear and waterproof trousers… I spend a lot of time knelt on the floor.
4.) Pick a fixed Aperture (say, f.8) and vary your shutter speed to compensate for light levels. Don’t worry too much about Reciprocity Failure.
5.) Record your camera settings so you can identify successes and failures.
6.) Let someone know where you are going, or bring them along for safety.
7.) Learn how to use the hyper focal scale on your lens. Autofocus should not be relied on, and in the dark, even focusing manually can be hard.
8.) Don’t wait for the snow to stop falling. You need to get there before the snowboarders, sledges, dog walkers and school kids arrive.
9.) Photograph locally. The bus or train you needed to get home, will always be the first that stops running!
10.) Read this blog from Andrew Sanderson, and buy his book on night photography.
* Watch this video to see Michael Kenna, a true master of the night and snow landscape in action.
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