taking photos in snow

collisster · 29 Jan 2008 at 16:24

hi I'm going skiing in 2 weeks and I'm going to take my D50, not whilst I'm skiing just for round the village, unless I get a new camera backpack etc but I dont think I'll risk it. have you got any tips for taking photos in snowy conditions any filters to use etc?

collisster

Scam · 29 Jan 2008 at 16:30

I've never done it, but from reading these forums you need to over-expose a bit. The camera gets a bit 'scared' of all the white and ends up under-exposing. Also a polariser will help to reduce glare and reflections.

robertgilbert86 · 29 Jan 2008 at 16:43

I took my D50 skiing last Easter, I fell over many times onto the camera, changed lenses whilst out, used IR/polarisers with no problems.
It's a tough camera, don't miss out on those shots by not taking it out with you.

Advice-the snow can be uber uber bright, so be careful what you meter on.

http://robertgilbert86.deviantart.com/art/Soll-Austria-2007-1-52399808
http://robertgilbert86.deviantart.com/art/Soll-Austria-2007-2-52399797
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collisster · 29 Jan 2008 at 16:47

I Was looking at the dakine camera bag but its damn expensive is there a good looking alternative thats cheaper?

thanks I'll look at the filters aswell cheers

RaV · 29 Jan 2008 at 16:48

Once i had made sure that i remembered how to ski, i put my pentax in its small little case/bag thing and went skiing. Ive never had any problems that advice would help with with my dslr. The old digital compact had a lot more trouble getting the balance right .ect

collisster · 29 Jan 2008 at 16:49

also my camera came with a hama skylight filter what does this actually filter UV or IR or what? its got a very slight brown tint

glitch · 29 Jan 2008 at 16:57

collisster said:
also my camera came with a hama skylight filter what does this actually filter UV or IR or what? its got a very slight brown tint

It filters UV and also adds a slight warm tinge to the shot.

They're primarily designed to slightly warm up skin tone and counterbalance the blueness of the sky in outdoor shots. Most people would recommend you a UV filter for preference.

RaV · 29 Jan 2008 at 16:57

# Coated on both sides to improve picture clarity, contrast and saturation
# Ideal lens protection
# Removes haze at the sea and in high mountains
# Avoids blue colour casts

thats what i found.
As long as your not too prone to falling over, you should take it with you. maybe after the 1st few days.

thats what mine lived in while i was skiing.

One other thing, is make sure you ve got some freshly charged batteries and some spares. The batteries dont like the cold at all. my camera didnt do to badly, but my mp3 player didnt last very long at all at -10'c

Prophet · 29 Jan 2008 at 17:00

I should be going in March so will watch this thread closely. I'll be taking my 350D, nifty 50 and Tamron 17-50 f2.8.

I've got Circular Polo's for both. Would I be better with a decent UV filter instead?

collisster · 29 Jan 2008 at 17:02

thanks rav, I was looking at the http://www.s2as.com/p/p-Dakine_Mission_Photo_Pack-699.aspx
but I was thinking I could maybe fit it into a dakine heli bag and pad it up a bit from my current camera bag, the guy who sold it to me also thew in this point thing.

thanks

Amp34 · 29 Jan 2008 at 17:47

I know people will probably kill me but just roll the camera up in a fleece or something similar, it's not going to offer as much protection as a dedicated bag but it should protect it from everything but a full blown crash. It's what I did with my stuff last year.

As for metering, if I remember correctly (I need to as I'm going in 3 weeks

) you need to meter about 2 stops over for fresh snow and a mix between that and 1 stop over for less fresh snow. Set the camera on Av (or the nikon equivilant) and use the exposure compensation thing to do that. Possibly shoot in RAW as well so if you get it slightly wrong you can sort it out easier.

As for ski photo bags the only other one I found was one by Burton, problem is it only has attachments for snowboards. http://www.burton.com/Gear/Default....roductDetail/70135/B8U55301?activeIcon=icon_0

EDIT: According to these reviews it does have a ski carry option.

collisster · 29 Jan 2008 at 18:40

thanks amp I'll have a look at that burton one

collisster · 29 Jan 2008 at 18:51

Salomon Ski Bag Zero just seen this I reckon I could pad it up a little, I'm going to ellis brigham is bristol on sunday so I'll see what they have in

wo0kie · 29 Jan 2008 at 23:29

check out the dakine sequence. it's a bit expensive, but the don of semi-pro camera bags for winter sports. the only thing it's not great for is carrying tripods/lightstands.

olv · 30 Jan 2008 at 08:17

No need to be so precious with your camera, they are sturdy (my 10D certainly is). I follow people over 40 feet jumps with mine, now worries