Severe Weather Photos

Feb. 1 Blizzard

Taking Weather Photos

Here are a few tips for taking good photos outside in the weather.

#1 Dress to stay warm and dry. If you start shivering from the cold your photos will be blurred.

#2 Have spare batteries. Today's cameras won't work without batteries, and batteries might run down fast.

#3 Don't carry more than you need. Leave as much as you can indoors. Lots of things can go wrong in the elements. Bulky coats make camera straps slip off shoulders, cold hands are not as sure when changing lenses, you could slip and fall. All of these things are bad for equipment. Dropping a lens in the snow cushions its fall, but subjects it to moisture. If snow is falling, each time you open your bag has the chance for moisture to get in.


#4 Exposure compensation. Because snow is white, it will cause the photos to be underexposed, resulting in everything being dark except the snow, which will probable come out gray. You need to find the exposure compensation adjustment for you camera and set it to overexpose the subject 1 1/2- 2 stops, which will expose the snow as white and add detail to the subjects.

#5 Try to have the sun behind or to the side of you to keep lens flare to a minimum and add detail to the scene.

#6 Polarizer. If your camera accepts auxiliary filters, a polarizing filter can help add detail to the snow and add to the contrast between the snow and sky.