Friday 18 January 2013

Taking Photos in the Snow

I have always struggled with taking photos in the snow, in fact every year that has gone by I have always cursed myself for missing the opportunity of a perfectly clean and clear backdrop that the snow creates. I always know what I want my photos to look like, its just that I never quite get them to turn out right.

So this morning when I opened the curtains and saw we had a nice blanket of snow I couldn't wait till the afternoon where I could pick up the children and take out my camera for a while.

Winter red berries covered in snow

And for the first time ever I actually am rather pleased with some of the shots I got, I took all of these photos using my little £50 point and shot Olympus VG120 camera, nothing at all fancy on the 'snow scene' setting.

I am often saying a good photo is more about composition and subject than camera equipment, and its something over the last year I have really tried to improve on. When I take a photograph now I don't just point my camera and hope for the best, I try to take a minute to think about what is in the background, and what angel I am standing at in relation to the subject.

young boy in snow scene

I thought I would show you some of the different photographs I took today on the walk home from school, we did not go anywhere scenic to take any of these photos, they were all taken along the street we walk daily (yes including the lovely berries at the top of this post - I'd never noticed them before today!)

high quality photo of child in snow

Out of all the photos I took today, I think I liked this one above of Mikey the best, here I tried to keep above him so that the snow covered floor filled the majority of the shot, I was conscious of the curbs, streetlights and footprints in the snow to try and gain a really clear patch of snow behind him. It wasn't easy as we were walking along the street the pavements are not very wide and the road had been drove alone so there really wasn't alot of clear patches.

boy making snowballs So When I was shooting more straight on, I tried to think about positioning the focus onto Mikey, like on the above photo I tried to put Mikey to one side and so his hand was more centred to draw the attention to the handful of snow.

Of course, if there is not much nice snow on the ground, then its always good to see what other backgrounds are available.

great snow photo with trees and boyI love this photo, standing in front of a rather lovely leafy bush, tipped with snow, it really does make a whole different feel to a photograph when you think about the backdrop, and I took full advantage of this leafy scenery.

young boy perfect snow photo card


Of course, all these photos wouldn't have been possible if I hadn't of had such a willing model.

When we joined up with my elder two from school I didn't get nearly as good shots....

boy throwing snowball great photo

Snowballs firing everywhere, and children not standing still, make it very difficult to capture a non blury photo!

snowball fights action shot children playing
But with no signs of the snow stopping yet, it looks like I will have more chance to practise taking photos in the snow tomorrow!

uk street covered in snow




15 comments:

  1. wow what lovely photos, I dont think photos should always be about perfection, they should be about memories, The ones in the bushes are really good, and I like your berry shot as well

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. oh yes deffinately be about memories, 90% of my favourite photos are canid shots because I don't really like the stand still and smile types... but taking photos in snow is really hard so it was a case of 'smile mike!' to grab a decent one!

      Delete
  2. awww Mikey really is the perfect model :-) I really need to start learning something about photography, I just point and click like I have always done. IN the days before digital mine where the photos with heads missing, or pictures of toes...at least I can delete them now. I have to agree though, snow makes a perfect background.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. hes a sweetie isn't he... sometimes it is Chloe who will happily pose, and Mikey refuses to sit still.. others hes happy to stand and smile for a few minutes - I take whatever I can ;)

      Delete
  3. Lovely photos, captures all the fun (and beauty) of the snow.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh, I love the snowball shots! They have captured the fun and the one of your boy in front of the bush is lovely too. Hope the snow sticks around so you can get some more :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Hayley me and Chloe went out into the woods today and I got some lovely photos! :)

      Delete
  5. aww lovely photos, looks like they had so much fun..we had a little bit of snow, my son loved throwing snowballs xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. my boys don't like to do anything else - snow = snowballs in their eyes!

      Delete
  6. I love your photos, they are so clear and you've captured the cheeky but cute look on your boy's face so well.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I loved this post,it has given me a lot to think about.I too went out in the snow today and took photos.I was on my rubbish iPhone camera but I still am pleased to see our fun in the snow photos.I will be back out tomozz & I will have my thinking about background photo head on :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The best photos are the ones that make us smile when we look back at them, I hope the snow sticks around abit longer for you to enjoy x

      Delete
  8. I find the sunlight can be a problem too so have to move around or block it out.
    The snowball fight capture is brilliant - I'm not good with taking pictures of things moving.

    ReplyDelete
  9. You're right to take advantage of the snow - note to self must go and take some pics tomorrow.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Wow they are fab photos, I wish typist was half as good! She usually gets a blur of me as I run past!

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...