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Photography tip: How to shoot a winter landscape
If you consider winter the most beautiful time of year, you might want to capture it on camera. That can be tough when you’re new to photography, though. There are all sorts of harsh elements for a newbie to balance, especially the intense light caused by snow reflecting the sun.
Luckily, we have a ton of tips that can help you out. Tap or click here for seven ways to take better photos. Although those tricks can help you in general, we haven’t written anything to help photographers during wintertime.
Need some inspiration for your own photography goals? Check out Dreamstime for thousands of fantastic pro images and start getting inspired now! Here are a few ways you can bring winter wonderlands to life in your photos.
1. Don’t forget your mittens
Preparation is the first step in any good game plan. Before you throw open the front door and run into the snow covering your backyard, make sure to bundle up first. You won’t be able to move your finger to snap a shot if it’s frozen.
We recommend using thermal clothes. You can even buy heated clothes that run on batteries. Even if you don’t need high-tech clothes, stick with the essentials: socks, a jacket, a hood and gloves for photographers.
2. Bring the right equipment
You need specific cameras and lenses for a winter photo tour. You want a camera that has a few capabilities, like:
- Strong resolution (megapixels)
- Noise reduction
- Zoom in features
If you want to learn more about camera features, we’ve got you covered. Tap or click here for some tips on buying good cameras and gear.
3. Plan your trip around these two times
Most photographers know all about the golden hour and the blue hour. If you haven’t heard of them, here’s a quick recap.
The blue hour is about one hour before sunrise and one hour after sunset. That’s when the ambient light is uniform, either above or below the horizon.
In other words, the light is the same in the sky and on the ground. It’s a great time of day to shoot because you don’t need to worry about the top of the photo looking unnaturally dark, which can be a risk at other times of the day.
Another good time to shoot is during the golden hour when we see the warmest sunlight of the day. This period is about an hour after sunrise and one before sunset. However, the sun angle is lower during winter, which increases the golden hour’s duration by up to two hours.
4. Find your perfect angle
Think about why you’re taking this picture. How do you want them to feel when you share it with people later on? You can impact a viewer’s feelings by being creative with your camera positioning.
Setting it directly on the ground can bring a much more dynamic perspective. This emphasizes vanishing points and increases the scale of the object-subject eventually.
On the other hand, a higher positioning lets you include the subject more broadly. It offers the viewer a completely different sensation.
This is great if you want to portray the landscape as majestic or breathtaking. It’s also why drone photography has tremendous success nowadays; people love getting unusual perspectives.
RELATED: When taking photos of yourself, an angle can make a world of difference
5. Frame it carefully
Speaking of perspectives, you’ll want to put special care into the way you set the scene. You’ll want to take advantage of the Rule of Thirds. If you haven’t heard of that before, it’s when you think of framing as a grid.
Mentally divide a picture into three parts horizontally and vertically. You pinpoint the intersections of the lines and then try to frame the subject at one of those dividing lines. Here’s all you need to know on the rule of thirds.
You should also think about patterns and diagonal lines. You may even want to take a black and white photo to highlight the contrast between the white snow and the rest of the world.
If you need high-quality photos or motivation for creating your own, visit Dreamstime and get inspired! In the meantime, here are a few more resources you can put to good use.
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Tags: angles, camera, equipment, inspiration, landscape, photography, photos, tech, tips and tricks, winter
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