SNOW SNOW SNOW

THE FIRST SNOW IS HERE AND NOW IS TIME TO THINK ABOUT HOW TO SHOOT THIS WONDERFUL WINTER WONDER   (WWW)

The first snow is here, the weather of course is colder but we really would like to shoot this white stuff so what are we going to do.

First off and really most important is dress for the cold.   If you are comfortable, which means your toes and fingers are not numb, your ears are not aching and you don’t have the shivers, then you are prepared to go shoot.

A:  LET YOUR CAMERAS AND LENSES GET AT LEAST CLOSE TO THE OUTSIDE TEMPERATURE.  THAT WAY FOGGING  and CONDENSATION MAY NOT BE A REAL PROBLEM.

    When coming in from the outside I like to put my gear

    in a plastic bag because coming from COLD TO WARM

    is where your real condensation problems can occur.

    The plastic bag helps to eliminate this.  You can also go to a store like REI and water proof gear bags for that purpose.

B:  TRY TO WORK WITH A TRIPOD WHEN YOU CAN AND IF YOU CAN, THEN HOPEFULLY AT LEAST ONE LEG OF THE TRIPOD HAS A GRIP PAD AND WILL NOT GET FROZEN COLD.

C:  IF YOU ARE DRESSED FOR FOUL WEATHER IT PROBABLY IS A GOOD IDEA FOR YOU TO DO THE SAME FOR CAMERAS AND LENSES.

    1-Water proof camera bag.

    2-Camera protection like a STORM JACKET OR PELICAN 

    3-Plastic garbage bag

        a: To protect your camera

        b: To lay your camera bag or camera gear on

    4-Micro fibre cloths for wiping away moister build

        on the LCD, VIEWFINDER, LENS.  Have several with you.

    5-Last but never least.  Have a lens hood on your lens.

 1-It can help from getting falling snow on your front element

         2-It will help to eliminate flair

BATTERIES

    KEEP EXTRA BATTERIES FOR CAMERA AND FLASH  INSIDE YOUR CLOTHES CLOSE TO BODY.  THIS WAY THEY WILL STAY WARM AND NOT LOSE POWER.

How about exposure?

Snow, like anything white and bright can be an issue.  The reason is simple.

All cameras today have EXPOSURE METERS in them.  But as smart as these cameras and their meters are, they are also dumb.

They are calibrated to look at everything as 18 percent gray.

Because of that, IF I WAS PHOTOGRAPHING A BLACK WALL AND METERED FOR THE BLACK WALL, IT WOULD COME OUT GRAY.

IF I WAS PHOTOGRAPHING A WHITE WALL – OR A PREDOMINATELY WHITE SNOW SCENE, IT WOULD COME OUT GRAY.

To compensate for the meter being DUMB here is what you do.

TO MAKE SNOW WHITE, YOU NEED TO OVER EXPOSE.  YES, OVER EXPOSE.

    Most cameras have a +/- button on the camera, or a menu setting that will allow you to do this when in the automatic modes of your camera. i.e. Shutter priorit, aperture priority, program.

    You could also work manually with your camera and set

 aperture and shutter speed to accomplish the same thing.

HOW MUCH COMPENSATION TO MAKE WHITE, WHITE?

    I usually compensate for snow by over exposing by one full stop to one and a half stops.  That will generally get me where I need to be.

HOW ABOUT WHITE BALANCE?

    White balance can also be tricky.  If you stay in Auto white balance you will probably have some bad issues.

The time of the day is important and I personally prefer to shoot ANYTHING either in early light or late light which tends to be warmer and more dramatic.  I move between cloudy and daylight white balance and when I want to be daring I may fool around with some others for the not so normal effects.

    But both daylight and cloudy white balance is the norm for me.

WHAT ABOUT THE METER SETTINGS    ?

I USUALLY KEEP MY METERS AT CENTER WEIGHTED OR SPOT METER.  I VERY RARELY USE A MULTI SEGMENTED METER FOR HARD SUBJECTS LIKE SNOW.

HOW ABOUT MACRO OR EXTREME CLOSE UP PHOTOGRAPHY?

    This type of photography in wonderful in the snow.  Look for snow on branches and maybe even combine with last of fall leaves for a nice composition.  Ice crystals formed on windows, door knobs, branches.  Get in tight for wonderful shots.

FILTERS

    POLARIZERS AND NEUTRAL DENSITY FILTERS CAN BE HELPFUL.  IF YOU HEAVILY INTO FILTERS

    THEN SPLIT NEUTRAL DENSITY FILTERS CAN REALLY COME IN HANDY.

CABLE RELEASES

    A MUST.  Especially when using gloves.  This way you pushing a button on the electronic cord instead of trying to get that gloved finger on the button of the camera body.

ONE LAST THING!  SOME CAMERAS HAVE A BEACH AND SNOW SETTING.   WHILE I AM NOT AN ADVOCATE OF PRESETS IN CAMERAS IT SURE MAY BE WORTH WHILE TO TRY IT OUT.

YOU CAN CHECK OUT ALL OF THESE ACCESSORIES AT YOUR PENN CAMERA STORE.

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BLUE RIDGE WORKSHOPS AND CLASSES ARE NOW POSTED ON OUR WEB SITE

WE HAVE POSTED A LOT OF CLASSES AND WORKSHOPS FOR 2010.  PLEASE CHECK OUT OUR WEB SITES AND SIGN UP TODAY.  OUR WORKSHOPS AND CLASSES GENERALLY GO VERY FAST.

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WE HAVE ALSO ADDED SEVERAL HDSLR VIDEO CLASSES.  IT IS MORE THAN LIKELY THAT FOR THOSE WHO HAVE BOUGHT HDSLR CAMERAS NEED TO GET UP TO SPEED ON HOW TO USE THIS NEW MULTI MEDIA OPTION.  OUR CLASSES AND WORKSHOPS IN THIS AREA WILL HELP YOU REACH YOUR POTENTIAL.  DON'T MISS OUT ON THIS.

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WE HAVE A VERY SPECIAL CLASS COMING UP ON DECEMBER 8TH, WHICH WILL PUSH AWAY THE FOG ABOUT WHAT YOUR NEW FOUND CAPABILITIES CAN DO FOR YOU.  

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CLASS SCHEDULE FOR 2010

THERE ARE CLASSES ON LIGHTROOM, ELEMENTS 8, NIK SOFTWARE AND LOTS MORE.

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OUR FIRST VIDEO CLASS IS DECEMBER 8TH TUESDAY. LET THIS CLASS BRING YOU UP TO SPEED ON THE NEW CAPABILITIES

The future is here today, and you need to be ready to embrace it.  The video concepts have moved to Digital Slr Cameras and they are High Def video. 

It truly is the next level leaning for all of us so we can add new and wonderful multimedia presentations, that will provide both still and motion in our final output product.

Take this first short and inexpensive class today so that you might learn the next steps you are going to take.  CLICK HERE AND SIGN UP TODAY.  LIMITED SEATING

BLUE RIDGE GIFT CERTIFICATES ON SALE NOW FOR THE HOLIDAYS

Sometimes it can really be difficult to know what people want for the holiday season and sometimes because they may also be difficult to buy for, it helps to think out of the box.

For your photo enthusiasts how about a BLUE RIDGE GIFT CERTIFICATE WHICH IS GOOD FOR ANY WORKSHOP, CLASS, LECTURE, ETC. THAT BLUE RIDGE OFFERS.

ORDER ONE OR MORE TODAY FOR THOSE YOU ARE THINKING ABOUT.

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Welcome to the December, 2009 newsletter.

In this Issue

	SNOW SNOW SNOW
	BLUE RIDGE WORKSHOPS AND CLASSES ARE NOW POSTED ON OUR WEB SITE
	OUR FIRST VIDEO CLASS IS DECEMBER 8TH TUESDAY. LET THIS CLASS BRING YOU UP TO SPEED ON THE NEW CAPABILITIES
	BLUE RIDGE GIFT CERTIFICATES ON SALE NOW FOR THE HOLIDAYS

THINGS TO THINK ABOUT

DO NOT KNOW WHAT TO GIVE FOR YOUR HOLIDAY GIFTS.  HOW ABOUT A BLUE RIDGE GIFT CERTIFICATE FOR YOUR HOBBIEST FRIENDS

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FOR YOUR PHOTOGRAPHIC NEEDS AND YOUR CHRISTMAS CARDS CHECK OUT PENN CAMERA

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ASK YOUR SALES PERSON ABOUT THE INCREDIBLE OLYMPUS CAMERAS - MY PHOTOGRAPHIC LIFE HAS CHANGED WITH THIS WONDERFUL LIGHT WEIGHT SYSTEM

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ARE YOU USING THE VIDEO CAPABILITY OF YOUR DIGITAL SLR OR POINT AND SHOOT?  IF NOT YOU ARE MISSING AN INCREDIBLE OPPORTUNITY TO CREATE AND AND ADD A NEW LEVEL OF PHOTOGRAPHIC STORY TELLING TO YOUR RESUME.

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