045 - 8 Tips for How to do Winter Landscape Photography
As winter starts to deepen over the Canadian Rockies, I got to thinking about winter landscape photography. I know so many photographers who hunker down over the snowy months, not wanting to go outside when it's cold or out into blizzards to create new content. And that makes me truly sad. I love the winter and the landscapes it presents. Yes, winter landscapes are not as colourful or bright as those in the spring, summer, and fall, but they have a unique beauty. That's why I wanted to bring you today's episode to get you out of your house and into the snow to capture some of these magical landscapes.
For today's episode, I'll give you 8 tips to capture fantastic winter landscape photos. Now, before we get going with the tips, a couple of things. Firstly, all the typical landscape photography rules still apply here, so you will need a tripod, filters, and a wide-angle lens. Check out episode 22 of this podcast for more of these tips.
Secondly, I have already done an episode covering how to take photographs in the winter, clothing choices, gearing up, keeping batteries warm, and pitfalls to watch out for in winter photography. They were episodes 2 and 3 of this podcast. Please check those out for more information on those topics.
We won't cover any of this information in this podcast today. Alright, time for tip #1.
Tip #1: Plan to Head out Immediately after it Snows
This may be one of the most important tips for photographing winter landscapes. Head out immediately after it snows. That blanket of fresh white powder that covers the world will turn your photos into a winter wonderland. By heading out as soon as it stops snowing, you can get photographs without any footprints (or shovelled pathways), and all the snow will look big and fluffy and magical.
Tip #2: Use Snow and Ice Structures to your Advantage
The wind can carve snow into fascinating shapes, and water can freeze in unique patterns (like bubbles under a lake). Use these structures as elements in your images or even the main subject. They can sometimes be hard to spot as they can blend in with all the other white stuff, but look carefully, and you will find some great details that will add a lot of interest to your winter photos.
Tip #3: Use Colour to Add a Pop
Winter has a distinctively cold colour pallet. Lots of blues, purples, and whites. Meaning big pops of bright colours like orange, red, and yellow can really make a subject stand out in an image. Adding a low-hanging sun at sunset or sunrise or a subject wearing a brightly coloured jacket can draw your viewer in and give your image a more diverse colour palette. This is part of why we so often love pictures of fires in the snow. They add a warm, gentle glow and break up the typical winter colours.
Tip #4: Watch for Frost
Frosty mornings are magical. They just are. Trees covered in frost, the ground glistening, everything about a frosty winter morning is magical. So, watch your local weather forecast for when frost is expected overnight and try to get up before sunrise to catch the frost before it melts in the sun during the day. In particular, watch for when the sun is coming up and its glow is illuminating the frost. This is when the world truly looks like a magic kingdom. Watch your composition here, though, as the world seems so incredible that you can sometimes be distracted by it and not actually compose a decent photo.
Tip #5: Get Above the Clouds
On some winter days, you get a phenomenon called inversion. The temperatures at higher elevations are higher than those at lower elevations (this is backward to how it usually goes). This will typically lead to a low-hanging cloud layer that sits below the high points in mountain ranges, meaning if you hike to the top of a mountain (or sometimes a tall building), you can get above the cloud layer. This leaves you with a view of mountain tops poking up through clouds and looking like sea islands.
Tip #6: Shoot During Snowglobe Storms
Certain types of snowstorms lend themselves to photographs. They are typically the ones that make it look like you are walking around in a snow globe. The snowflakes are big and fluffy, they are falling slowly, and there is almost no wind. This is the perfect time to go out and shoot objects with snow falling all around them. These little bits of falling snow can add a wonderful element to your image, and when you catch them in a light (such as a street light or headlamp), you add a real sense of the moment, which is a beautiful piece of storytelling. When the snow is falling fast, or the wind is blowing it sideways, that can make for some exciting people shots, but for winter landscape photography, you really want those big fluffy snowflakes.
Tip #7: Go to Your Favourite Summer Scenes
Some of my favourite winter photographs are also from places that have created some of my favourite summer ones. I have a whole series of seasonal pictures from the same spot at Mount Lorette Ponds here in Alberta, and it's because I saw how magical it was in the winter. So, if you are unsure where to shoot in winter, try some of your favourite summer places. These may not work out because snow covers some of the compositional elements, or you may create another fantastic shot that can live beside your summer ones.
Tip #8: Bring the Macro Lens
Winter and the snow and ice structures it creates add incredible detail to a landscape. But sometimes, those details can get lost amongst all the other beauty, so bring a lens to isolate some of the details from the rest of the scene. You will want to look for exciting snow shapes, ice formations, and the way snow sits on particular objects; all of this can add more depth to the images you shoot overall as well as help to convey the entire landscape scene, not just the overwhelming majesty but also the intricate and beautiful details.
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