Photography snowed cities ?

Beniliam

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Hi folks!

Im interested to know how photograph snowed cities with B/W films. I read that you´d overexposed between 1.5 - 2 point to take photos in landscapes. But in cities like Moscu, Berlin, Toronto, Estocolm, Praha, Copenhague... what reference you have? Its only curiosity. I havent traveled much in my life, and when in the future, travel outside Spain, I wish take street photos this type of cities. Here in Spain, in Madrid, almost never snow...


Thank you for your answer.

Sorry if this post was commented in the past... :)
 
Wherever I encounter snow I overexpose about 1 stop. On my Bessa R that means (to me!) that I always shoot with at least both the middle LED alight as well as the right arrow LED. I've shot this way both in cloudy Holland and in sun-drenched wintery Mongolia.
 
The advice to overexpose by 1.5 to 2 stops is used when taking reflective light meter readings of the snow itself. I do not overexpose when using an incident meter. A reflective light meter (usually that is what is in a camera) will be fooled by the snows brightness and give a false reading similar to having a lot of bright sky in your photo. An incident meter reads the light falling on the subject so it is not fooled by different reflectivity of various subjects. Count yourself lucky not to have to deal with snow where you live.

Bob
 
I also use an incident meter which is remarkably accurate. And David, I am reliably informed that it snowed in Madrid earlier this year... ;)
 
I think the generalisation about 1.5 to 2 stops works for most snow settings. But then again, I have come to realise that there is snow and the is ALOT OF SNOW and there is ALOT OF SNOW AND SUN! When shooting in a field of snow and trees, I find the Beesa R is good enough 1 to 1.5 stops over exposed. But on my DSLR, the "smart" matrix metering seems to be fooled more than the Bessa R. I need about 2 to 3 stops over, especially on a sunny day in the snow.

Hope this helps

Nick
 
Hi Benilam

I'm in Toronto. We see snow. Still have some piled on some side streets even now. To the point. I tend to under expose "new snow" a little. I find I get a bit more definition and don't lose detail. Exposing over by a stop or two tends to blow out faint shadows which give contour and definition to the "snow scape"

Have fun!

Jan
 
Thank you for your answers. I always uses the Leica M6 meter. I suppose that its quite similar to the Bessa´s. I hope that this meter was sufficient.


Peter, yes, last weeks ago snowed in Madrid. Beutiful those days ;)
 
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