I love photographing in snowstorms. Atmospherics are a good thing for photography, they add mood and graphic qualities to an image. You have heard the saying….’bad weather is good weather’ when it comes to photography. We just got four inches of fresh snow the other day here in Alaska, and the falling snow looked like a dream outside our window. Just the perfect sized snowflakes lazily falling in the boreal forest…stunning!
But there is an important question to ask when you photograph falling snow…what shutter speed to use, and how do you want to render the snow? The answer is subjective. First, consider a few things when shooting snow. How hard is it snowing, and how big are the snowflakes? Is the wind increasing the velocity of the snowflakes? How long is your focal length…600mm or 24mm? How much light do you have?
I have seen more than one disappointed photographer when they look at their ‘snowing’ images. Why? Generally it is because they weren’t shooting fast enough. As a rule of thumb, I like to shoot at 1/1000 or faster to freeze falling snow and give it that diamond appearance. You might have to shoot faster in a windy blizzard or using a long telephoto lens…I often shoot 1/2000 or faster. Look at this image above from Japan….shot at 1/2000 to create sharp snowflakes.
You might want blurry snowflakes for other images. Here is a snowshoeing shot at 1/100. Blurry flakes match the soft forest and tranquil quality of the image.
A lot of times low light is a challenge. Last fall in Denali we had an incredible moose encounter during a snowstorm, but the light was really low. To shoot at 1/1600 for sharper snowflakes I had to use an ISO of 5600. Always better to use the ISO you need and get a noisy photo rather than use lower ISO with too slow of shutter speed and get a blurry shot.
Winter is here, and if snow is in your forecast, get ready. Photographing in snowstorms is magical. Just remember to ask yourself how you want the snow to look in the final image, and make sure your shutter is correct for that effect!