Cowboy and his horse pulling a Christmas Tree in the snow
After the snow has fallen, and the sun comes out in the afternoon or the next day, you can have a beautiful untouched snowscape for your photographs.
If the sun is shining and there is snow on the ground, you will have a very bright scene, because the snow will reflect the light. You need to decrease your ISO to probably 100 or 200. But you do not want to blow out the detail on the snow by overexposing and you do not want gray looking snow because your light meter underexposes the scene. To get a well exposed photo in the snow you will want to increase your exposure compensation in your camera to +1 or +2. If you are using a point and shoot that does not have a control for exposure compensation, then meter for the sky using spot metering or partial metering.
Three horses run together in the snow
If you are shooting a horse in action in the snow, make sure you use shutter priority and increase your shutter speed to at least 1/1000. You can photograph people riding in the snow, horses running in the snow, and even wild horses in the snow. Bundle up, and enjoy!
Wild stallion in Adobe Town, WY on New Years Day
Comments
Cathy Duffy
on December 28, 2010, 12:01 am
I have just discovered your work and your writings of “Cloud” and so many other Wild Horses that i never had the pleasure to view until now! I am an Equine Photographer myself but very new only shooting Horses for the Last 3 years.I appreciate what you do and look forward to the stories and pictures that you bring to life!
Carol Walker
on December 28, 2010, 4:31 pm
Dear Cathy,
Actually Ginger Kathrens is the filmmaker who did the Cloud films and books, which are wonderfil, I agree wholheartedly! I have two books, the one on wild horses is called Wild Hoofbeats: America’s Vanishing Wild Horses and the other one is Horse Photography: The Dynamic Guide for Horse Lovers.
Carol
Mary Dobbs
on January 4, 2011, 4:20 am
thank you for the information! Such fantastic photos! beautiful! thank you!
Marcia Voorhees
on February 7, 2011, 1:46 am
Carol,
I purchased your Horse Photography book and finished reading it today. It gave wonderful tips and your photos are fantastic. It will be a great reference for me now and in the future! I hope to learn from you at your seminar soon!
Marcia