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Snow in North Georgia. We’ve missed out on most of the winter blizzards that have been plaguing the U.S. up until now. In fact from what I’ve read in the news, as of today all 49 continental states have some of the white stuff on the ground.

Down here in the south we don’t get to experience too much of this icy mix and, most of what we do get turns immediately into black ice on the roads, and you can’t get out of your house. We go into panics, buying bread, milk, beer etc.

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I tried something really stupid myself, My wife and I thought we could beat the weather and go out for a nice Valentine’s dinner at a local restaurant. When we arrived the snow was really coming down, but not sticking to the pavement. We went in, sat down and began having steak and lobster tail (pretty good I might add) while I kept glancing out the booth onto a quickly freezing lot.

Quick, we gotta eat!

We shoved our food down our throats and ran to the car to grab the kids, who were out with the grandparents down the street, myself in a total panic about careening off the road into a ditch somewhere in the ice.

Just let me say, the trip from getting the kids, until getting home was really nerve wracking. We slipped, slid and skidded for a horrible thirty minutes before crunching to a stop at the top of our drive-way. Safe, car in one piece and heading to a warm home.

It snowed all night, we had around 4-5 inches, a real blizzard for us in the south. Heck, we are happy with 1 inch, and consider that reason for celebration.  I got up several times to insure that no branches had fallen from the trees in the backyard and fell on the house (one did.)

The backyard, and next morning.

There was a thick, beautiful layer of snow on the ground the next day and, I had to take advantage of that for some photographs. Because the last time we had snow this nice was probably five years ago. We got up early, knowing we needed to act fast. Snow down here doesn’t last long, and when the heat and sun hits it, it will be gone like hot vapor.

We waltzed through snowy paths, over crusty ice on the streets and dodged the occasional snowball.

Snow!

There are lots of things to take photographs of in the snow that you don’t get the chance to see on an average winter day. A normal bare backyard can turn into a bright,  brilliant field of white. Normal subject matter like chairs, rocks, trees – they all take on another quality when isolated in this white wonderland.

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Here are a few tips you can use when out on a cold winter day (especially for us southerners.)

Winter photo tips:

1. Do a double-take. If you’re going to a place you visit often take a second look. Snow can change the entire landscape.
2. Shoot RAW if you can. If you’re using a dSLR and can choose RAW settings, I would advise you use it. Why? White balance. Snow and lots of white can take auto-white settings and shift them to blue a lot of the time. I use RAW to correct this error when I forget. You can also just white-balance before you start, that’s probably the safest route.
3. Don’t chill. Especially for us in warmer parts. Don’t forget to dress warmly. Wear extra layers, and rubber boots to keep the feet dry.
4. Watch for falling ice and snow. Snow melts fast in North Georgia. Make sure that if you’re walking in the woods to keep an eye out for snow and ice falling off branches and lines. It can smack your camera gear and get it soaked, or you even.
5. Watch your exposure. If your camera is set to auto or program will always attempt to compensate for the bright white of snow. What happens is that the brilliant scene will come out under-exposed. The best way to combat this is to shoot in either manual and set your shutter and aperture yourself. Or, set exposure compensation to +1.5 or higher.

I hope you have a great time in the snow, and take some really great pictures. Share some of your thoughts and links to your own work with me. I’d love to see it.

Have fun!