Evening star., 1951-01-14
Camera Angles
Snow Lends Charm and Elegance to Pictures
Bv Alexander | Wedderhurn
By Alexander J. v
cvrotor Of Photography
The Smithsonian institution

ion institution
be found in early morning and late
afternoon, when the sun Is cast
ing long shadows that will lend
the contrast that is so necessary.
Bright Sunlight Best.
Bright sunshine is your best
ally It will enable you to get
Grips, snarpy snow pictures. Dull.
overcast days are not so good un-
less you want to bring out the
leaden atmosphere of a cloudy
day. Bright sunlight, however.
will help fill the dark shadows cast
by trees and buildings that other
wise would create too much con-
trast with too little shadow de-
tail
It is also important that you get
started on your picture excursion
as soon as after the snowfall
ceases as possible. You have prob
ably noticed how beautiful a snow
covered landscape is with feather
like crystals clinging to every
branch and twig and how a short
time later the same scene will not
be the same at all. This is because
the fakes will begin to melt to-
gether into more solid mass very
soon after the fall Is over. When
this happens a great loss in tex
ture occurs and you will be the
loser.
It is not only possible to shoot
pictures while the snow is still
falling but you can actually stop"
the snow flakes in mid-air with
your camera. The extra long lens
cover We mentioned above will
enable you to take pictures during
snowstorm whereas an uncov-
cred lens would soon be wet with
melting fakes and the films would
be fuzzy and blurred as a result.
One way t. snap realistic snowfall
shots with an illusion of motion
is to slow down the shutter speed.
However, the flakes nearest the
camera will appear darker than
the rest. The best procedure is to
use a synchronized flash with the
flash bulb held at the camera
position. This will stop the snow
dead in its tracks" yet light the
nearby fakes so they will appear
real enough in your prints.
Red Filter for Contrast.
For very dramatic pictures you
can use a red filter on your lens.
This will make a blue sky very
dark. with a sharp exaggeration
of Snow-sky separation. The red
filter is ideal for those shots we
recommended OF tree limbs or
twigs outlined against the sky.
The K-2 yellow filter is also readily
adaptable to contrast work and
you should try few shots with it.
just to learn its effect. If you
don't happen to own one of these
filters you can substitute a sheet
of yellow cellophane for the same
purpose. 1t will work remarkably
we'll.
II you have reason to suspect
that your shots will lack the de-
sired contrast you can improve
this to some degree by overdevel-
oping the negatives somewhat.
Rather than take a chance with
a scene that you particularly want
to record we suggest that you
bracket your pictures by making
one at the exposure you think Is
right, then one at a stop over and
another at stop under. BY using
this method, considering the wide
latitude of modern films. there is
little chance that out of the three
shots you will fail to get at least
one that is very good.
Don't overlook night snow scenes
and snow pictures involving hu-
man interest angles. The night
shots, with city lights glistening
on the snow. are usually knockouts
There is no ready-made yardstick
for night exposures, but you can
try one at say 10 minutes, develop
the film, and make other exposures
based on the results. If you carry
your camera along to the Office
you probably will have many op-
portunities for covering the hu-
man-interest angle with shots
such as traffic tieups, people hav-
ing their troubles with ice and
slush and children in the usual
SNOWFALL battles.