Last year it snowed for about 15 minutes and so far this year .. nothing. I was looking back through some winter shots and thought I'd share some. Mother nature ... Bring us some snow!
I like snow for minimalist work. This little branch was peaking out of a drift outside my door a few years ago. It reminds me of the 'branches in water' photos with a winter spin.
This was this year I learned about white balance so as not to blow out my whites in the snow.
Feedback always welcome.
A fine, simple image, Ruth! You balance the branch and that mass of soft lines nicely. Is it a monochrome edit, or just a colourless scene? I'd be tempted to lighten it a little, perhaps influenced by my scarce contact with snow and wonderment at its whiteness. However, that would be a different image, with a different feel. Your rendition is fine.
I'd be tempted to agree with Chris. When I look at this image by itself with a dark background, the snow is fine, but viewed on the page of this site (pure white background), the snow looks a little gray, even at its brightest spot. It doesn't need much, but it could be a smidge brighter.
Having said that, it is very difficult to know where to set exposure on something like snow. You want it to look white, but you don't want to lose detail in the highlights. Depending on your camera's dynamic range, you may be able to push the exposure a few stops and then recover the loss of details in post (for RAW), but for JPEG originals, I would think 2 stops of over-exposure would do it.
I do like the composition and the layering in the snow.
I do like the composition of this Ruth - great eye!. The low light on the snow really brings out the shade of the sculpted snow.
I have struggled with similar images myself. It is hard to bring up the whites of the snow without making the image seem over-bright.
While I do agree with Phillip & Chris somewhat in that there is an expectation that snow should be white but I think this looks fine as is and would probably look better when not placed on pure white.
BTW - waiting for fresh snow in Vermont. The season has been unnaturally warm this year and opportunities disappointing.