DRAT that man 8^( ... Hey Rick D: snow pics... :^)

[trseaman]

During day-time, you of course need to focus on the falling flakes but they are too close and fall to quickly to get good pics. You can focus on something else that is 3-4 feet away and then aim for the sky and hope for the best...

I took these pictures this past Wed. The one with the fence is about 100 yds away and the other is looking down the street...

Tim

[SplatterTone]

Probably works better to photograph in the day time.
But I haven't really invested much time in it, so I'm just guessing.
I have, however, gotten some decent shots of fallen snow.

[Chuck(G)]

I wouldn't know--the US Weather Service says that it hasn't snowed a flake in Eugene for the last 10 years (true!). They need to have a chat with my dogs:



Taken about 3 weeks ago. This shows nothing more than dark backgrounds show snowflakes better than light ones do.

[SplatterTone]

my dogs:

One can see the conductor is ready, but as usual, the band has forgotten their horns. Typical dog jazz musicians.

[Rick Denney]

Does anyone have a good method for photographing falling snow?

Snowflakes are small, so if they are too far away, you can't see them in the photo. Therefore, you have to focus on flakes close enough to appear large. That usually requires a small aperture to get more of the snowflakes within the range of the apparent sharp focus (aka, depth of field).

Also, they move faster than you think, so the shutter speed has to be enough to keep them from smearing across the frame while the shutter is open.

Unfortunately, fast shutter speeds and small apertures require a lot of light. Snowy days often don't provide that. That's why it isn't easy.

Big, fluffy, slow-falling flakes will be easier than the ones we got today, which were more ice than snow.

A telephoto lens will help, because it magnifies the snow flakes and limits the amount of background that has to be focused.

Finally, snow is white. It won't show up against a white background. Unfortunately, when it's snowing, most of the background is white. That's why it isn't easy. Find a dark background.

Tim's are about as good as I've seen.

Rick "who prefers fallen snow in the following day's bright sun, but that isn't easy, either" Denney

[Rick F]

I got this pic in an email from my son in Wake Forest, NC the other day. Snow shows up pretty well -- but it's still a bit dark.