Winter is here for the northern hemisphere! That means half the photography world is starting to spend more time editing their photos. That’s because snow makes the editing process much harder! It’s reflective; it makes white balance way more of a priority; it even changes your composition.
That’s why we asked 3of our favorite snowy photographers to tell us how they achieve their unique looks.
Tanner Wendell
Tanner is always on the go shooting cool places and he is one of the best at shooting big landscapes. His photos are often filled with snowy epicness, and he has a killer eye for scale.
Tips:
#1: To embrace cold winter tones, use the temperature slider to dial in the perfect amount of white and blue. Avoid orange and warm tones in the whites. If using the Lightroom app, use the selective or gradient tool.
Use brighter Muted colors for the sky to Achieve a clean minimal look and enhance the cold feeling. If you have beautiful colors, enhance them, but don’t over do it. Balance is the key word here.
#2: Embrace whites, but don’t overexpose images too much. If you overexpose the snow too much, you’ll lose the beautiful texture of the snow. Keep it clean and cold but also textured and balanced.
#3: I use VSCOcam filters at varying strengths. I use a6, a9, m5, s2, s3, n1. I prefer a slight minimal filter.
Dodge and burn can be used in Snapseed with the selective tool or the dodge or burn brush.
Shawn Lowe
Shawn has a great eye for color, light, and framing subjects. He is currently living in Sydney, Australia, but comes from a background of shooting in the mountains and understanding how to get those crisp tones.
Tips:
#1: I always like to make sure that I keep my snowy tones at a somewhat high exposure value. If you are familiar with the “zone scale,” you know to keep the snow in your shot around zone 8 so it still holds detail but doesn’t clip or blow out the highlights. Basically, in real life, snow is bright and reflective so it should be in your photo too.
#2: Tint your highlights. Sometimes when you apply a filter, it can make a weird tint happen. I notice that in some of my shots the snow is way too yellowy in the highlights. Viewing the photo on a white background helps me adjust it to how it should look.
#3: If my subject is a different color than snow, I like to let it pop a bit. Just a touch of saturation will lift the color and make it stand out from the whites.
Editing Apps used: VSCO and Afterlight for the highlight/midtone/shadow tints.
Erica Simas
Erica’s photos speak to her love for the outdoors, and she has the ability to capture simple beauty in all of her shots. I’ve always been a huge fan of the way she edits her photos because it reminds me of film.
Tips:
#1: I try to keep my whites as true as possible. I accomplish this by playing with the hues. If it’s too pink, I slide more greens in and vice versa.
#2: Editing snow tends to give you some harsh highlights and shadows, so I bring down my highlights and bring up my shadows just a touch.
#3: Bumping the clarity if there are trees or mountains in your photos will help define your subjects even more.
Editing Apps used: Snapseed and VSCO
