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Travel & Adventure Guides

Past stories ------ Summer 2006 ------ Table of Contents Canadian Winery Destinations Otters of Kyuquot Sound Fishing in the Prairies Moncton - 3 Great Day Trips Sylvia Forest - Mountain Guide Yukon River Quest Path to Paradise A Century of Summits Mina Hubbard's Journey Tent Buyer's Guide Climbing Della Falls ------ Winter 2005 ------ Table of Contents 10 Best Mountain Destinations Affordable Adventures Spa Holidays Snow Shelters David Marra - The Ice Man Adventure Travel Insurance Tempest in Tofino ------ Summer 2005 ------ Table of Contents Dealing With Mosquitos Search for the Freshwater Sea Girls On Top Journal Astronomy Ottawa - 3 Great Day Trips Seabound Grasslands National Park Sugar Bush Country Hallowed Home of the Haida ------ Winter 2004 ------ Table of Contents Cross Country Skiing Snowshoeing Dogsledding in the Yukon Snowmobiling Winter Photography Mountains as Water Towers Knapsacks Explained Contributors ------ Summer 2004 ------ Table of Contents Thor Peak Rocky Mountain Teahouses Canoeing in Northern Sask. Fantastic Fundy Destinations Summer Stargazing Kayaking the Great Lakes Adele Frizzell - Adventure Racer BC Mountaineering Hiking Shoes Explained Exploring Nootka Sound

PHOTOGRAPHERS, LIKE INSECTS, are attracted to light. Our eyes seek it all the time. Just like those six-legged creatures, however, too much of a good thing can overload our visual sensors. When this happens — Zap!

Snow is the photo-graphic equivalent of the insect-beckoning porch light or electronic bug trap. Light, which is contained in winter snow, keeps photographers forever striving to balance its potential for exposing texture and details against the dangers of blinding overexposure. For people who want to walk that line, here are a few tricks for capturing the best of the season on chrome, print film or digital formats.

White light fever

Snow, for starters, is frozen water. To the camera, snow is a translucent mirror-like expanse that reflects the ambient light. In the midday sun, snow appears to be bright white. If you look beyond the surface to discern what the camera sees, you'll notice that snow has the amazing capability of taking on almost any colour. This phenomenon is most apparent at sunset or sunrise when the sky's pastel tones on the surface snow fire off glittering prisms. A photographer can exploit these characteristics to wonderful effect, as in this photo (left) taken at Lake Louise, where I captured the red-hot lamps of a midnight torchlit parade reflecting on the icy contours of the trail.

Snow blind bind
If I can't control the amount of snow without changing an image's impact, I sometimes go big with the snowy background and rely on compositional techniques to define its expanse. In the opening picture of L.P. Segal (top), the angle of the image allowed me to capture the reflected blue of the sky on the snow, while the late-afternoon shadows reduced any white glare in the halo, allowing the viewer to focus on the skier. My fill-in flash caught the middle of his goggles, thereby illuminating the visor and clearing shadows from his face. When you are dealing with a snow-covered landscape, it doesn't hurt to photograph subjects in bright colours.

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Meter made
Even if you have the most expensive camera on Earth, through-the-lens (a.k.a. TTL) metering is programmed to turn everything grey, including the whitest snow. You can easily circumvent this function by either using a Kodak Gray Card during the exposure or manually overriding your meter. I typically take the latter approach, shooting between one and one-and-a-half stops over my camera's reading. For example, an exposure of 1/125 at ƒ8 could be taken at 1/125 ƒ5.6. Just don't forget to change your light meter back to zero after shooting. Another option is to set your TTL system to the spot-metering function and direct the focal point at something that is a neutral colour, like a tree trunk or rock. Once you've taken the reading, refocus on your subject.

Marty McLennan's photographs have appeared in Ski Canada, Explore, Outpost and Hooked on the Outdoors.

Dress up! Patience is synonymous with comfort and warm, dry hands and feet. Dress appropriately, even if you look goofy — at least your pictures won't. I tie my gloves together with a string through the arms of my jacket. An extra pair of stretchy gloves under your snow gloves or mitts are excellent for manoeuvring lenses without exposing your fingers. If you can't create a fit that works, Helly Hansen and Wind River make such combos. Bag it! Bring a plastic zipper bag to protect your camera from the killer condensation caused by drastic temperature shifts. When moving cameras from cold to warm, capture cold air from outside with your gear, seal the bag and let it warm slowly to avoid condensation. Pocket it! The deep-freeze saps batteries and causes film to break. Pack extras of both in an inside pocket. Automatic cameras can also run into trouble at extreme cold temperatures (–30 to –60 Celsius degrees). A manual camera powered by a stock of environmentally friendly rechargeable nickel-metal hydride batteries is an option. In general, a camera chest-pack, such as the Lowepro design, allows you instant access to your camera and offers superb protection. Forget it! Lenses, like ice, are made from crystals that expand and shrink with the weather. Below –30 Celsius degrees, they can crack. Forget about taking photos in the deep cold. A buddy of mine had a $10,000 lens crack atop Mont-Tremblant last year. That hurt! Protect it! Rewind your rolls indoors after the camera returns to room temperature. Brutal cold can create what's called static streaking — cracks in the emulsion of your film. If you have no other choice, however, just remember to be slow and steady if your camera is manual, and cross your fingers if it's automatic.

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