Isabella Santoro
Photography Editor
Winter is a great time to capture beautiful photographs. The snow, the lights and the beautiful evergreen trees are some of the most popular things people take photos of. Whatever it is you’d like to capture, here are some helpful tips.
Make sure your lighting is set perfectly for whatever scene you’re taking a snap of. For example, using the flash for lights on a Christmas tree may not be the best option. Too much light creates an exposed photo. To fix these issues, make sure you’ve adjusted your exposure, settings, aperture, and shutter speed. Having all of this in mind, be careful with Christmas lights in photographs so you don’t create too much flash and have the effect of beams of light in your photo. This goes for indoor and outdoor light scenes as well. If they are outside, flash may be needed, but adjust the setting accordingly so the flash doesn’t blur the image or create beams of light instead of a clear image. You’ll want to make sure your flash is set for only when you need it.
For nature photography during the winter, it’s best to capture your images during the daylight, so if there is snow on the tree or is snowing at the time of the photo being taken, you’re able to fully see it. It doesn’t have to be perfectly lit outside, but some light may be good for a winter scene. If that’s not possible, or you’d like to capture a photo at night, make sure you’re able to edit the photo to add enough light so you’re able to see what’s going on in the photograph. You can always do that in your phone settings if you’ve taken a picture on your cell phone camera, or on your hand held camera, you can dial the exposure settings which would help make your photo the best it can be.
As well, trees during the winter are a beautiful thing to capture, especially when they’re coated with snow. To get the perfect shots of these works of art, make sure you’re up close and personal, or close enough to capture the details of the tree. If you’re too far away, one won’t be able to see the snow on the trees or the intricate snow on them.
Evergreen trees are some of the most beautiful to take photographs of. If you don’t live in an area where you see any, consider visiting North Western Rhode Island, Eastern Connecticut, and Central/ Eastern Massachusetts, near the borders of rural Rhode Island, all of which have very beautiful winters. Growing up in rural, North Western Rhode Island, I always had plenty to take photos of in the winter, so if you’re able to travel there, it’s a great photo opportunity. There will be plenty of evergreen trees to snap photos of. If you’re not able to travel much, your Christmas tree would make a nice photo, or going to a nearby tree farm is a good idea too.
Lakes and ponds are also beautiful scenes to capture photos of. During the winter they are at their prettiest. As the snow overlooks the icy ponds and lakes, it makes a great photo opportunity. Again, you can find many lakes and ponds in rural Rhode Island. All over the state there are plenty of lakes waiting to have their pictures taken.
In addition, you’ll see some of the best sunrises and sunsets during this time of year, and with the snow, these can also be beautiful photos. The sky in the winter is something you won’t want to miss taking pictures of. If you can capture the sunset over a lake during the winter, you’ve captured a wonderful photo right there.
Overall, think of where and what you’d like to take a photograph of. Whatever strikes you the most and what you’re most inspired by should be what you aspire to capture. Always remember to have fun with it.