In landscape photography, we often look for spectacular and majestic subjects. Imposing mountains, breathtaking waterfalls, or lush forests are powerful and visually appealing. Even more so when shot under dramatic light. However, if you wish to obtain significant images, looking for atmospheres that resonate with our state of mind is often more helpful than focusing on famous, outstanding places.
This is because photography does not simply involve immortalizing what we see but instead interpreting it, filtering it through our perception, and making the atmosphere the true subject of the photograph. Today, I will discuss the art of landscape photography in the snow, how it relates to atmosphere, and specific tips for winter landscape photography.
Table of Contents
Atmosphere Tells the Photographer’s Story
In my experience, focusing on atmospheres as a landscape photographer is better than looking for outstanding subjects. It is always a matter of light, shades, colors, and shapes – these factors combine to create the atmosphere in a photo.
But don’t miss the impact of the climate. For example, cold and windy winter days in the mountains, with heavy snowfall or even just a bit of snow carried by gusts of wind – you can already imagine the unforgettable atmosphere of such a scene.
The Emotions of Winter Snow
A snowy, nearly monochrome winter scene offers a rare atmosphere in landscape photography. It is very different compared to the screaming warm lights of the sunset and the shades of the blue hour.
Snow simplifies the scene, often making it minimalist, like a charcoal drawing. The diffused and directionless light gives me a sense of serenity and calms the chaos of a landscape.
Usually, composing images in these conditions is a game of small movements to avoid overlapping subjects, and choosing what to include or exclude by changing the shooting point or the focal length just a bit. Sometimes, it is just a patient game, waiting for the wind to move the fog a little, hiding or revealing something in the background.
Landscape photography as a whole is a complex process, and the results are not always guaranteed. However, when you manage to establish a connection between your inner self and the outer world, you can create very personal images that represent how you experienced the landscape. These images represent a moment in time; they reflect your state of mind and your essence when you took the shot. In this way, those images are truly unique.
Photography Equipment is Marginal
As with all photography, the technical aspects of photographing snowy landscapes are significant. You still need to choose your camera settings carefully, and some challenges increase in the snow, like avoiding overexposure and underexposure.
However, in snowy landscape photography, camera equipment plays a secondary role. Even a tripod can be optional, given how bright the snow is. The sharpness of a lens, absence of distortion, or the use of high-resolution sensors do not really impact these images. The snow hides many details, so the key element becomes composition.
I find that only focal length remains of extreme importance. For that reason, I prefer a zoom – a 24-70mm, or even better, a 24-120mm or 24-200mm, as they provide the most useful focal lengths without requiring lens changes. In some winter landscapes, changing lenses is acceptable, but if it is windy or snowy, it becomes a greater challenge.
To illustrate this article, I used images I took in 2019 with a Nikon Z6 + 24-70mm f/4 and pictures that I took last week with a Z9 and a 24-120mm f/4. It is interesting to me the similarities between the photos despite the large differences in price between the two kits.
In winter conditions, you should pay attention to humidity. A lens can fog up rapidly if you bring it from warm to cold conditions. If it is sufficiently cold, then merely breathing out will create fog, which can accumulate on the lens. Ice and snow can gather in the lens hood and freeze there. I recommend bringing microfiber cloths and even a lens warmer if you will be out for a long period of time. Upon returning home from winter landscapes, I typically put my equipment in a plastic bag along with a moisture-absorbing packet and leave it there overnight.
Place and Time Are Secondary
When the atmosphere is your subject, the place becomes secondary compared to the weather conditions. Even if you don’t travel much, you can find extraordinary subjects and opportunities almost everywhere.
For snowy landscape photography, even the time of day is less important. The ideal light may be available all day long. You certainly are not limited to photographing in a few moments at the edge of the day, chasing for golden light or blue hours. This also gives you the chance to take more time, slow down to look, wait, reflect, and ultimately interpret what you see with a more careful composition.
Stay Safe and Dress Appropriately
Putting yourself high in the mountains on a bad weather day is rarely advisable. As I said, it isn’t about the place, so avoid walking too far from the car, a town, or any safe place. Avoid being alone if possible; bring your phone or, even better, a GPS communicator if you are out of the grid.
Proper clothing is paramount for snowy landscape photography. I always dress in layers: merino wool on the skin, a fleece over it, an insulated layer if it is very cold, and a Gore-Tex shell to cover everything. I adjust the layers to the activity – when hiking uphill, removing or unzipping the shell, for example.
Don’t forget gloves, wool socks, waterproof boots, and a warm hat your head. Lastly, I love a thermos full of hot beverages!
By dressing properly, it is possible to stay out for many hours safely and comfortably even in very cold winter conditions. The converse is that dressing poorly can make you miserable and affect your photos, and you may never want to try snowy landscape photography again.
The Role of Post-Production
Post-production with gentle hands is crucial in bringing out the atmosphere of landscape photographs. It regulates tones while preserving them. And if your landscapes are stark and filled with snow, it is even more important.
White balance is one of the most important considerations. Should the snow be strictly white, or do you want it to reflect the subtle colors of the sky – bluer around midday or yellower near golden hour?
Regulating contrast and brightness is also essential. First, the histogram does not necessarily have to be filled from black to white. If you add too much contrast, you can turn a subtle landscape into something very aggressive and out of place. But let’s remember that snow, if not white, is very light, so avoid making it gray by underexposing it.
Conclusion
Landscape photography is not limited to capturing aesthetically pleasing images of beautiful places. It is a process that involves connecting with nature and expressing your perceptions of the world around you. Searching for and capturing specific atmospheres allows you to create images that, more than representing a place, tell a story of a particular moment in time.
I find that snowy winter landscapes work perfectly with this approach to landscape photography. They offer the photographer time to slow down and the ability to compose carefully. They are static in some ways and dynamic in others, just like the photographer’s mood. In this way, a good photo of a snowy landscape can be a portrait of the photographer’s soul.
I hope you found this essay about capturing emotions with winter landscapes enjoyable. If you have any questions or feedback, please don’t hesitate to leave them in the comments section below.
Regardless of all the other factors you should set for +1EV exposure composition. Sometimes you adjust that down, but not often.
Thank you for your comment, John. I agree; often, with very light subjects increasing a bit the exposure is needed to avoid underexposure.
In cases like this I often go fully manual. But I am very careful not to burn the highlights.
As always, …. another wonderful article from Massimo. Thank you so much!
Thank you AndyE, you are very kind!
A warm lens will not fog up in the cold. A cold lens, however, will quickly fog up in a warm and humid environment.
Scenes like these are tinged with a melancholy that comes from understanding that snow is retreating in our fossil-fuel-warmed world.
In my country, mountain rescue used to assist mountaineers in trouble. Now, with the snow largely absent, the mountaineers have moved northwards, and the mountain rescue teams in winter more often assist underprepared and under-dressed tourists who find the mountains unexpectedly accessible.
So, nicely atmospheric photos here … and also something of a record of a world we are losing a bit more of, year by year.
It is a sad truth; global warming is a plague everywhere.
Here in Italy, snow decreases year-by-year, and even these days, at the core of winter, the temperature isn’t cold at all.
I love these photos so much! In post-processing you can also make beautiful minimalistic high-key photos. Thank you for this great article.
Thank you, Danny.
While these images are pretty untouched (just fixed white balance and adjusted contrast with curves), I think post-processing is an integral part of photography and shouldn’t be underestimated. I will write something about that in the future.
Have you read:
High-Key Photography Explained
By Madhu Manickam
photographylife.com/what-…hotography
Okay, this is weird. I’m on a Lofoten workshop as I read this, and even as we’re greatly enjoying the grand scenes and spectacular northern lights, it’s good to keep an eye out for intimate landscapes in this snowy environment as well.
Hi Ken, the Lofoten archipelago is one of the best locations in Europe, you will be back with an outstanding portfolio. I’ll be proud if my article helps you somehow!
Very nice- and several details to learn from. Thanks!
Thank you, Bhoward.
I added some information to help readers try for themselves and be safe outside in the wild. I was an Alpinism instructor in the past, so it is sort of second nature to me.
peaceful and relaxing, that’s what I see in these photos; even bad, harsh weather, cold and freezing wind may be such nice
Thank you for the comment, Florin. I’m happy you find in these photos the feeling I had when I took them.
Very nice article, Massimo. It’s good advice to look for scenes that resonate with you. It’s easy to go after popular targets, especially with landscapes (popular places) or wildlife (exotic animals), when in reality you can make great photos even with common scenes. The minimalism of your snowy photos is effective and intriguing.
Jason, I’m glad you enjoyed the article and the pictures. I think the first ingredient in photography, the more critical, is to like and be emotionally connected to the subject. And those are the atmospheres I like the most!