Winter is one of Alaska’s longest seasons, blanketing scenes with thick snows and a stinge offering of sunshine, while the real estate business has to go on; especially on the marketing side. Believe it or not, snow may reach up to 1000 inches per year covering grounds and roofs with white, which is totally a boon for one who has the creative eye for magical compositions. As one of Alaska’s longest and best real estate partners, we have always been in such situations and have mastered our way out of the blistering cold, adapting to the change, perhaps in the short duration of daylight, with proper equipment and a good skill for finding the right angle.

FINDING THE PERFECT TIMING

Timing is everything when it comes to real estate photography and this applies very much when one is faced with photographing a home in the midst of a wintery scene. The middle of the day may not be very ideal as the harsh light can create very high contrast causing bright lights and high shadows.

 The ideal time would be when the sun is lower in the sky where the lights are softer. This is called the golden hour, or somewhere even near the majestic 5 o’clock. Some even call it the magical hour as the time offers softest lights resulting in images that are pleasing to the eye. Therefore, as much as possible, when you know that the location is snow covered, get a schedule that’s early in the morning or late in the afternoon just right before dark.

Truth be told, business does not care about timing. Clients come in asking for the nearest slot available and the photographer has to adjust. Or sometimes, noon would be the only time available for the shoot. The afternoon sun can make photos unappealing, but with a good control of the lighting, we can turn this bane to a good thing, even with exposure challenges. Post production may be able to overcome these issues with good editing, and surely, our photographers will have the diffusers and other extra equipment with them arriving at the scene.

GETTING THE EXPOSURE RIGHT

By default, cameras are calibrated to base exposures on 18% gray, which we used to take a snow-covered scene, it tricks the camera into thinking that the scene is brighter that is actually is. Without proper adjustments, the photographer would take home underexposed images that have snow looking gray and dull rather than the expected crispy white perfection, leaving him scratching his head for hours during editing.

The trick to get over this hurdle is exposure compensation. The amount may vary depending on the situation but one or two stops of composition would be a good resort. Good thing now that photography has become digital when it comes to storage, photographers can do some trial and error before final take. Make sure, though, that you are not overdoing it, dialing in more than a couple of stops of positive compensation may lead to blowing out the highlights in the image.

BRACKETING EXPOSURES IS THE KEY

Here’s a better option than betting on exposure compensation: why not bracket your exposures and merge them in post-processing? Okay. But how? Simply dial in +/- 2 EV (or the highest EV your camera supports) in your camera’s Auto Exposure Bracketing (AEB) feature. With your camera on a tripod, take a series of shots or set it to continuous shooting mode.

You will be able to manage the winter light through bracketing the exposure in your photographs. So, you have an image that is slightly underexposed, one that has the proper exposure, and one that is slightly overexposed. Merge these photos in post-processing, and voila! You’ll get a final result that is well-exposed all throughout. This method is very useful when the lighting in the scene during the shoot varies quite fast, but also during the golden hour, as we talked about earlier.

AND FINALLY, THE COMPOSITION

Fresh snow looks beautiful and clean and would accent the image’s magical properties. This would be a photographer’s cup of tea. What’s not would be snow that has been shoveled into piles, and add to that the sand and salt that was used to melt it, which can make sideways and driveways look dirty. Please coordinate with your client when it comes to these if you want to take picture perfect scenes of homes that are an advantage to you and the sale of the property.

If it cannot be helped, you can avoid these eyesores, of course, by finding the right angle to shoot from. Look for ways to minimize the impact of piled-up snow or that has been disturbed. Altering the eye level would also be a good method to come up with good composition. You can also shoot from the side that is opposite to the driveway so that potential buyers won’t see the dirtied mounds of snow.