Capturing snow texture – Prayer flags, Khardung la

The MasterClass Series #6

Capturing snow texture – Prayer flags, Khardung la

Equipment

EOS 60D
EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM

EXIF

Focal length: 22mm
Aperture: f/14
Shutter speed: 1/320
ISO: 100

Editing

Adobe Lightroom CC

After last week’s shooting dark interiors against bright ambient light, let’s now look at capturing snow texture.

The story

We were in Ladakh to conduct a 7n/8d fashion + nature photography workshop. After on-field hands-on practice sessions in Lamayuru, Pangong Tso, and Leh, we headed off to Hundar in Nubra Valley. To get there, we had to cross the world’s highest pass – Khardung la (Khardung pass). Its actual altitude is 17,562 ft, though the signboard there claims 18,380 ft. Only an army unit lives on the pass. Besides supervising the vehicular movement, they also take care of a much-revered Buddhist monastery located there.

As we reached, we found the approach to the mountaintop monastery covered in thick fluffy snow. The blue sky and the colourful prayer flags presented a photo-worthy contrast. 

Capturing snow texture challenge

Modern-day cameras seem intelligent. In reality, they are dumb. No matter where you meter, the camera-meter tries to provide you exposure settings that turn the metered area 18% grey. So, metering on snow would produce grey coloured snow. The texture of snow suffers, and the entire scene becomes underexposed. Correct exposure of snow is a big challenge we face.

The shot

Given the situation, I had to ensure:

1. I do not underexpose the snow and lose its texture. In spot metering mode, depending on the spot metered by the camera, this can happen. 
2. It was windy. As a result, these flags were fluttering with a vengeance. This posed a two-fold challenge:
   1. A possibility of inelegant motion-blur in flags; and
   2. A continuous split-second change in composition.
3. Since the prayer flag strings were long (over 50 metres) and the monastery building was far, I needed a decent depth of field to get it all in focus. 

I addressed these issues by:

1. Avoiding underexposure: I clicked a few shots for manual override of camera metering.
2. Fluttering flags: I ensured a fast-enough shutter speed (1/320) and chose high-speed continuous burst mode.
3. For greater depth of field: A narrow aperture setting of f/14.

When I reviewed the results (I had shot around 12 frames), I selected this frame as:

·       The flags were not askew, and

·       Composition-wise, it provided perfect leading lines and no ugly breaks.

To get a good shot in a similar situation, keep these tips in mind. To check out another snow texture shot, click HERE.

And next week, wait for a new pro-tip for addressing another tricky shoot scenario.

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