I just bought a Canon XH A1 and I'm scheduled to start shooting a "Killer Action Movie on the Cheap" in February.
Does anyone have any experience (good or bad) shooting in the snow and dealing with over exposure?
I'm shooting day for night. Not sure if that will make a difference somehow in post that I'm not aware of - yet.
Even with the 2 ND filters on it seems like clipping can't be avoided as long as there is snow in the shot.
Any tips would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
Sun Jan 06, 2008 3:52 pm
Jussing
Joined: 29 Jun 2007 Posts: 722 Location: Copenhagen, Denmark
Well, overexposure sounds like a problem in snow, but "day for night" seems to be your solution.
Why not just lower the exposure until nothing clips? You'll get a pretty dark image, but still easily readable, which should be perfect for day for night. As long as nothing burns out, you still have the option of making it even darker in post.
- jonas
(PS, I have no practical experience with shooting in snow, I'm just guessing)
Mon Jan 07, 2008 1:06 am
alfongj
Joined: 02 Jan 2008 Posts: 10
I think the guys from Videomaker just posted a tutorial on youtube fro filming in snow
Joined: 28 Jan 2007 Posts: 130 Location: Los Angeles
As Jussing mentioned, the fact that you're shooting day for night helps, in that you can underexpose which should both help with your snow highlights plus help you achieve the night look. In addition to the 2 ND filters built in to the camera you can also turn your gain dial down to -3 and if that's still not enough, and get additional ND filters to screw on to the front of the lens.
If you have them available use large scrims or flags or diffusion to diffuse/cut the light down on your subject and snow or when choosing locations try to pick areas that are in shadow. Another tip is to shoot in early morning or late afternoon when shadows are longer or wait for an overcast day.
Beyond all this, what you should really do is go out and shoot some tests in the real locations if possible to see what works best for you, both technically and creatively for your story. That way when you're on the shoot you'll know what to do, be confident and prepared, and the shoot will be a lot more fun and stress free.
That's my 2 cents.
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