Snow Tiki

   

A portrait I made of one of my tikis in the back yard after the snowfall last week. A portrait can still be a portrait if it's non-living, right? It's still a face.

Tiki carvings available today are, for the most part, limited to Party City or Big Lot's plastic interpretations of the word "luau" and are usually adorned with bright colors and giant teeth...things that are more associated with "tacky" than "tiki."  There are some "real" tiki carvers that sell their carvings online or at special events, but they're usually a bit more expensive. BUT, you get what you pay for as far as the quality, craftsmanship and detail. I have lot's of those and keep them INside and out of the weather. The ones I keep OUTside are the Big Lot's, Hobby Lobby, etc. hard resin tikis. I usually end up repainting them.

The one pictured above stands about 18" tall and was purchased at Big Lot's about 5 years ago. The design is a direct rip-off of the signature tiki from Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room. It's weathered nicely sitting out in the garden. It almost looks like real wood!

First Day of Spring in N. Texas

Yes, this indeed was the scene on the first day of Spring in North TX. McKinney got about 6" of snow. This one was taken through a window, obviously. The warmth inside causing drops of water to form on the outside of the window facing a snow covered field.   

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Snow & White Balance

North Texas really got dumped on last week. Where I live (McKinney) got 7" of snow and we were lucky to only get that much. I'm not that crazy about snow. I know, it's sooo pretty, but I hate having to put my whole life on hold until it's safe to drive and businesses and schools reopen.

Growing up in NJ, we'd get several snowfalls per year. The most I can remember getting was about three feet! But in Texas, it's quite rare. We might get one snowfall per year in this part of the state, and usually no more than two inches and it's always melted within twelve hours. So to get THIS much at once was quite unusual.

BUT...it does make for some pretty photography...if you know HOW to take pics in the snow. Many pictures I see posted look very gray. The reason? A camera will pick the brightest part of a scene and make it neutral gray. You have to over expose your shot to get the whites to look white. When I went out last week,  I over exposed by 2 stops and it still wasn't enough. Luckily, I brought my gray card along so I could easily fix it in post.

A gray card allows you to set your white balance when editing a picture. By telling the software what in the picture is neutral gray, it corrects the color in the picture.

First, take a picture of the gray card in the exact light you're shooting in:

Most photo editing software has a white balance tool (I use Lightroom). By clicking the tool on the gray card in the picture, it changes to this:

Much closer to the real color of the scene. I then sync the settings in this picture to the rest of the pictures I took in the same light. Then I can play with the other settings (exposure and temperature) until I get something I like. The b&w pic at the top was done entirely in Lightroom.

The gray card I use is made by Whibal and I use it almost every time I'm shooting, indoors or out. 

Of course, casual shooters are probably not going to bother with a gray card. So, when shooting in snow, the key to getting accurate looking pictures is to over expose. 

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