A steady tripod and a stay to keep it from slipping are desirable additions to the outfit. The camera should be protected as much as possible from dampness and falling snow.
For best results a non-halation plate is necessary. Backed plates will give better results than plates unbacked. The reason that the light effects come out so extremely white and hard in many landscapes is because the strong light from the snow penetrates the sensitive film and is reflected into it again from the back of the plate, thus making undue contrasts, and practically giving double exposure. This is known as halation.
A corrected plate is essential in snow photography, in order that the effects of light and shadow may not be too glaringly contrasted. The isochromatic and orthochromatic plates on the market are corrected, and are the best to use.
The early morning and the late afternoon are the times best suited for taking snow pictures. The long shadows give interest and character to what would otherwise be a meaningless expanse of white. The foreground is often of the greatest interest in snow pictures. The shadows and gradations on the surface often form the motif for fine compositions.
Never try to crowd too much on one plate. Much may be done with just a few bushes projecting above the snow. Newly fallen snow should sometimes be broken up for pictorial effect; and walking once or twice over the foreground will also aid matters. In doing this, be careful to notice just how the tracks should run to give the best lines to your picture.
There are practically three classes of snow pictures, of which each demands its own appropriate development and treatment.
Class 1--Where an expanse of snow is relieved only by delicate shadows, or where the picture is taken during a snowstorm, when all objects are rendered more or less indistinct and of a light tone by intervening particles of snow. For these, the exposure should be short, the rule being that short exposures increase contrasts, and in scenes of this description, contrast is what is needed. On a bright day, 1-100 of a second would be time enough. Very early in the morning or very late in the afternoon 1-25 of a second will give ample time.
The development for plates in this class may safely be rather vigorous--that is, with a normal developer and the plate carried to a fairly good printing destiny. This method gives character to the high lights, and a pleasing richness to the slight shadows that are present on the surface of the snow. A pyro developer is good.