Winter Photography

With winter coming on, I'd like to continue my attempts at Snow Shots. I tried lots of photos with our record breaking snows last winter but they were all washed out and didn't really show any real detail. The snowy areas were just a wash of white.

Can anyone offer any suggestions on what type of settings to use? I'm guessing a small aperture (f16 or higher), and using a polarizer filter. but I'm lost as to what white balance and other settings to use with my D60.

Thanks in advance

I'm not that familiar with the D60's capabilities, but on a clear day snow will reflect a lot of the blue sky, it's usually pretty easy to correct.
As for aperture, dosen't matter that much, depending on the scene, I will usually overexpose 1 to 1-1/3 stop, either "M" or "A" mode. otherwise your built in meter will try to make the scene 18% grey.

Yep John is right the camera in auto exposure will try to average out all that white to 18% gray, not good for snow shots. If your getting a lot of blue overcast try setting the WB on shade. That will add some warm colors and off set the blue. A polarizer will take out a lot of the reflected light which will give the snow much better texture. It will also act as a 1.5 neutral density filter which will help out with reducing the glare.

Try shooting when the sun is at a lower angle in the sky. The colours are often warmer and there is more contrast and relief.