It's winter. It's snowing . . . blue?

If you live in the northeastern US, the weather this past weekend ensured you knew it was winter. The snow came down, and some areas got as much as a couple of feet.

Many went out in the last few days to make photographs of snow scenes, only to review the photos and see blue or gray snow.

Unfortunately, digital cameras aren't as good as the combination of our eyes and brains, which are fantastic at color and contrast correction and have a large dynamic range. Whether we see snow in the sun, or shade, or even at night, unless the light illuminating the snow is colored, we see the snow as white.

Cameras don't see the same way we do. They can be fooled by blue skies or shady conditions for snow scenes. The problem is, in snow conditions, the camera often can't set the image's white balance correctly. This is even true with expensive DSLR cameras.

Ken Burns' The National Parks: America's Best Idea

I never thought I’d be recommending a television show in this blog, but I guess there’s an exception to every rule.

If you haven’t had a chance to see Ken Burns' The National Parks: America's Best Idea, series of six two hour episodes, you’re in luck. The series is being reaired on most local PBS stations, on Wednesday nights, beginning this Wednesday, January 27^th.

For wildlife and landscape photographers, or any photographer, for that matter, the US National Parks provide some of the most incredible scenery, and wildlife, both flora and fauna, which can be seen anywhere on earth. For nature photographers the US National Parks are some of the most inspirational locations in existence.