I recently asked my little girl what her favorite time of year was. "Winter." She said without hesitation. "Why?" "Because that's when we get to go snowing."

As a Southern Californian, going to the snow is a BIG deal. We fair weather people take weeks to plan a one-day outing to the local mountains. Do the kids snow clothes still fit? No? Where can we borrow some? Purchasing snow clothes for four growing kids every year to use once or twice is hardly practical. Tire chains, oh yeah, we're going to need tire chains. All these details that are second nature to our snowbird friends in other regions become a feet of skilled planning and preparation. Never the less, the moment we feel the cold against the car windows, the second someone spots icy white powder collecting on the side of the road, the whole family sparks with excitement. As soon as we pass a pile of snow bigger then two feet wide my kids want to stop the car for a snowball fight. 

These family memories are definitely ones that I want to preserve in my scrapbook. To help you document your families frosty good times I have a few cold weather photo tips, some layouts gathered from our design team and a collection of snow title ideas to top off your pages.

Photography Tips

Taking pictures in the snow can be a bit tricky even for an experienced photographer. Because all that pristine white snow reflects massive amounts of light a camera's light meter can read a false exposure. This will result in dark or gray pictures. The photos on the second page of "Snow Babies" were taken on a very bright day yet look how underexposed they turned out.

To correct this excess of light, take your light reading close to your subject. On an automatic camera, zoom in on the subject, press the button ½ way down then zoom out and take the photo. By doing this, the camera's meter is reading the light reflected from your colorful subject not the overwhelmingly white snow. You can also adjust the exposure by overriding the flash feature. Regardless of how bright the day is, use you flash while in the snow. Look what a difference using these photo tips made on the layout below. The photos are bright and crisp.

Another thing to keep in mind is that very cold weather can drain power from batteries. This is particularly a problem with digital cameras that guzzle power anyway. Keep your camera and batteries as warm as possible by keeping them under your coat, close to your body. Always be prepared by having spare batteries on hand. You wouldn't want to miss that perfect shot.

Have fun this winter and capture the unique beauty of the season on film. You can then retreat to a warm spot, fill up your hot cider mug, put on your thick socks and scrapbook your fantastic photos. I've included some suggestions for title ideas and a couple of cute poems to spark your imagination.