WINTER PHOTOGRAPHY: the World Through Your Eyes

Winter photography offers an exciting chance to enhance your perspective and transform ordinary scenes into extraordinary visuals. With St. Thomas as your backdrop, the city’s charming streets, historic architecture, and scenic parks become the perfect canvas for stunning winter shots. Whether it’s the sun dazzling on the snow, sharp icy crystal surfaces, or the stillness of a frosty landscape, every corner offers an opportunity to capture something beautiful.

Winter photography invites creativity and exploration—by playing with composition, lighting, and perspective, you can showcase the serene beauty of both the season and the city.

Remember, photos are the world captured through your eyes, uniquely reflecting what you enjoy!

Best things to photograph this winter

Composition is important in any photo shoot. At times, the snow-covered landscape can appear monotone, so it's always best to find some focus of interest. Elements in the foreground such as frost-covered plants, frozen scenery, man-made visuals, or anything intriguing will bring depth to your photo.

❄️ The Snow: It's everywhere this time of year! As it dazzles and sparkles in the light, especially with a sunset, it will give you Instagram worthy posts. Check out our Trails map to find some pristine areas here in the city where the snow is left untouched.

🦌 Trees, Plants, Nature: St. Thomas is a city full of outdoor nature and scenery. Local parks or Dalewood Conservation Area are a great way to get outdoors, take a hike or stroll, and capture shots of the delicate views of the local flora.

☃️ Buildings, Murals, Attractions: The Railway City is full of historic buildings, murals, and attractions sprinkled throughout and within. There’s so much to learn, see, and photograph that you will never run out of ideas.

🌨️ The Sky: It’s constantly above and around you. There's just something about the wintertime that makes capturing the snowfall from the skies breathtaking. The snow and sky work magically together during all times of the day. Whether it be during sunlight, moonlight, sundown, or sunrise, you can never go wrong! Try capturing the sky from the St. Thomas Elevated Park, with views as far as the eye can see.

Capture anything you find unique or interesting to YOU!

mobile phone tips

💡 Hot Tip: Clean the lens of your phone's camera to avoid smudges and to make your photos more appealing.

🔎 Adjust light and focus:

• To adjust lighting, tap on the centre of the screen before taking a photo and toggle the “sun” bar.
  
• You can also do this to help focus on the subject or area you want to capture by tapping the screen.

☀️ Natural lighting:

• Find areas illuminated by a good light and try to avoid any shadows.
  
• Be aware of shadows cast by you, the phone, or any other blockages.
• Finding good lighting does not mean extreme contrasts or brightness, but a lighting that works well and looks good for what you are capturing.

🌙 Night mode:

• On some models of iPhones or Android, there is an option to shoot photos in low light with night mode.
  
• This automatically takes bright and detailed photos in-low light settings. It's easy to toggle on and off by clicking the yellow moon icon.

💡 Hot Tip: Not only can you take the photo with the centre photo button, but also with the volume button found on the side. This is used for ease if the angle you are trying to capture requires a steady hand.

📸 Perspective shift:

• To create a cool viewpoint, bend down to the ground and flip your phone upside down (so that the camera is closer to the ground and the charger port is faced to the sky) and tilt up.
  
• This creates a cool effect, and when you turn your phone right side up, it allows you to see the world in another perspective. A viewpoint that you may have not noticed before and creates a sense of immersion. This tip works well if you want to capture taller objects of interest or emphasize the snow’s texture.
  

Editing Tips

No need for any fancy editing software or apps if that’s not your thing! Your phone has all the tools you need to capture, highlight, or fix your beautiful photos. Once a photo is taken, click “edit” usually located on the top right hand corner, or bottom right. This is used to help adjust exposure, highlights, definition, shadows, etc.,

Editing is in the eye of the beholder so there is never a “right way” to do it.

Be sure to avoid stark contrast or extremely low / high brightness to your images. Remember bigger isn’t always better so stick with more simplicity when editing. Try to avoid extremes (low or high) when editing. Toggle your photo and use the horizontal bar below the selected editing tool to see what works best for your photo. Want to see what your original photo looked like before your edits? Just tap the photo within the editing adjustment and alternate back and forth to visualize and compare your changes.

🖤 Explore local PARKS, MURALS and ATTRACTIONS to find some great local places to capture!

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Author

IZABELLA GONZALEZ
​​​Raised in St. Thomas, and currently studying at Western University for BMOS Accounting, Izabella is excited to help reveal the wonders of this amazing city. Coming from a family that was searching for a better life and decided to move to Canada, Izabella shares the love of bringing cultures together. Making St. Thomas the home they wanted to raise their family, Izabella understands the importance and impact of what a small-town community can accomplish. Helping out with the Horton Market and various events grew Izabella’s love for her hometown. Being the Railway City Tourism Assistant has encouraged Izabella to bring that enthusiasm of sharing diverse and unique experiences to others wanting to experience the Railway City.