exposure - Are there specific techniques/filters for snowscapes?

It is fast becoming winter, and this will be my first winter that I have a decent camera, so I was wondering how to make the most of the seasons beauty.

I am wondering if there are any techniques that are good for capturing scenes that often occur during the winter in snowy areas. In particular, the terrain will be mostly mountainous, but not exclusively. Obviously there will be a lot of white, and during the day lots of reflection from the snow. I am interested in exposure technique, composition, and special filters. I currently use a circular polarizer, but I don't know what else is good in this situation.

I would also be interested in techniques and such for icy water photos. Some of the locations I will be shooting at will be near lakes and streams, likely to be overtaken by ice this time of year.

EDIT: Here are some very inspirational pictures, I thought I would share them. :D

Answer

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  Set the exposure compensation to +1 or +2 (or shoot manual!) as snow reflects a lot more light than the 18% reflectance that the camera's metering system assumes.

  
  



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  Filters wise just what you'd use for landscapes, a graduated ND and polarizer are helpful.

  
  


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  Composition-wise, isolating details can be difficult if everything around you is white so you have to work a little harder sometimes.

  
  


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  Definitely shoot Raw, if you can, as Leonidas states. Colour correction is inevitable as snow strongly reflects the colour of the lighting. Shadows in particular will look very blue with clear skies as they are actually being illuminated by the blue of the sky.

  
  


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  Colour is also a very important tool for altering the mood of an image, an overall slight blue tint really emphasises the coldness of the scene, and to me looks more normal than a "correct" neutral white balance.

  
  

Other things to be aware of:

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  Battery life can become significantly diminished in cold conditions. The best approach is to have two batteries, keep one in an inside pocket for warmth while shooting with the other and rotate often.

  
  


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  Bringing cold lenses into warm buildings can cause condensation inside the lens which is difficult to shift (and can grow mould if it happens often enough!) To prevent this place your camera and lenses in a plastic bag until they have warmed up.