Winter is just around the corner and taking pictures of snowy scenes is challenging because the excessive light reflected by snow causes your digital camera's exposure meter to register false readings.

There are several ways to compensate for this and achieve properly exposed images.

Pictures of snow capped mountains in the distance are easy because the snow is not the dominant factor in the scene and your camera's light meter provides an average reading which is generally correct.

Close-ups of the kids playing in the snow, or shots of people or objects close to snow covered surroundings can be disappointing due to underexposure.

Under these conditions people's faces or inanimate objects appear too dark, and the snow itself comes out grey and dirty looking. What you want is bright, sparkling white snow, with plenty of detail in the subject, be they people or things, and it can be done.

Here's why that happens and how to avoid the problem.

The bright snow reflects more light than the people or objects you want to capture. This fools your camera's light meter into thinking that your subject is brightly illuminated and adjusts the exposure to accommodate more light than is actually being reflected by your subject.

The result is underexposure so "exposure compensation" must be used to allow your digital camera's sensor to receive the proper amount of light for proper exposure.

If your camera has a "snow scene" mode which is indicated by, appropriately, a figure of a snowman, you're in luck, just choose this setting and fire away.

For those cameras that lack this feature you can use the manual "exposure compensation" feature that is present on all but the most basic digital cameras.

You will have to consult your camera's instruction book for guidance but they all work in basically the same manner and are simple to use. Usually you will have to access the camera's menu to use this feature but some cameras have it available at all times in the "manual" mode or even in the "auto" picture taking mode.

There should be a plus (+) and minus (-) symbol, and perhaps the letters "E.V." for "exposure value" showing on the camera's LCD screen. Simply activate the appropriate control to add a +1 or plus 1.5 and take a test shot. You may have to go as high as a plus 3 on extremely bright days.

When the object or person you are photographing appears correctly exposed in your view screen that's the setting to use.

Practice as soon as you have the chance so you will be ready when you need to use this method.

When you are done be sure to return the compensation control to zero or you'll go nuts wondering why pictures taken under normal lighting conditions are overexposed.

If you have a simpler camera without this feature you may still be able to compensate for the snow reflected light.

Try this: Point your camera at a dark part of the scene and carefully press the shutter button halfway. While continuing to hold the button compose your picture and press the shutter button down the rest of the way.

This is known as "exposure lock", but be careful to aim the camera at something equal in distance to your subject so the focus is correct because this trick also locks the focus.

As always, your results may vary so practice this trick.

Here's more on the topic for those of you with a thirst for knowledge or who don't trust me.